|
Destination:
SINGAPORE
|
 |
Green streets
Forests of concrete towers do
not completely blanket Singapore, there still remain havens of plant
life
Singapore is tropical, but
there's no tropical jungle in Singapore. Certainly not like the ones
you find across its northern border with Malaysia.
The
closest thing is a bit of a concrete jungle in some downtown areas.
However, jungle or not, this island republic is remarkably airy and
green.
In fact, on the way in from Changi airport -
one of the world's largest and best - you'll see so many trees,
flowers, and parks that you'll wonder where the three million
inhabitants of Singapore are living.
You'll find out
soon enough - they're in clusters of tall apartment buildings with
greenery and open spaces around them, but not huge parking lots.
That's partly because land is precious here and partly because a
Honda Civic, one of the cheapest cars available, costs over
$100,000!
That's mainly due to taxes, duties and fees,
kept high by a government that wants to earn money but also keep
down the car population and thus traffic and pollution.
That same government keeps the island pretty, and
pretty green. Private enterprise chips in, resulting in parks, zoos,
gardens and other such spaces making up for the lack of jungle on
this island that's 41 kilometres long and 22 km wide.
There are lush jungle settings, however, at the
Singapore Zoological Gardens, the nearby Night Safari, the Bukit
Timah Nature Reserve (an example of tropical rain forest) and the
Singapore Botanic Gardens, which is spread over 100 acres in the
middle of the city and is home to a National Orchid Garden that's
the largest in the world.
An offbeat experience for
zoo visitors is to have breakfast with an orangutan, which costs $15
- including bananas for the ape you eat with. A nearby offbeat sight
is one of Singapore's newest offerings: the world's first and only
night safari. I went there expecting harsh neon lights on caged
animals but, instead, found over 100 species of nocturnal animals
freely wandering around and discreetly revealed by moon-like
lighting.
Water-filled moats separate animals from
visitors, many of whom use an open-air tram. It was a thrilling and
delightful experience. The Night Safari is a bargain at $15.45,
including the tram ride, but it's a better bargain when combined
with a daytime visit to the neighboring zoo, for a total of $20.60.
With a meal in between at one of the onsite restaurants, you can
spend a whole day with some pretty impressive animals.
At current exchange rates, a Singapore dollar is worth
just a bit less than a Canbuck - $1.03 = $1 Cdn - so it's quite easy
for Canadian visitors to understand Singapore prices, which are
about the same as here.
But they're lower at the
so-called open-air hawker centres spread around Singapore. At those
food and drink stalls under one roof - all strictly supervised by
the government and thus very clean and safe - you'll find many
dishes for two or three dollars each!
BOTTOM LINE:
MORE INFO: For more information contact the Singapore
Tourist Promotion Board
www.Summer Holiday.info
www.Vacaciones de Invierno.net
