Singapore Night Safari: Lions and Tigers and Pangolins, Oh My!

Singapore, March 25 — Because we were docked in the city overnight, I could go on the Night Safari excursion to the Singapore Zoo. There’s not much to show, since as it got dark, my photos got blurrier and blurrier.

But our excellent guide, Simon, who’s been doing this for 25 years, told us lots.

I promised you a view of the unusual architecture of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, with the 150-foot infinity pool. Three towers, topped by a form that has been likened to a giant surf board. The pool, bars and observation deck are located on the ‘surf board’...

The Singapore Zoo’s ‘night safari’ was the first in the world. We boarded an open-sided tram to wend our way through the paved paths that connected un-fenced, un-walled enclosures with animals from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Nepal including tapir, lions, tigers, elephants, rhinos, hippos, flying foxes (bats), leopards and the endangered pangolin, an armadillo-like animal killed for its ‘medicinal’ uses. We were separated from the animals by water-filled ditches, though some animals, like deer, were free to wander on the ‘open range,’ This ‘white’ lion was the only photo that is vaguely in focus and recognizable:

More Singapore facts and figures, including some updates on yesterday’s info: Owning and driving a Beemer can cost you $250,000 when you add in the tax and the $33,000 license fee. Then there are the tolls a driver pays every time he/she enters the city. But the longest bus or subway trip across the city will cost you only $2.70. Singapore is automating wherever possible — because it does not have enough human workers. Unemployment is around 1.9%. The population of Singapore is 5.64 million — but nearly half of those are ‘foreign workers.’ A migrant from another country who wants to start a business in Singapore must, first, speak English and, second, must employ Singaporeans in the new business. The country has no natural resources. It treats its sewage to create what they call ‘new water.’ Drinking water. Garbage swept up at night from along the highways is taken to the Gardens by the Bay, where it is burned to create bio-fuel.