Perth Zoo I arrived at Perth Zoo at 9am and was a bit annoyed that they were charging for parking (not as much as Melbourne Museum, but still...). At the entrance I was greeted by a sign saying the Numbats would be off-show which I'd been expecting (as per their website) but still had hoped to not be the case anymore. As the guys at the information hub didn't have any information on the guided walks yet and the Nocturnal House only opens at 10am I started with the Tropical Bird aviary, the Lemur/Cassowary/Tree Kangaroo-area and then made my way through the African Savannah towards the NH. I think Perth Zoo might currently have the best Dasyurid-collection in the country (2x Quolls, Dibbler, Dunnart, Phascogale) and while the collection for me is on a joined second place with Healesville (after TWP) the House itself wasn't my favourite. For one I absolutely hate when zoos play fake-wildlife sounds on a speaker system non-stop (also in other areas outside). The other thing was the lighting: the visitor areas/hallways were way too bright and the lights in the enclosures way too dark, which made taking pictures in more than half the enclosures totally impossible and in the rest at least difficult. In some enclosures you could barely see at all. At around 10:45 I made my way back to the information hub where they told me that the first tour would be in the Australian Bushwalk and the second one through the African Savannah. So of course I went for the first one. (Aussie zoos don't have any non-native species that anyone having seen at least two European zoos needs to care about so I usually have a quick look while walking past but that's it.) Turns out I was the only one at the tour and as I knew most of the "animal facts" already me and the tour-guide just had a good time chatting about the job and the internal workings of the zoo, etc. He also took me to the Reptile House. Of course I also asked about the Numbat-situation and he tried to get me backstage but didn't get permission from higher-up. They told him the Numbat would be back on-show the next day... As it turned out that only meant that the little hut you could see into the enclosure from was closed. But as you can see in through the fence from almost all sides I just made use of my binos and got a good look at a very active Numbat. I alternated between Numbat and Nocturnal House for the rest of my time and I think all in all I must have watched it for at least an hour. Something else nice was meeting one of the keepers at the NH and being there for the feeding of several inhabitants, most importantly the Dibbler, which had been sleeping in its nest before and walking around with another volunteer worker. In the end (around 3pm) I made my way through the Australian Wetlands section and left for my next destination having seen everything that I wanted to see. I had a good time at Perth Zoo, but that was mainly due to the people on the lower levels of the zoo-pecking order. The management seemed to be rather unwilling to be helpful and I'm pretty sure my "review" would be a lot different if the Numbat had been properly off-show. Animals checked off my list: Western Brush Wallaby Numbat Dibbler Northern Quoll Western Quoll Western Ringtail Possum Brush-tailed Bettong Bridled Tern Western Swamp Tortoise Rough-throated Leaf-tailed Gecko Banded Knob-tailed Gecko Next up: AQWA
AQWA It took about half an hour to get to AQWA. I had been worried that 1,5 hours would not be enough and I'd be rushed but even taking my time strolling through, taking pictures and talking to a guide or keeper(?) at different exhibits I was done in a bit less than an hour. (Should have spend another half an hour at the NH in Perth Zoo.) The good: -The guide/keeper(?)-person was really knowledgable even about the more "uninteresting" fish and that was one of the few times I actually learned some new stuff -A few interesting species -Free parking The not-so-good: -It's expensive for its size -Horrible signage (at least in regards to telling you what is actually in the tanks) -Some tanks a bit on the small side (f.e. sea snake) Overall I was a bit disappointed and I don't think I'd go a second time, but it wasn't bad. Animals checked off my list: Leafy Seadragon Loggerhead Turtle Sharkbay Sea Snake Cone Shell Blue-ringed Octopus Next up: Singapore River Safari (1st visit)
If it was in there I saw it. But for some reason I didn't have it on my list of stuff to look out for and as I'm not that into monitors and the RH was pretty crowded I didn't spend a lot of time there, so I don't have any active recollection of seeing it.
Tiny little Monitor, only about 20cm long. The only one in captivity, and one of only four specimens ever collected.
Day 7 - Singapore I came into Singapore early the following morning. It took me a few minutes to suss out the public transport smart card and SIM-card options (most of the offers on the flyers weren't actually available) and then made my way by train to my hostel in Chinatown. I couldn't check in right away so I had some breakfast in the lounge area and waited till around noon to get my bed (they gave it to me early which was nice). I stashed my stuff, had a shower and then made my way to Mandai. It takes quite some time to get there, even with Singapore's efficient public transport. As I knew that I'd be visiting multiple times I bought the Friends of Wildlife-year pass and then made my way to River Safari as it was already around 4pm. River Safari My first order of business was to book the "Meet the American Beaver"-encounter, because I got told it needs to be booked a minimum of 30min in advance. Of course you can't book at the ticketing counter but all the way at the other end of the zoo at a counter inside the Boat Plaza. Feeding times are 4:30 and 5:40pm so I was rushing past everything to at least still make it to the second one. Turns out I needn't have bothered: after some initial confusion on the cashier woman's part (seems like the encounter doesn't get booked often and she didn't know what to do) they called the keepers and I got picked up right away. The encounter is the only way to see the beavers as they are otherwise off-show. I was in there for quite some time feeding them sweet-potatos, petting them and talking to the keeper. Definitely the highlight of my visit that day. Afterwards I did the two boat rides available at the zoo as I was already at Boat Plaza. Both were a waste of time. The River Safari Cruise just goes a few meters up and down the river with a bit of talk of what animals one might see. The only animals that I saw were the Giraffes from the zoo next door. There was no wildlife to be seen anywhere. The other one (Amazon River Quest) I already knew from this forum wouldn't be all that but I wanted to see it anyway. The line wasn't too long, the boat ride wasn't either. The boat ride is so fast you barely get a chance to see the animals before you pass them. And then disembarking took forever. I think it took more time to get off the boat than it did riding the damn thing. The only positive is that there's nothing all that interesting in there and you would have been allowed to stay seated to go again (which surprisingly I didn't). I went on to complete the rest of the stuff on the right side of the river (Squirrel Monkey Forest, Amazon Flooded Forest). The Manatee exhibit is great (they had a young one in there) and it was nice to observe the Giant River Otters in such a deep and clear tank. In regards to my list not the most successful visit (spoiler: or day) though. Animals checked off my list: Black Ghost Knifefish Pacman Catfish (American Beaver) (Manatee) Next up: Singapore Night Safari (1st visit)
Night Safari Even though it started raining when I went to Night Safari there were a lot of people waiting to get in. They only let people in at certain intervals (7:15pm, 8:15pm, 9:15pm, 10:15pm) with the first time slot already sold out. Even with a year pass you have to pre-book a time before you go. As I had just gotten my year pass a few hours earlier I wasn't able to do that (takes some time for your account to be up in the system). I went to the counter explained my situation and got a 7:15 ticket I wanted to start with the Creatures of the Night show but it got cancelled because of the weather. The main animals I wanted to see were Hog Badger, Flying Squirrel, Tarsier and Colugo (wild). They are all kind of in the same area so I made my way up the Wallaby- and East Lodge Trail. I only saw one of them (well two as there were two Badgers), the others were no-shows. I finished my walk along the Leopard Trail, then hopped on the tram to see the right-hand side of the park that you can only see by tram. Like Amazon River Quest it's good that there is nothing major there, otherwise I'd have been pretty annoyed at not being able to look at the animals for as long as I want. At least the tram isn't as fast as River Quest. After that I did the Fishing Cat Trail. I saw almost all the other animals that day no problem. Some random stuff I remember: -Instead of Tawnys as are shown on the map they had Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae) -There were no cloud rats and another enclosure next to it was empty too (Don't remember what was supposed to be in there. Anyone else know?) -The Pangolin was rolled-up in a ball sleeping on all my visits regardless of what time I went there (I went early, late and in between.) -I asked the keeper at River Safari after the Crab-eating Raccoon, but seems like it's not there anymore (although he didn't seem a 100% sure) Animals checked off my list: Hog Badger Sunda Pangolin Greater Mouse Deer (Lesser Mouse Deer) (Malayan Civet) (Small-toothed Palm Civet) (Common Palm Civet) (Babirusa) (Anoa) (Slow Loris) Animals I didn't get to check off my list: Spectral Tarsier Giant Flying Squirrel Parma Wallaby Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat Malayan Colugo Crab-eating Raccoon Day 8 I needed a day to relax and organise some stuff (like my rental for the Gold Coast) so I stayed in. Next up: S.E.A. Aquarium
I don't remember that. I wonder if it varies during the year, or is a new introduction. As I recall I just paid and went right in. The moreporks are actually boobooks, they just continue to use the old name (pre-split). Shame about the cloud rats if they are gone - they were great. You will be able to see them back in Europe though, I should imagine. For parma wallaby you could try Kawau Island, and I think there is one at Wellington Zoo too. I think at the Night Safari, timing is very important for the smaller animals. I saw the tarsiers and flying squirrels being very active, but when CGSwans visited he - like yourself - either missed them or only barely saw them.
With the amount of people there it might not be the worst idea. I was in Frankfurt not too long ago but don't remember seeing them. Have to go back there for their new Black-and-rufous elephant shrews anyway and Cologne is not far away either. To keep the suspense going I won't reveal what happened on my second and third visit yet.
Day 9 - S.E.A. Aquarium Because of its proximity to Chinatown I decided to spend my last day on Sentosa. It was the weekend which meant too many people. As I mentioned in my SeaLife post the tanks at S.E.A. contained mostly fish-soup. There wasn't much of a variety there (with some exceptions, but they were what I'd mostly put down as the ABC-species of aquariums: sharks, morays, crabs, seahorse, turtle, etc.). Going through it got tiresome really quickly: you'd take about five minutes to shuffle your way to the front of the glass just to be greeted by yet another tank of, well...(sorta the same) fish and corals. The exhibits that I found interesting were the soft coral- and hard coral-tank right next to each other. That was quite cool theming and nice to have the direct comparison. Also the four different jellyfish tanks. And of course it was nice to have four species to cross of my list. Especially the Batfish were a nice surprise towards the end. There were no Giant Isopods (didn't expect them, but if sth. is signed there is just a bit of disappointment, when it turns out not to be there) and no Leafy Seadragons. The little freshwater-corner with mostly gars didn't fit in with the rest of it. Being that it was hailed as one of the greater aquariums I left after only a couple hours feeling disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high. If I had to rank the three aquariums of my trip it would go: 1.)SeaLife . . . . . 2.) S.E.A. 3.) AQWA with S.E.A. just barely pulling ahead of AQWA for its size (mostly made up of filler tanks, but something is better than nothing, I guess) and because the checked-off animals were higher on my list. Animals checked off my list: Polka-dot Batfish Reef Manta Ray Weedy Seadragon Javanese Cownose Ray Animals I didn't get to check off my list: Giant Isopod Next up: Butterfly Park & Insect Kingdom
Butterfly Park & Insect Kingdom Don't really have much to say about the place as there is not much there to talk about. Took quite some time to walk there too (saw some swifts on the way). The park is basically divided into four parts: first the butterfly walk-through with not a lot of butterflies in it, then another walk-through with a petting station for parrots and iguana and a monitor enclosure. After that comes a walkway with a few insect exhibits (I think the 7 species I put pictures of in the gallery was the extend of what was there). The last part is a museum, which seemed quite comprehensive. If you're interested in the museum then go. If your main interest is live animals skip it. I went back to my hostel to recharge my phone and then headed out to Gardens by the Bay. Saw some more Swifts, some Bats and what I think might have been a shrew but they were all too fast for me to properly identify. One thing that might be of interest for other potential visitors is that some hostels can get you cheaper tickets for various attractions (f.e. I paid $23 instead of $28 for GbtB and $27 instead of $32 for S.E.A.) Animals checked off my list: - Next up: Pattaya Dolphin World
When I left GbtB it was already after dark. I picked up my luggage from the Hostel and took the train to the airport to spend the night. The airport has a lot of good spots to sit and plug in your appliances. One of the most annoying things at a lot of airports is hunting for power outlets. Not so at Changi. Most of my time I spent watching movies. I tried to sleep once (behind an empty row of chairs) but had a family on top of me almost immediately talking to each other non-stop. First though I made a trip to the Butterfly Garden at Terminal 3. There didn't seem to be a lot of butterflies in there and the few I saw where just sitting around as it was already after dark. No identification signs either. At 7:20am the plane left on time for BKK.
Day 10 - Thailand When I arrived in Bangkok my first order of business was getting a SIM-card. Having been to Thailand before and trying to survive without one...well, let's just say: never doing that again! There was a bit of a line and then of course the bus to Pattaya (Level 1, Gate 8, 120 Baht) which is supposed to drive every hour on the hour was half an hour late. Which meant I was sitting around at the airport for almost an hour. I tried to figure out a way to pre-book the tickets for Dolphin World but the website I had been looking at before didn't do same day or next day sells. So instead I sent an e-mail to my guesthouse (called Your Friend) and asked them to arrange my visit for the last available timeslot that day. The guesthouse was the only (planned) stop of the whole trip where I'd have my own room and I can't recommend them highly enough. The location is walking distance to the bus-station (last stop) and the owners (a Russian couple) were super friendly and helpful (their English wasn't perfect but good enough to get by). They organised my whole visit to DW and didn't have a problem with me paying for it and the room the next day. I basically arrived, got my key, threw my stuff in the room and got picked up by my driver. Pattaya Dolphin World It was still about a half hour drive from the guesthouse to Dolphin World. I arrived after the show had started, got a "VIP-pass" thingy and then was told that my booking didn't include the show but only the encounter afterwards. I decided not to spend any more money on a show I wasn't really all that interested in and had a bit of a look around the premises. There was a spot (playground) where you could look into the dolphinarium from the outside and see at least half of what was going on, so I watched from there. After about ten minutes a woman passed by, saw my "VIP-pass" and asked me why I was sitting outside and told me to come in. Still not sure if I should have actually been entitled to see the show or if she was just being nice (yay, Thai-chaos). When the show was over (as far as I could see there were three Irrawaddy Dolphins in it) we got taken to another tank (with two other dolphins) for the encounter. We changed into gear, were split into two groups, sat on a mat on the water and then the trainers had the dolphins do a few tricks (spit water, wave fin, kiss (was more of a headbutt really), etc) followed by the one on one swimming part. Then the groups switched to the respective other dolphin. When we were done with the official encounter I tried to ask them if I could take a picture of the dolphins from the mat. I really only wanted a close-up of the dolphins but they misinterpreted my question so instead I got a few minutes of a private show with another guy taking photos of me (with the dolphin) on my phone. Even better I tried to find out whether or not they still have Humpbacked Dolphins but the language barrier thwarted my efforts, even when I showed them pictures. As I didn't see the whole show I'm not 100% sure that there wasn't one hiding somewhere, but I doubt it. Animals checked off my list: Irrawaddy Dolphin Animals I didn't get to check off my list: Indo-Pacific Humbacked Dolphin Day 11 I enjoyed the peace and quite of having my own room probably a bit too much and stayed (too long) till check-out time at noon, then made my way to the bus-stop. This time the wait wasn't as bad. The bus took me back to Suvarnabhumi and from there I took the Sky Train to Ratchaprarop station, where I had booked a dorm bed in the close by Coop Hostel for only 200 Baht. As it was already somewhat late I decided to find out whether Pata Zoo was actually open 24/7 as discussed in the relevant thread here. It only took four tries to find a cab-driver who would on the meter and off I was. The zoo entrance is hidden in a corner all the way on the sixth floor of a mall and of course was already closed, with no signs telling you the opening hours as far as I could see. I could hear voices from up the stairs (where the actual zoo-part is) though, so I decided to at least try to find someone to tell me what the opening hours for the next day would be and went up there past the metal chain (I know, I know: breaking the rules. Thug life). I saw a few snakes but couldn't find any people so I turned around and drove back to my hostel. Next up: Bangkok Snake Farm
I never have a phone when I travel. It's great. Of course I have no friends, so there's that, but I almost never have any need for a phone when I'm travelling. They are just a pain. are you one of those backpackers who prefers dorms, or is it just for cost reasons? I meet lots of backpackers who only want to stay in dorms, and it's purely for social reasons. I hate dorms because I'm old and anti-social, so only stay in them when I have to - in most of southeast Asia it's pretty easy to find rooms as cheap or cheaper than hostel dorms, so long as you don't mind basic facilities. In Bangkok the dorms are often more expensive than cheap rooms because they know they can fleece the backpackers who have the "dorm-is-cheaper" mentality. I've seen dorms up to 500 Baht per bed, and I just think why would someone pay that when they can get their own room for 200? It doesn't make sense to me.
I didn't need it for calling friends either (although it was nice to be able to with free international calls with my Aussie SIM). But for Thailand I just wanted to have Internet so I could show cab drivers the destinations I wanted to go or Google Map my way around the city or look up stuff since a lot of times even the Thais don't know what's going on. The constant chaos just gets a bit old quick especially if you don't have a lot of time... It depends really. I enjoy being social (with the right people) and potentially meeting someone to travel with or get some advice from (or just drink with and talk politics for an evening ). On the other hand I don't mind doing my own thing either. This time my plans were pretty set so there wasn't much of a point in going out of my way to meet people and I just chose places based on price and location. (Still had a nice evening with some people on my first or second night in Singapore.)
Day 12 First thing the next morning I took the Skytrain to Bangkok Snake Farm. Bangkok Snake Farm The "Farm" is divided into an inside- and outside-area. The outside-area has a variety of enclosure-styles for various snakes in and around an arena for the snake-handling show. On the inside the second floor contains a museum and the first floor two exhibit areas divided by a theater-style show-room for the venom-extraction presentation. In the beginning I was almost the only one there which was quite nice. The whole complex is quite clean and upscale (especially for Thailand) and they had some interesting species there (for the whole on-show list see here). I stayed for about three hours (incl. the venom-extraction show) even though it's not the largest place and I'm not much of a snake-person. The one thing that was a bit annoying was that a lot of snakes while still visible managed to lie around in a way that made it difficult/impossible to take pictures of them. Definitely recommend going. Animals checked off my list: Red-tailed Pipe Snake Sunbeam Snake Ornate Gliding Snake Puff-faced Water Snake Rainbow Water Snake Malayan Krait Yellow-banded Krait Next up: Pata Zoo
As I'm not tech-savy enough to include pictures in my posts I'll link to the different galleries in case people wanna see some of my amateur photography: Melbourne Museum Healesville Sanctuary (Moonlit Sanctuary) Wildlife Sydney SeaLife Sydney Taronga Zoo Perth Zoo AQWA River Safari Night Safari S.E.A. Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom Butterfly Garden Pattaya Dolphin World Bangkok Snake Farm
I've never been there. I'm not sure why. I saw it - or a similar place - on a map of the city the very first time I was in Bangkok (back in 2006!) and I've been through Thailand many times since. I should probably make an attempt next time I'm over there.
if the photo is in the gallery, then on the right of the page is a section titled Share This Media. Copy the third link down (if I put the title for the third link here it stuffs up the post, so just the third one under Share This Media). Where-ever you put the link in your post is where the photo will appear. I think there's a limit to the number of photos you can have in one post (maybe six or so?). The more photos there are in a thread, though, the slower the page will load for people with slow connections.
