The day started casually, the 2 hour time difference making it easy to get up early for a light breakfast. With the weather looking good the plan was to visit the world renowned Singapore Zoo, a 250 meter suspension bridge in a patch of remnant rainforest and the Unesco listed Botanic Gardens.
The traffic in Singapore looked less as you would expect for a City of 5.6 million inhabitants. But then they have a very good Public Transport system. Also I did not see many big trucks. Also Taxis in Singapore are efficient and not outrageously expensive.
It was good to be at the Zoo this early. I did the Zoo tourist figure 8 see the sights tram trip to get an overview and then went to look at individual exhibits. The standouts in my mind being the Ethiopian section with authentic looking huts and a mob of Hamadryas Baboons.
And the Toilets. I’d visit this zoo just for the toilets near the Garden Pavillion. Open air stylish. The Orangutan exhibit left me with mixed emotions of knowing that they have a good home. But the reasons for them being here is not always the best.
On to the Tree Top Walk, a almost forgotten part of Rainforest remnant with a great suspension bridge over a valley. I say forgotten because the taxi drivers I talked to didn’t know about it and I had to Google Map it for them. Even then my driver took me to the wrong end of the trackinstead of the ranger station. What’s an extra couple of kilometers between friends. I met literally half a dozen people, and half of them looked like tourists.
Then another refreshing walk through back streets to the Botanic Gardens. I loved the Evolution Walk full of cycads, ferns and conifers. And big pieces of fossilised tree trunks placed strategically.
After another taxi ride back to my hotel a shower was called for to take care of the the day walking in 30 plus tropical humidity.
