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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- Supertree closeup
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- Supertree and Walkway
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- Supertrees from a distance