Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
144
beauties, some of which ar e endangered. The more than 20 hectar es (49 acr es) can be
easily walked or, for five Singapore dollars ($3.35/£2.25) extra, you can ride the panorail
for a bird's-eye view (so to speak) of the grounds. I enjoy the Waterfall Aviary, the world's
largest walk-in aviar y. It's an up-close-and-personal experience with African and S outh
American bir ds, plus a pr etty str oll thr ough landscaped tr opical for est. This is wher e
you'll also see the world's tallest man-made waterfall, but the true feat of engineering here
is the panorail station, built inside the aviary. Another smaller walk-in aviary is for South-
east Asian endangered bird species; at noon every day, this aviary experiences a man-made
thunderstorm, and in the Lory Loft, a couple of dollars on bird feed buys you a swooping
entourage of color ful friends. The daily guided tours and r egularly scheduled feeding
times are enlightening. Other bird exhibits are the flamingo pools, theWorld of Darkness
(featuring nocturnal bir ds), and the penguin parade, a fav orite for S ingaporeans, who
adore all things arctic.
The
World of Hawks
show at 10am and
Kings of the Skies
at 4pm feature birds of
prey either acting out their natural instincts or per forming falconry tricks. The
Birds n'
Buddies
show takes place at 11am and 3pm, with trained parr ots that race bikes and
birds that perform all sorts of silliness, including staged birdie misbehaviors.
2 Jurong Hill.
&
65/6265-0022.
www.birdpark.com.sg. Adults S$18 (US$12/£8.10), childr en 3-12 S$9
(US$6.05/£4.05). Park Hopper Ticket for Zoo, Night Safari, and BirdPark: adults S$40 (US$27/£18), children
S$20 (US$13/£9). Daily 9am-6pm. Boon Lay MRT and transfer to bus no. 194 or 251.
Singapore Botanic Gardens
In 1822, S ingapore's first botanic gar den was
started at Fort Canning by Sir Stamford Raffles. After it lost funding, the present Botanic
Garden came into being in 1859, thanks to the effor ts of a hor ticulture society; it was
later turned o ver to the go vernment for upkeep . M ore than just a gar den, this space
occupied an important place in the region's economic development when “Mad” Henry
Ridley, one of the garden's directors, imported Brazilian rubber tree seedlings from Great
Britain. He devised improved latex-trapping methods and led the campaign to convince
reluctant coffee gr owers to switch plantation cr ops. The garden also pioneer ed orchid
hybridization, breeding a number of internationally acclaimed v arieties.
Carved out within the tr opical setting lies a marshgar den awash with water lilies and
papyrus plants, the sundial gar den with pruned hedges, a ginger gar den filled with 300
related specimens of a family that includes lilies, turmeric, and een bananas. Who knew?
Sculptures b y international ar tists dot thr oughout. As y ou wander, look for the Can-
nonball tree (named for its cannonball-shaped fr uit), Para rubber trees, teak trees, bam-
boos, and a huge array of palms, including the sealing wax palm—distinguished b y its
bright scarlet stalks—and the r umbia palm, which bears the pearl sago . The fruit of the
silk-cotton tree is a pod filled with silky stuffing that was once used for stuffing pillo ws.
Flowers like bougainvilleas and heliconias add beautiful color .
The
National Orchid Garden
is 3 hectar es (7
1
/
2
acres) of gorgeous or chids growing
along landscaped walks. The English Garden features hybrids developed here and named
after famous visitors to the gar den—there's the beautifully twisted M argaret Thatcher,
the B enazir B hutto, the Vaclav H avel, and mor e. The gift shops sell liv e hy droponic
orchids in test tubes for unique souv enirs.
At the B ukit Timah edge of the Botanic G ardens is Asia 's first dedicated childr en's
garden. The
Jacob Ballas Children's Garden
is a lovely place for under-12s to play and
explore, while dev eloping an appr eciation for plants and natur e. Children can do out-
door puzzles, learn about food and drinks that comes fr om plants, explore the maze or
become happily soaked pumping water in the potting gar
7
den (swimming gear or a
