D-Day

MY FIELD TRIP EXPERIENCE

Before entering the Giant Panda Forest

Overall Appeal

River Safari is Asia’s only river themed wildlife park with more than 600 different species of plants and animals. Visitors will want to visit this attraction for its uniqueness as the only river themed attraction and view its large collection of freshwater animals. In addition, the Giant Pandas, Jia Jia and Kai Kai, are a must-see at River Safari. The gentle giants attract both international and local visitors, especially children.

The weather in Singapore can be very hot and people would rather stay at home or go somewhere that is air-conditioned. Therefore, as most attractions are outdoors, visitors may be deterred from visiting due to the hot weather. However, River Safari is almost fully sheltered with only the boat rides held outdoors.

Areas Well Featured

One of the areas that was well featured was the F&B facilities that were strategically placed. Firstly, the Mama Panda Kitchen which is located at the Giant Panda Forest. Visitors are excited after seeing the pandas and with this excitement, they will want to try the food there, especially the Panda Pau. Not only that, visitors are also tired after finishing half of the park so they would be inclined to taking a rest at food outlet and getting some food and drinks. Secondly, the River Safari Tea House which is located at the entrance of the park. With its convenient and easily accessible location, visitors can dine there after exiting. Boasting a wide variety of local Chinese dishes, it is a family-friendly food outlet to dine at after a long day at the park.

On top of that, strollers are available for rent for children and wheelchairs are available for elderlies, disabled visitors and visitors with special needs. This is convenient for visitors and they are able to fully enjoy the park.

Engagement

There were a few engaging activities at the River Safari such as a crocodile feeding show and interaction with water creatures. Visitors were able to view the park staff feeding the dwarf crocodiles. This is also a way to show how the animals are being taken care of and boast their training and professionalism. In addition, this would attract children as they would find it fascinating and cool.

At the Mary River, visitors have an opportunity to touch marine life such as starfish and horseshoe crab. This is an educational experience, especially for children through hands-on, sensory activities.

What I Like

I had been to the River Safari back in 2014 and I was excited as it was a new attraction with a different theme. For this trip, I was excited about seeing the Giant Panda Forest and the Squirrel Monkey Forest again.

As expected, the Giant Panda Forest did not disappoint. As I only saw one giant panda during the previous trip, I was very happy to see both the giant pandas this time. The red pandas were adorable as well. Although they were just sleeping, it was a nice experience to see them relaxing in their own habitat.

In the Giant Panda Forest

What I Dislike

During the previous trip, I did not take the River Safari Cruise so I decided to go for it this time. I was very disappointed with it as it was very exciting. Yes, it is supposed to be a relaxing cruise but it would have been slightly better with more animals to see other than the rhinoceros and giraffe. I did not manage to see the rhinoceros and the giraffe was hard to view from the boat ride. Also, there was very little else to see other than some wild birds flying around the lake. Therefore, with just the two animals and an audio guide (which no one really paid attention to either), I found the ride to be very uninteresting. Luckily, the boat was not too stuffy or warm so it was still tolerable.