Around South East Asia: Part Eleven

In which I explored the bird park

13.12.2022: Tour Day 7, City 3

When I got up today morning, I was alone in the room. My roommate had already taken the luggage trolley and gone for breakfast. As usual, I got ready and checked the whole room once. I went to the reception to keep the luggage and submit the room key. Then I had my breakfast at 8:15am. Today again everyone got into the photo clicking mode and making memories. A few were also discussing the travel ahead from the airport to home. The luggage was loaded into the bus, and we drove to our last sightseeing for the day, a bird park. We reached the venue at 9:20am.

Jurong Bird Park

It is the largest such bird park in Asia, it covers an area of 49 acres on the western slope of Jurong Hill, the highest point in the Jurong region. The park is divided into different zones. We started with the Penguin Coast.

Penguin Coast

African penguins live in an outdoor pool meant to recreate a South African coastline with artificially created waves on the lagoon. Inside a Portuguese galleon facade, gentoo penguins, Humboldt penguins, king penguins and northern rockhopper penguins are kept in a climate-controlled enclosure kept at 10-15°C.

Then we sat into the Tram ride, to take us further to different zones and provide information over speaker. It was difficult to watch the birds and click photos simultaneously. Hence, I captured the birds through lens of my eyes instead of the camera. It was a delight to watch a variety of parrots and other Asian birds. We stopped at the African Treetop.

African Treetops

This walkthrough aviary stimulates the canopy layer of a rainforest and features various birds from the rainforests of Africa. It features elevated walkways and a suspension bridge to provide an immersive experience, including ashy starlings, greater blue-eared starlings, great blue turacos, golden-breasted starlings, long-tailed glossy starlings, purple starlings, red-crested turacos, red-winged starlings, superb starlings, violet-backed starlings and Von der Decken's hornbills. We got back to the Tram and drove ahead for a bird show.

Birds of Prey

A series of large aviaries that house different species of birds of prey including Andean condors and king vultures. Showcasing the fierce and the formidable, the Predators on Wings presentation stars birds of prey — majestic creatures at the top of their food chain. Witness the presence of magnificent predators such as the White-bellied Sea Eagle, the Turkey Vultures and the Harris's Hawk. Also, discover how the Malay fish Owl catch prey with its strong, steady talons. This 20 minute show was a sure skip a beat one.

Flamingo Lake

Caribbean flamingos and lesser flamingos live in two enclosures. The park boasts a large flock of greater flamingos as well. We were so much into the clicking with the Flamingo mode that Mandar had to remind us all of the next bird show.

Pools Amphitheatre

The "High Flyers Show" showcases the natural abilities and skills of various different birds including their yellow-naped amazon named Amigo who can sing in three different languages and many other birds. These birds are trained to show their flying skills, educated of green waste and plastic waste, few can speak letters and numbers, etc.

Done with the bird watching, we headed for lunch at Bhai da Dhaba. We also had a cake cutting for celebrating the success of the tour. Post this we drove to the airport.