Now during most of these conversations I become passive because of his wider knowledge and keen interest which overcome my modest experience. However, a few years ago I touched the sky. I outshone him. I was able to reverse roles. I told, and he listened. I “out-zooed” him, but good. Let me tell you about it.
The year was 2004, and Barb and I found a super bargain put on by Singapore Airlines. The main focus of the trip, of course, was Singapore itself, but it did include one stop either going or coming along their regular airline routes. Our choice was Taiwan, and we spent a pleasant week wandering around Taipei and its environs. The highlight of that week was experiencing a typhoon in all its fury—but that’s another story. Next it was on to see Singapore itself.
Now we had visited this interesting little country five or six times previously, so we were well prepared for this stay. We chose the Traders Hotel which was a short block from the “hop-on/hop-off” bus route which gave us access to many of the places we hoped to see on that trip.
With the history of many previous vacations in Singapore behind us, we felt free to seek out each of our favorite places alone. For example, Barb really loves to meander through the many international communities and study the various crafts relating to the areas each represents—India, China, Arabian, Malaysia, et al. I, on the other hand, head for the Raffles Hotel, sit in the Writers’ Bar, and drink a Singapore Sling. I admit to day-dreaming a little here, visualizing Kipling, Maugham, Michener, and Conrad sitting next to me and sharing their adventures. There are a few spots we go to together, of course—the Singapore Museum, the marina area, Orchard Road, and the Botanical Gardens.
On this trip we also visited the United States Embassy on Napier Road. It seems that this is the only U.S. Embassy which will add pages to your passport—for free. In most cases if you fill up your passport, you must send it to Washington, D.C., and they will buff it up a bit. But for some unknown reason, the Embassy in Singapore was granted this favor. As our passports were chock-full, we wandered up to this huge concrete fortress, cleared the guard at the iron fence, passed the metal detectors in the lobby, and quietly waited twenty minutes while some official removed a staple or two, added twenty more pages, and
reassembled our little blue booklets.
But wait—this story is about zoos!
We love the Singapore Zoo, so naturally it was on our “visit together list.” One of the best times to wander through this extravagant layout is on one of their Night Safari tours. Most animals sleep during the day in the tropical heat, but come alive when the sun sets. Evenings are also their eating time, and the trainers go around feeding the animals in order to hurry up their wakeup schedule. The zoo has little open trolleys which transport you from feeding station to feeding station—allowing you to get off and on as often as you wish.
 |
Now this time our Night Safari alone is worth bragging about, but we were lucky enough to visit the zoo on—of all days—Halloween. We climbed into our tram at about eight thirty in the evening. It was very dark outside and the platform lighting was intentionally muted with green filters, making everything a bit more surreal. The tram had spider web material all over it, and it was covered with iridescent paint in black and orange. All of the employees were dressed in scary costumes. Those feeding the elephants were dressed in African motif, the monkey tenders in clown outfits, and the kangaroo feeders in Aussie duds. Our driver—dressed in a werewolf outfit—spoke in a hushed, spooky voice. The normal lighting was off, and one could hear the animals moving around. As we passed through many very dark areas, several of the employees dressed in animal skins jumped out at us as we scooted along in our tram—shouting and jumping about—scared everyone! This brought squeals of delight form the kids of all ages riding around in the tram. |
 |
As we approached each of the animal feeding areas, a soft light would be activated, and we could watch the animals eating away, oblivious of their guests in the little spooky tram. Then, we were taken into an area which allowed many animals free range. They, of course, were the more gentle ones such as deer and the Malayan Tapir. The driver had treats for most of them, so they elbowed their way next to the tram. The tapir got quite friendly with us and traveled along for quite a while. Sadly we came to the end of the ride much too quickly.
After the tour, we went to a show called “Creatures of the Night.” Wild animals were the “actors and actresses”—and they included a white owl, a binturong on a wire, raccoons, otters, a very large wolf, and a puma. They all were actors in the show. It was truly terrifying to see a puma freely wandering about. At other times sheer enjoyment was the overriding emotion—just watching the binturong perform. One highlight was a large python which had wrapped itself around a young lady in the third row. In the middle of the show she was spotlighted—striking terror into the hearts of her neighbors and causing a good deal of screaming. |
All in all, it was an amazing zoo experience—one which gave me the stage on my next visit with my “zoo” guru!
