INDONESIA TRIP: SINGAPORE PART II - BOTANIC GARDENS

 Tuesday, July 1, 2023

It finally stopped raining, or at least diminished to a very light drizzle, and we could move on to what had been our first planned activity for Singapore but which got bumped to early afternoon because of the deluge: a visit to the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

We got our hopes up when we saw this sign, but alas, no wild monkeys or otters approached us.

A few steps into the garden and we already knew this was something special. Check out the waterfall around the base of the palm tree. I've never seen that before! This is one of three gardens in the world, and the only tropical garden, to be honored as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We were looking for those wild monkeys and otters, but we saw this wild (both in habitat and in coloring) red jungle fowl instead, and that was almost as fun.

There was a massive cannonball tree, similar to what we saw earlier in the year in Jamaica and one of our favorite trees for obvious reasons, near the entrance. These trees grow as tall as 75 feet.

Interesting water features are everywhere.

As we were leaving the entrance area and heading into the park, we were reminded that we were in a tropical climate. In spite of the rain, it was incredibly hot and humid.

The weather, however, is what makes the garden so lush.

First up, the Heliconia Walk, plants related to gingers and bananas. We loved these in Colombia.

Next is Palm Valley, which has about 800 individual palms from over 200 species, one of the largest collections of palms in the world. The palm on the right (below) is actually a sculpture entitled Fifty Wings by James Surls, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Singapore's independence.

I love this Heritage Tree that was dedicated to Nelson Mandela when he visited the gardens for a VIP Orchid Naming in his honor. It is a Cola gigantea, the relative of Cola nitida, which was the source of the original flavoring for cola drinks.

Next up, the main attraction of an already pretty impressive botanic garden . . . orchids!

With 1,200 different species and 2,000 hybrids, Singapore's National Orchid Garden is one of the best orchid collections in the world. It really is an indescribable garden, so I will let my photos do the talking.

Our favorite part of the extensive Orchid Garden was the Sembcorp Cool House, a greenhouse of sorts that was designed to mimic the conditions of a cloud forest, which meant it the temperature dropped dramatically when we walked through the door. It was gorgeous inside, but it also was a relief to be out of the heat.

Close-ups of the orchids behind Bob:

These two orchids have little purses that catch the rainwater:

I mean, really. Have you ever seen anything like this before?

Out of the thousands of orchids we saw, this one may be my favorite. The unique stripes look like tree branches, tree roots, the circulatory system, and neural pathways all at the same time.

We gathered our courage and headed back out into the heat. I love this sculpture of orchids and bees that is just outside the Cool House.

The landscaping was over the top--literally.

We headed in the general direction of the exit, passing the Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage. During a performance, the audience sits on the grass with the moat between them and the orchestra.

We kept walking . . .

. . . resisting the urge to nap on the park benches . . . 

. . . until we came to a large lake.

Still hoping to see the wild monkeys and otters, we had to settle for a bunch of turtles. 

Then we saw something moving in a swampy area of the lake. An alligator?

Nope. It was this handsome fella, a water monitor. The second largest lizard in the world, they can grow up to 10 feet long. There were actually two or three swimming around in the same general area. This must be the creature that Godzilla was based on.

No way would I want to be in the water with a monitor lizard.

We ran across this sign as we were walking towards the exit:

Bob looked and looked, but he didn't see a single otter. Bummer.

We have been to Buchart Gardens near Victoria on Vancouver Island; Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, South Africa; the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kandy, Sri Lanka; the Hope Botanical Gardens in Kingston, Jamaica; the Huntington Botanical Gardens in Pasadena, California; and the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanical Garden in Arcadia, California. Overall, I think I liked the expansive gardens in Cape Town the most, but nothing beats the Orchid Gardens feature in Singapore.