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Chicago and Mississippi – Practicalities

May 8, 2023 by tomtotley

This post will cover the practical issues concerning the trip.

    • Flights: We flew with American Airlines from London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare. We chose that route because there are no direct flights to Chicago from Manchester, our nearest long-haul airport. We could have chosen other routes:
      • Aer Lingus have a direct flight to Chicago from Dublin and we could have taken an Aer Lingus shuttle from Manchester to Dublin first. That would even have let us enter the USA in Dublin! – there’s a US Customs & Border Protect post at Dublin airport and you are processed there. But that would have required a very early start at Manchester with a short transfer window so we opted against it;
      • Or we could have flown from Manchester to New York JFK or possibly Newark Liberty International and then taken a US domestic flight to Chicago. But again there were uncertainties about the transfer time, especially as we did not know how long it would take to clear immigration – that would have to be done in New York, our port of entry in this case – or perhaps our flight from Manchester would be delayed, or perhaps we might have to get across New York to a different airport.
      • So in the end we felt it was simply easier to drive to Heathrow the day before and stay at an airport hotel. In fact we booked a ‘Sleep and Park’ stay in which we had a night at the hotel and then left the car there until we returned. That turned out to be cheaper than booking a hotel and parking separately.
      • For the flight from Chicago to Memphis there were many choices with several airlines, both direct and with connections. However we were strongly advised to book direct flights and that led us to Southwest Airlines out of Midway.
    • Hotels: we stayed four nights at a hotel in downtown Chicago. This was made up of 3 nights at the beginning and 1 more night at the end (o/r from Memphis). These were booked in advance but with flexible bookings, and with payment on departure, not in advance. This turned out to be handy: when we booked the trip that final night was about $100 more expensive than the earlier three nights. While we were in Mississippi I noticed that the price of the final night had dropped, so I cancelled the previous booking and immediately re-booked at the lower rate.
    • Eating out: As ever, US prices were a shock, especially as what you’ll actually pay will be 25% to 30% more than the price on the menu. The extra covers sales tax (generally around 10%) and a tip, which these days will be at least 15% and possibly 20%. We spent more than we had expected to, in Chicago especially.
    • Getting around Chicago: We used the L a couple of times. However, we realised that other than the connections to the airports, it’s not especially useful as it doesn’t seem to go very close to some of the major tourist attractions. We had a bit of a walk from and back to the L when we visited Lincoln Park, and looking at the map it seems that several of the other major museums (the Field Museum which we didn’t get to, and the Museum of Science and Industry which we did) are nowhere near an L station. City buses go to both but we hadn’t researched them. In the event we used Uber to get to the Museum of Science and Industry which was easy but not cheap. The L was very easy to use, however, and certainly saved us a lot of money with the trips to and from Midway airport, and the final trip to O’Hare. It didn’t seem very busy, however – certainly nowhere near as busy as the London Underground.
    • An extra night on return to London: Our return flight from O’Hare was overnight, landing at Heathrow at just after 10am. We had decided that we would be too tired to safely drive back to Sheffield after that so we had booked an additional night in a hotel near to Heathrow (no driving required). In the event we were unable to check in until 2:30pm which, given that we had arrived at the hotel before midday, meant that we were just sitting around for over two hours. We were indeed very tired, too tired to do anything that afternoon, so we just sat in the hotel and our room, trying to stay awake until some not-too-unreasonable bed time. All in all, that day really dragged – the experience was a strong argument in favour of flying from Manchester, barely an hour’s drive from home. (We felt that we could have safely managed a drive of that length after the overnight flight.) So I doubt if we’d do it again.

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Chicago and Mississippi – Mississippi

May 7, 2023 by tomtotley

The purpose of the whole trip was to visit our daughter at her home in Oxford MS (Mississippi), where she lives with her husband. She moved there in 2019, and  we had planned to visit her in April 2020, but the pandemic stopped that. But now three years later we were able to make the trip.

We flew from Chicago Midway, Chicago’s second airport, to Memphis TN – the closest airport to Oxford. Midway airport is busy – about 20 million passengers annually before the pandemic. The biggest airline there by far is Southwest Airlines with over 70 destinations, almost all within the US. It has an L connection from the Loop on the Orange line, so we used that to get there. But it was early! Our flight was at 08:35 and we wanted to be at the airport by 6:30 at the latest. This meant getting up at 4:30, leaving the hotel at 5:30, and being on a train at about 5:45. The flight was uneventful, we landed on schedule at Memphis, and met our daughter and her husband who then drove us the hour or so over the state line into Mississippi and on to Oxford.

Dating from 1837, Oxford is an old-established town. It was always intended to be the seat of a university (hence the name) and in 1841 Mississippi duly selected Oxford as the home of the University of Mississippi, colloquially known as ‘Ole Miss’. Today the town has just over 20,000 inhabitants, and there are about the same number of students at the University. It’s a very traditional southern town – there’s a town square, with wooden buildings round it – today most of these are shops, bars or restaurants. There’s housing beyond that, then the typical strip-mall developments on the outer edge of town. The University is adjacent to town. Perhaps Oxford’s most well-known building is Rowan Oak, the home of William Faulkner the Nobel-winning author who lived there for decades. Today Rowan Oak is preserved and open to the public.

We spent three nights in Oxford, staying with a member of our daughter’s husband’s family. So we had two full days plus most of the day we arrived and the morning of the day we left. And we were kept busy, what with exploring the town and the wider environment.

On our first full day we were taken down into the Mississippi Delta. This is not in fact the actual delta at the mouth of the Mississippi river – that’s know as the ‘River Delta’. The Mississippi Delta is an area of flat, fertile agricultural land in the NW of Mississippi, lying alongside the river. This was where cotton was King; this was where the Blues were first sung; and this was where racial oppression was possibly at it worst, from the later 19th century to the mid-20th. It has a unique racial, cultural and economic history. Here’s a link to a Wikipedia article about it.

We spent the day driving through it, and we saw some of the contrasts. We visited Clarksdale, where early bluesman Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil; then Merivale where we visited a pottery and ate a very good lunch at a very good restaurant; the Mississippi Grammy Museum at Cleveland (more Grammy nominees have come from Mississippi than from any other state); and finally we had a light meal in the bar at the Alluvian Hotel in Greenwood. In the space of just one day you can only scratch the surface of the area, but you can perhaps recognise its contrasts: the coffee shop at Clarksdale was so different from the restaurant at Merivale, for instance. It was certainly fascinating.

We spent the following day in Oxford and its environs. There was an open day on campus, with all the University departments promoting themselves; then we walked round to Rowan Oak and relaxed in the grounds for a while.

And of course throughout the visit we ate and drank! I lost count of the places where we ate good meals, but I remember drinks at City Grocery (it’s a bar, despite the name – it’s possible that it was a grocery store once upon a time); coffee at Clarksdale and the lunch at Galleria in Merivale; and most of all, the excellent meal at Lenora’s bar & restaurant in Oxford. A great evening.

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Chicago and Mississippi – Chicago

May 6, 2023 by tomtotley

In April 2023 we went to Chicago and Mississippi while visiting our daughter. She lives in Mississippi with her husband and his family. This was a trip of two halves: some days in Chicago at either end of the trip, and some days in Mississippi in the middle. This first post will cover Chicago.

We’ve never been to the Windy City but other people had told us that it’s worth visiting, and having now done so ourselves, we would agree. We landed at O’Hare airport (Chicago’s main airport, of two) late afternoon at the end of our flight from Heathrow. Flying time was about eight and a half hours. O’Hare is 20 miles or more from our hotel in downtown Chicago, and the taxi we took cost us over $100. Partly this was because it’s a long way, and partly because, thanks to hold-ups caused by roadworks, it took us over an hour. It’s also possible that we ended up in the wrong sort of taxi, i.e. a more-expensive mini-van. Happily we had a couple of hundred US dollars in cash with us so were able to pay – the taxi didn’t take cards – but it was an expensive start to the holiday.

We were staying at a hotel at Wolf Point, in the downtown area – just across the Chicago river from the Loop. This was fine – a spacious and comfortable room, good facilities in the hotel, and of course handy for downtown. Not the cheapest but anywhere significantly cheaper was a long way further out. We enjoy being able to walk around the cities we visit, so staying centrally was our natural choice.

We had three nights in Chicago at the beginning of the holiday which gave us two full days, plus whatever was left on arrival day. However the time difference of six hours meant that arriving at about 4:30pm felt like 10:30pm to us so we were in bed by not long after 8pm – that felt like 2am to us, and we’d had an early start to the day in London.

On the first morning we had book a walk with a Chicago Greeter. This gave us a three to four hour walk around the downtown area and into Millennium Park. We had expressed an interest in Chicago’s architecture, and our guide, Peter Orlinsky, gave us an in-depth exploration of that topic, covering the main developments from the time of the great Chicago fire in 1871. This destroyed almost all of the existing downtown area, and it so happened that the rebuilding period coincided with the development of steel-frame construction, so the skyscraper was born in Chicago and has never really left. Peter took us into many buildings both historic and new, and explained their history and significance. This was an interesting and rewarding excursion, and was also free – Chicago Greeter’s policy is that there shall be no charge, or tip, for the tours – it’s Chicago residents talking about their city. Thoroughly recommended. Here’s a link the to website.

Still feeling tired from the flight we explored the Chicago riverfront area for a while after the walk, found somewhere to eat for the evening, then went back to the hotel and rested for a while. It’s worth saying that the weather during these two days was excellent – sunny, with temperatures into the low 20s, and dry.

The following day – our second full day – we took the elevated railroad – the L – out towards Lincoln Park. This is north of the downtown area and stretches alongside the shore of Lake Michigan for several miles. It’s a mixture of open grassed areas, some sports fields, beaches, a zoo, and other cultural attractions. On our way from the L at Sedgwick towards the park we called in to a Foxtrot Market on the edge of an area called Old Town and had an excellent coffee and sticky bun, then pressed on to the park.

We walked around it for a while and then decided to explore the zoo (a free attraction). We found that we didn’t really enjoy this so much – it was a very traditional zoo on a constrained site, so numerous rather small enclosures containing large animals. There were better features, for example a pavilion with a collection of very small reptiles and mammals all in very carefully-built and suitable environments, and that was more enjoyable, but I don’t think I would recommend the zoo. In all zoos I’m aware that the animals are in very artificial and often constrained environments. These days I wonder what visitors can learn from visiting a zoo that they can’t actually get from a David Attenborough wildlife documentary.

The zoo was followed by one of the highlights of the trip, a visit to the Chicago History Museum, which is located on the edge of the park. This is a big institution and we were already tired, so we restricted ourselves to a big exhibit about the Great Chicago Fire. Even so, we were there for over an hour. This was interesting and engaging – there are lots of exhibits from the fire itself, for example photographs of the aftermath, documents about it (e.g. letters from those who experienced it), paintings, and artifacts saved from the fire. We enjoyed it. Then it was back to the Foxtrot Market for a reviving cup of tea, and back to the hotel on the L.

After our days in Mississippi we returned to Chicago during the Sunday evening. We were staying at the same hotel, and used the L from Midway into the loop to get there. But it was cold – temperatures had dropped while were in the south to just about freezing, and slight snowfalls were forecast were the night. Walking back to Wolf Point from Clarke/Lake L station was a cold business, especially as Chicago was living up to its epithet that evening.

Our flight back to London was the following evening, so we had the day to fill. We had a lazy morning, including coffee at Merchandise Mart (attached to the hotel) then checked out at noon. We left our bags with the concierge and got an Uber to the Science and Industry Museum, where we spent just a few hours. This is a huge museum – we could have spent whole days here – but time was limited so we contented ourselves with some time in the Great Train Story gallery, followed by stepping inside the fuselage of a Boeing 727 which was suspended from the ceiling. We finished our visit by visiting their U-Boat (!) – U-505, captured intact by the US Navy in 1944. It was towed back to the US for investigation and research, and eventually put into storage. Some years later the submarine was handed over to this museum and installed in a basement gallery. It’s difficult to explain just how imposing it is – much bigger than I had anticipated.

U-505

We really enjoyed our visit to this museum and wished had more time, but we had a plane to catch in the mid-evening. So it was back to the hotel by Uber again, then a walk round to the L to get the train out to O’Hare – no $100 taxi ride this time!

We were very impressed with Chicago, and I have a feeling we’ll be returning.

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Battersea Power Station

February 8, 2023 by tomtotley

In January I visited the Battersea Power Station development. Basically, it’s a high-end shopping mall inserted into the old Battersea power station, plus surrounding development – more retail (less high-end), apartments, and a tube station. I hadn’t realised that something had finally been done with the site – I remember the Pink Floyd pig from the early 80s, and I also remember Margaret Thatcher enthusing about a planned redevelopment when she was PM – and she resigned in 1991, I think – but I also remember that all the initiatives stumbled and failed because of the scale of the challenge. But it has been done, and is open.

As I said, the shopping mall is pretty high-end – indeed, there are shops there for brands that I’d never heard of. (But I may not be in their target demographic, so fair enough…) What there weren’t was a lot of shoppers – indeed, I got the feeling that the majority of people wandering around were just there to have a look at it. Like me, in fact. By far the busiest shop I saw was a M&S Food store in the deveopment outside; that was packed.

There’s no doubt that the development has been well done – the new shops, etc, have been inserted into the old structure, and in a lot of places the old brickwork shows though. There’s even the occasional piece of (huge) generation equipment lying around, possibly to give a clue that it used to be a power station. The architecture around is pretty good – certainly the public spaces are on a scale that matches the original building. The apartment blocks are a bit of a disappointment, however. I took a bunch of pictures with my iPhone, inside and outside, and the best are attached below.

 

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Singapore 2022: Coming home

October 29, 2022 by tomtotley

Inside T3 at Changi Airport

We flew back to the UK on the Friday, 10 days after our arrival in Singapore. As with the journey out, this was a direct flight from Changi Airport to Heathrow with Singapore Airlines. We arrived at the airport with almost four hours to spare. We handed over our big bags at check-in and headed off to Jewel, home of the world’s highest indoor waterfall. Readers, we were disappointed – the waterfall has a rest until 10 o’clock every morning. Not much else seemed to be open, so we just headed back to the terminal and went through security. (Note to other travellers: Jewel is landside; you can’t get to it once through security.)

Once we were in the Departures area of T3 we found something I had forgotten about – the butterfly garden. It’s a small, enclosed area where butterflies of many species are just flying about and feeding on the sweet food that’s available to them. The butterflies are very beautiful, and looking at them helped fill up the time before we could board the aircraft.

Which brings us to the flight. It was not a pleasant experience; we were sat on the aircraft for 15 hours or a bit longer. The flight itself took almost an hour longer than scheduled, 14 hours instead of 13-and-a-bit. Then there were the usual periods spent sat in the plane both before and after the actual flight, and these amounted to at least an hour extra. I was feeling very sore and uncomfortable by the time we got off.

Getting back into the UK was pretty quick. There was a long walk from the gate to UK Border but after 15 hours being sat down I was glad for the opportunity to stretch my legs. We both got through the automated immigration process quickly, didn’t have to spend too long waiting for our bags, and found a Hoppa bus waiting to depart once we were outside in the T2 approach area.

We were staying at the Renaissance hotel, which is on the Heathrow estate. We’d left the car there 11 days earlier and were finishing the holiday with a night’s stay before driving home the following day. We felt that it would not be wise to attempt the drive after the long journey especially by the time we were at the hotel (8:30pm) we’d been awake for about 23 hours. So it was straight to the room, have a cup of tea, and then to bed, and slept well.

We got away from Heathrow somewhere around 9am the following morning and were home by just after 2pm. By this time the hours spent awake the day before were catching up with us. We did a bit of shopping for food, we washed some clothes, and then we went to bed, happy to be home.

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Singapore 2022: A visit to the Botanic Gardens

October 23, 2022 by tomtotley

An Orchid in the National Orchid Collection the Botanic Gardens

On our last full day we visited the Botanic Gardens. These are are a couple of miles away from the city centre but not too far from the hotel we’d moved to – we’d planned a two-centre holiday in Singapore (more on that in another post). It was a bit of a walk but went for it anyway. Additionally, entry to the Botanic Gardens – the main gardens, that is – is free, for locals and visitors alike. So off we set.

Thankfully – because we took a wrong turning and it ended up being further than we’d hoped – it was cloudy and eventually wet during the later morning so we weren’t walking in bright sunshine. Indeed, for a few minutes we had to get the umbrellas out. By this time it was late morning so coffee was called for, and we found a small food court selling kopi (more on that in another post, too). Then we set out into the gardens themselves.

They are large and, by Singaporean standards, old. The oldest section dates from the late 1850s, and the gardens were expanded during the following decade. In the early years it seems to have served as an ornamental garden for the enjoyment of the members of the horticultural society that then owned it, but they ran out of money to maintain the gardens and they were handed to the government in the 1870s. The government took them with several intentions. First, the ornamental aspect of the gardens were preserved and expanded, with access now free to all. Secondly, a zoo was established in the gardens. Thirdly the cultivation and exploitation of the rubber tree was studied at the gardens. This was so successful that by the end of the 19th century, Malaya (of which Singapore was then a part) produced half the world’s supply of latex, by tapping growing rubber trees. During the 20th century, and especially since independence (1965) the gardens have been principally developed as a leisure facility for the population to enjoy.

The gardens enjoy great regard among Singaporeans and in the world-wide horticultural community. They have been awarded the World Heritage Site accolade, one of only three gardens to be so honoured. The gardens also house Singapore’s National Orchid Collection – the national flower of Singapore is an orchid, and the National Orchid Collection holds well over a thousand different orchid species and many more artificial hybrids.

There’s also a small area of original tropical forest on the edge of the garden that’s been preserved. We took pictures of it, but I think that public access to it is restricted, or even prohibited. Much of Singapore was originally tropical forest but almost all was replaced by cultivation early in the colonial period – something called ‘gambier’ was the first cash crop to be raised. In fact its cultivation may have pre-dated the founding of the colony – Singapore’s early history is a matter of intense debate. But more of that in another post, as well.

We walked around parts of the gardens for several hours. As ever it was hot and humid, and in the early afternoon the clouds rolled away and the sun came out making it even hotter. Eventually we gave up long before we’d seen everything (indeed, I think it would take a number of visits to achieve that). However we did visit the orchid collection. There is a cost for this, but we found that by declaring ourselves to be Seniors we got in for a very reasonable price. They are very beautiful and very varied, and I applaud those who have made the study of the orchid their lives’ work (there are indeed such people).

And there were a couple of animals. We saw another otter, scurrying along a path. He was past us so quickly that I wasn’t able to get a picture, but I did get some of a later encounter with a monitor lizard; again, just lazing on a path.

Although hard, this was a good day.

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Singapore 2022: Marina Bay at Night

October 18, 2022 by tomtotley

Just some pictures of Marina Bay at night.

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Singapore 2022: A walk along Singapore River

October 18, 2022 by tomtotley

Lower Singapore River with Boat Quay beyond

On Monday we did a walk along Singapore River. In fact, we walked its entire length, from mouth to source; and not content with that, we added an extension along the Alexandra Canal. But fear not, this was no marathon – the river itself is listed as being about 3.2 kms in length, plus another 2 kms or so for the canal which makes about 5 and a half kilometres. Or a tad more than three miles, in old money. An hour’s walk, in other words, although what with stops here and there for coffee, loos, and pictures, it took us the best part of three hours. And we enjoyed every minute of it. It’s certainly not wild country – indeed, most of the walk was along paved walkways – and it’s completely developed. But we thoroughly enjoyed it, especially as it took us through some very different scenery and showed us some wildlife.

Otters playing on the river sidewalk

The first stretch was through familiar territory, along the Boat Quay and then Clarke Quay. However it was here that we had our first delightful surprise of the walk – we came across a family of otters on the walkway, playing, grooming and just being sociable with each other. I had heard that otters were becoming common in Singapore and were being accorded a special place in people’s regard, but to see a group from close up in this way was extraordinary – I had though that if we did see any, it would be from a distance, or in the water. We didn’t get too close, however – they are wild animals, no matter how accustomed to people they may have become, and predators at that, so the message is “don’t approach too closely, don’t annoy them, and above all don’t touch them”. So we didn’t do any of those things. By the time we walked on there were about a dozen people looking at them and really enjoying the experience. The otters seems to be taking no notice of the people at all.

Riverside Point – somewhat rundown

The next stretch was along Robertson Quay. The lower end of this has the air of having been left behind – there are some  developments, possibly from the 80s, that now look fairly abandoned. I gather that back in the day they were among Singapore’s prime destinations. But that would have been before the lower river had been cleaned up and made available for development and renovation. Today the crowds go to Clarke Quay and the Boat Quay.

As we progressed the quality of the buildings either side improved until we realised that we were moving through some prime real estate. Apartments in the upper Robertson Quay region go for millions of Singapore dollars, and I have to say they look very swish. Some of them take the form of gated estates formed from high tower blocks, with upmarket restaurants and bars at ground level. Oh to have the money! There were also some older-looking blocks that were undergoing renovation work – obviously this is an area where property is in demand.

This took us up to the end of the river proper, but we continued along a feeder canal that would lead to the Alexandra Park Connector. This was through plainer territory, mostly Housing Development Board (HDB) blocks, erected at various times from the 1970s onwards. At the end of this stretch was a small park, Alexandra Park, with some water areas and children’s play areas. Here we had another wildlife surprise – in an area of the park being restored we saw a small monitor lizard. Unlike iguanas, of which we saw an example at Jurong Bird Park and which are herbivorous, monitor lizards are definitely carnivorous predators. This was only a small specimen, but still not a creature to be approached carelessly. We looked, we took some pictures, and we walked on.

And that was our walk. After that we found a nearby MRT station and went back to the hotel, where after showering (being outdoors was very hot and sticky) we eventually got ourselves round the outside of a bottle of Burgundy. Expensive, but delicious.

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Singapore 2022: Gardens By The Bay (in the rain)

October 16, 2022 by tomtotley

Supertree, Skyline Walkway and Dome

This morning we went to Gardens by the Bay (GbtB from now on). This is several things all rolled in together: a) a large open-air public garden; b) a pair of two climate-controlled ‘domes’, containing plants and various other things appropriate to their theme; c) the Supertree Grove – more of that later. It was built in the early 00s, to replace an earlier public garden. It’s alongside Marina Bay Sands hotel, and something equally iconic was required, and this is it. In terms of external appearance, it’s probably the Supertrees that get the attention, but in terms of the quality and depth of the attraction it’s the domes and their contents.

When we left the hotel it was raining. Fortunately it began to dry up very quickly, and in any case we decided to do the Domes first, as we’d be indoors out of any rain.

There are two domes, the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest. The first of these is a series of plant exhibits – flowers, trees, succulents, etc – from all the areas of the world that have a Mediterranean climate. That includes the Mediterranean itself and also the coast areas of Southern California, a stretch of the coastline of Chile, and parts of the coast of South Africa. The display isn’t especially dramatic – you’re looking at flowers and other plants – but it’s very well laid out, very peaceful, and quite beautiful. We were there for over an hour.

Then it was on the Cloud Forest. This is much more dramatic, although strangely it didn’t take as long to go round. Essentially the dome attempts to recreate and demonstrate the forest conditions on the side of a tropical mountain that’s generally covered in mist or cloud (this being how the plants get their moisture). Apparently in such conditions there are many different species all living within a narrow range of altitude, so they get the right amount of heat, moisture, etc. As you go up the mountain the species present will therefore change. The various species of plants are very sensitive to changes in temperature and moisture, and are therefore leading indicators of climate change. GbtB have had a go at recreating this environment.

When you enter the dome you are faced with an artificial mountain, covered in vegetation. From the top of this there is a waterfall. You can ascend in a lift to the top of the ‘mountain’, and you then proceed along walkways that wrong you back down. Sometimes the walkway is away from the mountain, giving you a distant view, while at other spots you have a close-up view of the plants. All in all, you get an extraordinary view of a wide range of flowers, bushes and trees, in a dramatic environment. At various times the mountain is ‘misted’ – artificially created mist (water vapour) is issued from many outlets uo the mountain and forms a cloud that covers much it for a while. This happened while we were there.

As I said, although we weren’t in there as long it was very dramatic.

Finally we visited the Supertree Grove and walked along the Skyway. This is a walkway that connects two of the trees. It’s not very long – 170mtrs – and you just go up in a lift, walk along, come back, and then descend. However, it gives you great views of the trees and of the surroundings. (The Supertrees are functional, in fact – they exhaust air and operate as coolers for various bits of underground machinery for the domes.)

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Singapore 2022 – Birds!

October 15, 2022 by tomtotley

We spent most of one day at Jurong Bird Park. This is a large(ish) set of aviaries and free-flying enclosures, plus a theatre area and quite a lot of educational material. It has a genuine research and preservation role as well as providing recreation for Singaporeans and visitors – there are several species in captivity there that are critically endangered in their native habitat. Most of the birds (endangered and otherwise) are Asian and some of the endangered species are actually quite nondescript-looking. But their habitats are under severe threat – it turns out that clearing forests and jungles or draining swamps, even for the best of reasons, results in habitat destruction and species loss.

The park has existed since 1971. When it was created the site was quite some way out of Singapore city, and the current local townships did not then exist. 50 years later Singapore has spread and the Bird Park is surrounded by residential developments on one side and industrial estates on the other. So it’s being relocated, to a site in the middle of the island close to the other wildlife parks (Singapore Zoo, the Night Safari and River Wonders). The relocation was due to have happened in 2020 but of course Covid intervened and work was greatly slowed down. (Possibly, also, Singapore’s desire to do things properly rather than to an arbitrary timetable might have had an impact.) I was hopeful that the move would have happened by the time we went – for a while there were suggestions that it would happen “in the first half of 2022”, but in the event it didn’t. The move is now scheduled for 3 January 2023, which looks arbitrary but is in fact the anniversary of the existing park’s opening date. The new park will be called “Bird Paradise”.

These days the park is only open four days a week (although for the final month or so it will resume seven day opening). It’s a mixture of large aviaries in which birds from various species are exhibited, areas where the relevant birds will stay naturally (e.g. the penguin pool and the flamingo lake), and best of all some huge enclosures that are sealed, i.e. they are covered by very high netting and surrounded by barriers, thus giving the birds a very large area in which to fly freely. These were the best parts of the park, by far – some of the aviaries were very traditional-looking and I’m not sure how good a life the birds in them have. The new Bird Paradise will be much larger than the current park and will feature larger free-flying areas, greater research and conservation facilities, better educational facilities, and where required, e.g. for the birds of prey, better cages/aviaries. I’m sorry that we’ve missed it.

We enjoyed the visit. We were there for over four hours and walked round a significant part of the site. We’re not sure that we saw everything as, while there was an overall circular plan to the park, there were lots of paths that branched off, and we didn’t get down all of them. The best parts were the free-flying enclosures, Waterfall Aviary, Lory Loft and African Treetops. all of these had walkways at various heights, which allowed you get up high into the birds’ environment. In the case of the African Treetops enclosure, many of these were suspended on cables and wobbled a bit… The Lory Loft (Lorys are various species of parrot-like birds, and are very colourful) was exceptionally impressive – flocks of these brightly-coloured birds suddenly taking to the air and whizzing around the enclosure straight past you. The Waterfall Aviary was perhaps less so, but it was very peaceful; and we saw a number of birds there.

We enjoyed the visit, but I’m sure that Bird Paradise, when it opens, will be even more spectacular.

 

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