Jurong Bird Park

The Jurong Bird Park was our destination for this weekend. One of Vicky's co-workers - Henri - from California just arrived last night, so we thought this would be a good introduction to Singapore -- and a good way to try and keep him up and help adjust him to the time change. Like normal, it was very hot and humid, so a good introduction to the weather he will be facing for the next month or so.

Thanks to Vicky's diligent research, we found the proper bus and arrived at the bird park just about when it was opening. Unfortunately, our plan to eat at the restaurant overseeing the flamingo lake were undermined when we found out it was reserved for some type of corporate event. Not letting this stop us, we had a quick bite at the cafe out front and embarked on our journey!

First stop, the Flight of the Predators show. Getting some really up close views of falcons, vultures and hawks was pretty cool. The well trained birds swooped a mere foot or two over the heads of the crowd, caught food thrown into the air, and chased fake rabbits showing their predatory skills. Overall, a pretty good show so far as zoo and animal shows go.

The park itself is laid out really well. Basically, a big loop with a few offshoots spread out adding to the mix. They had tons of different birds, including eagles, ducks, flamingos, tucans, owls and penguins. One pretty cool feature was the Lory Loft -- essentially the biggest walk-in cage in Asia. It was about 9 stories tall and had a number of walkways through the treetops. You could cruise around the foliage and check out the birds where they are most comfortable -- in the tops of the trees. You could hear tons of birds chirping and making a racquet. However, we did not see quite as many as you could here. Most of the ones we could see were really pretty -- extremely colorful and playful.

Despite the buildup, the African Waterfall Aviary with the "world's tallest man-made waterfall" was a bit of a letdown. Yeah, there is a tall waterfall, but it really did not look that dramatic and there was not much else to see. There were a few birds around and lots of foliage, but after the buildup it didn't seem like that big of a deal.

Surprisingly, we spent about the whole day at the bird park. In the end, we were all hot, tired and ready to head home. Time to call it a day. Next stop will be the Night Safari!