The pandas are the main attraction – visitors can also buy panda gifts and eat at Mama Panda Kitchen
OUR EXPERIENCE I must confess that Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari are two of my favourite wildlife visitor attractions. When I lived in Singapore, I was a regular visitor to both parks as well as Jurong Bird Park. On a recent Singapore weekend geta-
way from Malaysia with my family, I was excited to experience River Safari but also interested to see whether it could live up to the reputation set by its sister parks which set the benchmark for ani- mal attractions in South-East Asia. Rivers aren’t really my thing, as I’m
more fascinated by ocean animals and my three children weren’t overly excited by the prospect of otters and cod. That said, the pandas were raising the squeal quota in the car as we set off fi rst thing. The experience really begins at the
River Safari Entrance Plaza. Here, you can make use of a range of services, including stroller hire, restaurant book- ings and park information. The River Safari Quest boat ride wasn’t yet open to the public when we visited, so we were told the attraction would take a couple of hours to visit. Actually, we were there for three hours and could have even spent longer. In the Rivers Of The World walk
through, we learned about river conser- vation, and the fact a cultural element is brought into each zone makes it much more fun. Learning about the spirit- ual side of the Ganges and it’s sacred waters, for instance, is a bonus you don’t expect at a nature attraction.
AM 1 2014 ©Cybertrek 2014
The attraction is believed to include the world’s largest freshwater aquarium
The panda bears are defi nitely the main attraction at the park, which is food for thought given it’s a river attrac- tion. At feeding time when we visited their enclosure, we got so close to Kai Kai and Jia Jia it was like having a front row seat at a Kung Fu Panda movie. The keepers deliberately spread out activities for the bears to encourage them to romp all over their pen and this gave almost all the spectators who were gathered a great view. We chose to eat at Mama Panda
Kitchen for lunch where they dish up red bean buns decorated as panda bears in little bamboo steamers. Our girls loved them, and for S$6 (£3, €3, US$5) they were really good value for money. Sadly, most other visitors thought so too and the queues in the restaurant were horrendous and the staff totally overwhelmed.
WHAT’S THE SCORE? Toilets
Staff
Cleanliness Experience
Value for money Overall experience
10 9
10 8
7 9
SUMMARY The attraction still needs to develop its storyline further so it clearly differen- tiates itself as a river-themed offer: currently it risks being perceived as a poor relation to Sentosa’s new aquar- ium. However, overall it’s a great day out, and in terms of operations and quality, it meets the high standards of existing attractions in the portfolio. ●
Read Attractions Management online
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