Mandai Reserve is a green gem of Singapore every tourist needs to visit: it consists of Night Safari, Singapore Zoo, River Wonders, Bird Paradise, and Rainforest Wild ASIA!
Still thinking which one to choose? Maybe you have time for all, maybe just for a one or two!
1. Night Safari
The Night Safari will be one of the most memorable visits from your first trip to Singapore! We’ve been there three times and would return without a doubt.
As it’s obvious from the title, the main difference that this park is open solely after dark, after 7pm, and you can see some rare animals which are active at night. Some parts of the trails are explorable only by foot, and others you visit on a tram with a voiceover.
Civets, kiwi birds, tigers, elephants, snow leopards, porcupines, monkeys, bats, deers – and those are just a few to name out of 2500 you can see there! Unfortunately, the photographs are not great there, as the lighting conditions are obviously poor.
There is a shop area with restaurants at the entrance and ranger stops along the way. There are some fun activities for kids too like measuring the jumps, trying to find resemblance between animal faces and your own face etc.
Recently, they redeveloped the Pangolin Trail and built the Leopard Trail. We had the pleasure of having a tour with Riyan, an extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide, without whom we would not have spotted half of the animals!
We also attended an animal presentation in the amphitheater (it’s free, but you have to book a seat).
2. Rainforest Wild ASIA
Rainforest Wild ASIA is known as ‘the first wildlife adventure park in Asia’, and this is very true – it felt like a civilised and just a tiny bit artificial safari park! Despite the weather, we decided to give a thumbs up to the Rainforest ASIA park (we bought our tickets in advance) and didn’t regret it.
This is not a zoo; it’s a close rainforest simulation adapted for humans to get a slow adrenaline rush and to search for animals in the wild (they have LOTS of space and can hide whenever they want).
It felt good and safe for both humans and animals. There are 36 species of animals living here, and we had a chance to see a tiger, a tapir, some hogs, a crocodile, various turtles, and different species of monkeys and squirrels despite the stormy weather.
There are three large zones: the karsts, the forest treks, and the cavern. Even if you know they are human-made, they look very impressive! For someone who simply loves plants, this park was like a candy shop, with so many plant species growing around.
There are a few routes you can follow: ‘wilder’ ones, those with easy hiking and ramps for strollers and wheelchairs, or simply those who feel less adventurous that day. There are also some perks for those who’d like to acquire a deeper experience as an explorer: you can find narrow hanging bridges, jumping canopies, cave exploration, and much more. Don’t get discouraged if you’d simply like to walk around, as there’s an accessible easy route available for everyone.
3. River Wonders
Meet another totally worth visiting another animal park by Mandan Reserves collection — River Wonders, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
It’s a unique, extremely well-made safari park dedicated solely to the river habitats and animals whose life is closely linked to water.
On your journey through it, you’ll learn about the fauna of human history’s largest and most important rivers, like the Yangtze, Nile, Amazon, etc. There are some educational stands with activities for kids too.
Expect to meet lots of colourful fish swimming in the most transparent waters, including giant catfish, some birds, reptiles, manatees, and capybaras, giant Asian otters, long-tailed macaques living here in the wild and stealing food from visitors and…pandas!
Kai Kai and Jia Jia are definitely the stars of the River Wonders. As you probably know, pandas are really slow to reproduce. Still, here, Jia Jia gave birth to a cub in 2021, Lee Lee. He was brought to China just a few weeks before our arrival (as the panda cubs mature, they must be brought to China as the Chinese government claims all pandas belong to their country). There’s a lovely panda-themed cafe on the grounds as well.
Overall, I’d recommend visiting this unique venue even over the Singapore Zoo: believe me, you’ll have fun!
This year, George was tall enough for the Amazon boat adventure – you might get wet, but you’ll see jaguars, various monkeys, guanacos, anteaters, capybaras, and other animals native to Latin America.
4. Bird Paradise
Bird Paradise is another park out of the Mandai reserve parks. It opened in 2023, taking over from Jurong Bird Park, which operated from 1971 to 2023.
You’ll be amazed by the number of birds living here: there are around 400 species and over 3,500 birds in total! The weather during our first visit was pretty tropical with heavy rain, so we didn’t see much. The penguin cove was a must-visit and it was under a roof — just look at all these themed desserts!
Because the weather limits our park exploration, at least we watched the animal presentation there!
This activity takes place three times a day, where a few birds are presented one by one to the audience, with a small talk given about each. At the end, you’ll see flamingos and pelicans roaming around the lawn while everyone waves goodbye to the audience.
However, in two month time we returned to Singapore again! And that time we were incredibly blessed with the weather and had the most amazing time exploring!
Lory Loft, Wings of Asia, and Crimson Wetlands were our favourite areas, but there are many more to discover.
If you have the opportunity, be sure to participate in one of the bird feeding activities. We had participated on one around the Asian wings area where the park resembles Bali with its water terraces, and fed Storks and Pelicans with fish and insects.
5. Singapore Zoo
Looking for a fun day out in the Jungle? Come to Mandai reserves, a complex of animal parks with different specialisations, and this is the first of them on my list.
Those are different entities, and you need different tickets for all of them but you also can buy a combined ticket. The most famous of them is probably the Singapore zoo: get ready to get lots of fun when you’re in Singapore with kids!
Singapore Zoo was opened in 1973 and is also managed by Mandai Wildlife Reserves Singapore (the same as the Night Safari, Marine Park and the BirdPark). You can explore it on foot or by taking a tram train. There are animals and a large KidZone with various activities, a water splash area, many cafes and shops, not to mention numerous vending machines throughout its territory.
There is clearly some work on parts of the zoo (maybe they construct new enclosures, I’m not sure); however, the vast territory reminds me more of a park than a zoo.
We encountered giraffes, zebras, tigers, elephants, otters, orangutans, lemurs, rhinos, and many, many more!
Where to Stay – Or Probably Not: Mandai Resort Hotel
We decided to stay at the newly opened Mandai Wildlife Reserve by Banyan Tree Hotels for a few nights to get closer to nature and the Mandai parks to economize time and shorten our travel time to the park. However, unfortunately, this plan went wrong – and I really mean it (and I rarely complain here, as you know). The standarts of a 5-star hotel were definitely not maintained and the mistakes were not addressed properly by the staff.
Overall, Mandai Resort looks like a rainforest-inspired concrete paradise. It is adjusted for spotting wildlife and celebrates the local biodiversity. You can easily reach the local parks of Mandai Reserve: Night Safari, Singapore Zoo, River Wonders, Bird Paradise, and Rainforest Wild ASIA. The room looked nice, and George has the prettiest kids’ corner with giraffe bedding and a butterfly lamp. The balcony view over the lake was not bad — just imagine when the plants grow everywhere on the walls (as I understand, that’s the concept, but since the hotel opened a few days before our stay, it was not there yet). Have you ever seen a seed pencil with rose seeds?
On the roof, there is a terrace with incredible views over the rainforest; however, there were still some works taking place. Apart from that, it’s all ready for visitors. There’s even a small garden with plants used in cooking and a pool. The breakfast buffet is not very big but still not bad, and the interiors are again very appealing. However, there were too many problems with everything else.
We actually spent more time dealing with problems during our stay than we would have spent traveling from the city centre to Mandai parks and back! The check-in experience was simply outrageous – we waited over an hour in the outdoor area with mosquitoes; our room wasn’t ready until around 7pm, and absolutely no one knew or cared about it. We were offered two vouchers for cakes (we’re a family of three) to compensate for it. Sadly, the staff seemed to lack the knowledge to address any situation involving guests.
Moreover, there were issues with room services (on the second day our room wasn’t cleaned properly with some cleaning equipment left in the room – definitely not a good thing when you have a toddler exploring everything around him) and some sound isolation because I was woken up several times by people walking in the corridor or moving in their rooms; and the works on ‘building a hotel’ were still ongoing while we were there. I saw multiple good reviews of the hotel – it felt like they were produced by bloggers who visited the hotel before the grand opening and probably had all the staff’s attention while the hotel was still empty.
Overall, the hotel looks great – it’s such a shame the service is lacking at the moment. I think the staff was still adjusting to this work and didn’t have enough training for a 5-star hotel. If you decide to come in a year, it might be a completely different experience!
You might also like my other blogs about Singapore.
Hope you liked my blog!
Yours, Anna
Xxxx
