What to see at Singapore’s River Safari

Singapore’s River Safari is located next to the Singapore Zoo and also administered by Wildlife Reserves Singapore. It is the first and only river themed wildlife park in all of Asia. The River Safari is situated upon 12 hectares on the Upper Selator Reservoir and is home to over 240 species of both land and aquatic animals.

While the River Safari is nowhere near as large as the Zoo next door, the park serves as a great add-on to a trip to Singapore Zoo, both due to the proximity of the attractions, and their relative distance from the rest of the city. If you’re interested in exploring Singapore’s wildlife parks in one day, head to the River Safari after spending a half day at Singapore Zoo, before finishing up at the Night Safari. The parks are literally all next door to each other.

• Want to know more about the Singapore Zoo? Click HERE.
• Not sure how best to spend your time in Singapore? Check out my three day Singapore itinerary HERE.

The Basics

• Where? 80 Mandai Lake Road, Singapore 729826.
• When? Open daily from 10AM – 7PM.
• How much? Single admission to the River Safari is $36.00 SGD (adults)/$24.00 SGD (children). There are discounts available if you pre-purchase a Park Hopper ticket which allows you to visit the other attractions run by Wildlife Reserves Singapore within 7 days of your visit. For more details, see HERE.
• How to get there? The River Safari is unfortunately not well connected to the city by Singapore’s efficient MRT service. I recommend getting a taxi or GRAB (about 30 minutes away from the city). Alternatively, a shuttle operates from the Khatib MRT station on the North-South Line.
• Website: https://www.wrs.com.sg/en/river-safari.html

How long to spend at the River Safari

The River Safari can be toured within around 2 hours. As mentioned above, it works best combined with a trip to the Singapore Zoo and/or Night Safari. Most of the exhibits in the River Safari are undercover, making it a good choice for the afternoon (Singapore showers and all that!).

What is there to see at the River Safari?

The River Safari is made up of a number of zones, each representing different global river ecosystems. Unlike Singapore Zoo, your progression through the River Safari is quite linear, so you shouldn’t have much trouble seeing all of the exhibits. Lets now break down the areas of the River Safari one by one so that you can get an idea of what to expect when you visit.

1. Rivers of the World

You’ll enter the River Safari through the Rivers of the World trail. In this section of the park, you’ll walk past a number of fresh water exhibits, each representing a different river and its distinct biodiversity. This serves as a great introduction to the river ecosystem, highlighting the immense amount of life found under the water’s surface around the world.

As you explore the Rivers of the World, you’ll travel to the following destinations:

• Mississippi River (USA): Bring on the alligators as you experience the fourth largest river system in the world. The Mississippi River is home to 25% of North America’s fish species. Unique species that you might find here include the common snapping turtle and the alligator gar, a prehistoric river monster that dates back to over 100 million years on earth.
• Congo River (Central Africa): Also known as the Zaire River, this body of water in Central Africa is the deepest in the world. While its surface is covered by rapids and waterfalls, under the water is a world of tranquility where you’ll find species such as the African dwarf crocodile.
• River Nile (North-East Africa): The longest river in the world, and the lifeblood of Ancient Egypt, the River Nile today empties the East African Great Lakes into the Mediterranean. In this exhibit you’ll see native species such as the Tigerfish and Giraffe Catfish.
• Ganges River (India): Flowing through India and Bangladesh, this river is sacred to those of the Hindu faith, being worshipped as the Goddess of Creation. Traversing 2,500 kilometres, the Ganges is home to the critically endangered Indian Gharial, the longest species of crocodile on earth.
• Mary River (Australia): Heading back to my home country, the Mary Catchment is a major river system in North-Eastern Australia. This river is home to the ancient Australian lungfish which have an average lifespan of a century.
• Mekong River (South-East Asia): Aside from the Amazon (which has its own exhibit elsewhere in the park), the Mekong River is the second most populous river system in the world in terms of aquatic life. While its only the world’s tenth largest river, its the most productive. The Giant Siamese Carp and Giant Catfish are just two of the freshwater species that keep being discovered in this region.
• Yangtze River (China): Asia’s longest river is deeply intertwined with the history of China and contains some of the most critically endangered species on the planet. Rare lifeforms such as the Yangtze Alligator and Giant Salamander can be found here.

2. Giant Panda Forest

Continuing on from the Yangtze River, the next part of the River Safari keeps the focus on China. The Giant Panda Forest is probably the most popular exhibit at the River Safari. Inside this bio-dome is the largest Panda exhibit in South East Asia, and is home to a pair of the critically endangered Giant Pandas. Named Kai Kia and Jia Jia, these two Pandas are on loan from the Chinese government (as I discovered all Giant Pandas in zoos around the world are) and are incredibly popular among guests to the Safari. The climate controlled bamboo forest in which you’ll find the two Giant Pandas lazing around is also home to the tree-dwelling Red Pandas. Spend some time admiring these beautiful animals here (and take a break from the humid air outside in the process).

Outside the Panda Exhibit, you can also get a quick bite at the Mama Panda Kitchen before continuing your journey along the river.

3. Reservoir Cruise

As you say goodbye to the Pandas, you’ll cross the river to the Boat Plaza. Here you can take a moment to relax and board a boat for a quick (15 minute) cruise out onto the Upper Seletar Reservoir. There’s no extra charge to go on this cruise and its a good way to break up your time exploring the animal exhibits at the River Safari. You might even get a view at the back of some of the exhibits at the Singapore Zoo next door before cruising out further to become immersed in the scenic environment of natural beauty.

On busy days, you may need to time your arrival here, but I was able to pretty much walk onto the boat rather than stand in line.

4. Amazon River Quest

If one boat ride wasn’t enough for you, the River Safari has a second one. This one isn’t included in your admission, but tickets are only an extra $5.00 SGD (adults) and can be purchased at Boat Plaza. This attraction is actually like a theme park ride in that you board a boat and are swept along a track, symbolising a journey along the Amazon River. There’s a few short drops but its very tame. From your boat, you’ll see the jungle come to life around you as you pass enclosures of animals native to the world’s largest river, including jaguars, tapirs, capybaras and flamingos. You’ll have to look carefully to see some of the animals as they camouflage with the surroundings as your boat moves past, but that’s all part of the adventure.

The Amazon River Quest is a lot of fun and adds a unique element of exploration to the River Safari. Don’t miss it when you visit. Its well worth the additional cost.

4. Squirrel Monkey Forest

The Squirrel Monkey Forest is a large walk-through dedicated to the most populous monkey in the Amazon rainforest. These highly curious monkeys spend most of their lives in the rainforest canopy, but as you explore this exhibit you’ll get up close and personal with them as they roam around you. If you time your visit right, you might be able to join a guided walk with a zookeeper around the enclosure to learn more about these active creatures.

5. Amazon Flooded Forest Floor

The last part of the River Safari takes you away from the tree-tops to the submerged forest floor of the Amazon. The Amazon river is flooded for six months of the year, resulting in up to ten metres of water covering the forest floor. This unique ecosystem is replicated here in the world’s largest freshwater aquarium exhibit.

While venturing through this exhibit, you’ll see species such as the red bellied piranha, electric eel, arapaima (largest freshwater fish in South America) and giant river otter. The highlight though is undoubtedly the gigantic manatees. Also known as sea cows, these herbivorous marine mammals can weigh around 600kg and feed on sea plants and mangrove leaves for six to eight hours a day. The manatee has an incredibly complex digestive system (taking about a week to digest a single meal), with the creatures intestines giving it its bloated appearance.

If you really want to splurge, you can even take the Manatee Mania tour ($118 SGD per adult) for a chance to really get up close with these incredible animals, however the main exhibit that you’ll go through when finishing up your River Safari experience provides a large area where you can sit and admire them from afar.

Shows at the River Safari

While I didn’t get the chance to see it during my visit, the River Safari also hosts the Once Upon a River Story presentation multiple times a day. This show highlights the important relationship that the animals living in river ecosystems have with their aquatic environment and provides opportunities to get an up-close look at some of these animals in the process. The show generally runs at 11.30AM and 4.30AM each day and is located near Boat Plaza.

Wrapping Up

After visiting the River Safari, its inevitable that you will compare it to the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. If you don’t have time to do all three of these attractions, this is definitely the one to skip. With that said, I still enjoyed my visit. The River Safari provides a unique mix between a zoo and aquarium and I can’t say I’ve been to a wildlife park like this one before. As I’ve said multiple times in this post, I view the River Safari as an ‘add-on’ to the Singapore Zoo experience. I wouldn’t make the trip out to the city’s outer reaches just for the River Safari, but along with the other attractions here, its a great way to spend part of your day. Besides, pandas and manatees are awesome. Now, grab a coffee out front and head over to the Night Safari.