There's something to be said about four 18 to 21 year-olds going to a zoo to celebrate a birthday. Some call it childish foolery, but I prefer to think we're recapturing the innocence of youth.
Hailed as the world's first night safari (I wouldn't expect anything less, given Singapore's obsession to be the best, the first, the fastest, the least corrupt.. the list goes on. They say feisty little super-power, I say Napoleon Complex.) , it boasts a variety of nocturnal creatures from all over the world. We took a tram ride (because our frail 20 year old bodies can't take the strain) around the place, where a guide points out the animals around us. The best part is, there's nothing separating those beasts from us, apart from a few low bushes. It gives me a thrill knowing the rhinoceruses, elephants and hippopotamuses can just come crashing into the tram and kill us. It makes me very happy to stare death in the face like that.
If they do come running at us, I sincerely hope that the guide with her so-artificial-you're-sure-she-can't-decompose way of speaking gets trampled first, just so that "Well, what do we have here. You guys are soooo lucky! Rhinocerusus ramming into the second compartment.. This almost never happens!" wouldn't be the last thing I hear before I die.
The animals are segmented according to their original habitats, and the tram took us to places like 'South America', 'India', 'Africa' and so on. As opposed to zoos where the animals are kept behind prison-like bars, these were free to roam around enclosures built to resemble the wild environment. As much as I'd like to pretend that I'm really seeing these animals where they ought to be, a sense of sadness still creeps in, triggered by the deep stare of an elephant. The unmoving giant stood facing the track, and stares as the tram edges by its enclosure. I turn to look at it, and found myself face to face with animal. The elephant is obviously very much aware that all these tram-loads of people are not supposed to be intruding into his mealtime, nor is the annoying voice asking people to look left at the 'majestic beast of the Indian jungles'. No matter how comfortable or easy their lives are at the zoo, the fact remains that they're prisoners, put on display primarily for the purpose of collecting revenue.
Sure, there were no lack of conservation messages rammed down the visitors' throats, and their efforts for the environment can be seen, but it just felt to me as if they were trying to put out a bush fire with a glass of water. The illusion of a jungle was completely shattered when the tram rounded a bend, where the bright lights of the city can be seen clearly in the distance, behind the giraffe enclosure.
By the end of the tram ride, I was sufficiently dizzy from all the 'Look to the left! Look to the right! Left again! Oo bird on the tree, 5-o'clock! Rat to the right!', and was quite ready to leave the artificial tribal village behind.
63 million was spent on building the night safari, but I don't think you can put a price tag on the experience of seeing an endangered animal, perhaps for the last time. Actually, you can. That's $32 I'm never getting back.
Hailed as the world's first night safari (I wouldn't expect anything less, given Singapore's obsession to be the best, the first, the fastest, the least corrupt.. the list goes on. They say feisty little super-power, I say Napoleon Complex.) , it boasts a variety of nocturnal creatures from all over the world. We took a tram ride (because our frail 20 year old bodies can't take the strain) around the place, where a guide points out the animals around us. The best part is, there's nothing separating those beasts from us, apart from a few low bushes. It gives me a thrill knowing the rhinoceruses, elephants and hippopotamuses can just come crashing into the tram and kill us. It makes me very happy to stare death in the face like that.
If they do come running at us, I sincerely hope that the guide with her so-artificial-you're-sure-she-can't-decompose way of speaking gets trampled first, just so that "Well, what do we have here. You guys are soooo lucky! Rhinocerusus ramming into the second compartment.. This almost never happens!" wouldn't be the last thing I hear before I die.
The animals are segmented according to their original habitats, and the tram took us to places like 'South America', 'India', 'Africa' and so on. As opposed to zoos where the animals are kept behind prison-like bars, these were free to roam around enclosures built to resemble the wild environment. As much as I'd like to pretend that I'm really seeing these animals where they ought to be, a sense of sadness still creeps in, triggered by the deep stare of an elephant. The unmoving giant stood facing the track, and stares as the tram edges by its enclosure. I turn to look at it, and found myself face to face with animal. The elephant is obviously very much aware that all these tram-loads of people are not supposed to be intruding into his mealtime, nor is the annoying voice asking people to look left at the 'majestic beast of the Indian jungles'. No matter how comfortable or easy their lives are at the zoo, the fact remains that they're prisoners, put on display primarily for the purpose of collecting revenue.
Sure, there were no lack of conservation messages rammed down the visitors' throats, and their efforts for the environment can be seen, but it just felt to me as if they were trying to put out a bush fire with a glass of water. The illusion of a jungle was completely shattered when the tram rounded a bend, where the bright lights of the city can be seen clearly in the distance, behind the giraffe enclosure.
By the end of the tram ride, I was sufficiently dizzy from all the 'Look to the left! Look to the right! Left again! Oo bird on the tree, 5-o'clock! Rat to the right!', and was quite ready to leave the artificial tribal village behind.
63 million was spent on building the night safari, but I don't think you can put a price tag on the experience of seeing an endangered animal, perhaps for the last time. Actually, you can. That's $32 I'm never getting back.
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