A few of us were able to see the entire zoo, and we even got a chance to see one of the shows! We went to see "Elephants at Work and Play." This show featured three elephants that did various tricks, such as picking up hats with their trunk and crossing water by walking over a wooden log. I had never seen elephants do such tricks, so it was a very interesting experience. One thing that really surprised me at the zoo was that they had polar bears! A few of us were wondering how the polar bears were able to survive in Singapore when we saw a sign that said "Why are our polar bears green?" It turns out that the high temperatures in Singapore cause algae growth in the bear pond, and this enters the polar bears' fur, causing them to turn green. The sign at the zoo even admitted that this algae growth is bad for polar bears, and I was surprised by the sign's honesty, considering that the zoo is still keeping the polar bears there. However, the sign added that the polar bears' home is highly air-conditioned and the water in the pond is changed often. We can always rely on Singapore to keep things air-conditioned! Here is one of the bears in front of the pond:
The zoo closed at 6, so after a quick dinner, we all went to the Night Safari. This was definitely my favorite part of the day. When we first walked in, we saw tribal performers dancing with fire! They would literally take a piece of wood with fire, stick it into their mouth, and then blow out the smoke. I still don't understand how they were able to do that! They picked a boy from the audience to dance with them, and it was very entertaining. They wanted the boy to "eat" the fire as well, but he didn't seem very willing. After the performance, we went on a 45 minute tram ride around the park. We saw a lot of very interesting animals, but unfortunately we have no pictures because flash photography wasn't allowed. Most of the animals there are nocturnal, and there is dim light around them so that people on the tram and walking trails can see the animals, but no more light than that is allowed. Here is a few of us on the tram!
It was a very nice ride, and then we went to see a show called "Creatures of the Night." Various animals came out on stage and did little tricks for the audience. One of our favorite parts was when two otters came out and separated plastic bottles and paper cups to recycle! There was a race to see which otter could put their respective cups into the correct trash can first. After that, some of us walked around and tried to find the exhibit featuring fruit bats. A lot of us were scared to go in, but the bats turned out to be harmless, and it was interesting to see them flying around and hanging from trees. It was an extremely busy, yet exciting, day! We only have a few days left in Singapore now, and we are all sad to be leaving. However, I'm definitely very excited for the new experiences that await us in Thailand!--Nina
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