Breakfast with Orangutans at the Singapore Zoo

Breakfast with Orangutans 

We board a tour bus in Chinatown for the Singapore Zoo and Breakfast with Orangutans excursion lead by Tour East – Singapore. The Jungle Buffet Breakfast with orangutans can also be purchased at the zoo, but we recommend booking in advance because this encounter sells out quickly. 

After arriving at the zoo, we are seated at a table in an open air pavilion and free to visit the extensive breakfast buffet an unlimited number of times. There are tables of dumplings, sausages, eggs, fresh fruit, French toast, coffee and juices, potatoes, pancakes, and much more. The orangutans are just outside the pavilion on a wooden platform. As diners eat their way through the buffet, a zoo employee educates us about the orangutans followed by an engaging Q&A session.

Touching or interacting with the orangutans is prohibited, but some posing for photos are brushed with leaves as the primate family plays in the background. Zoo employees take photos that will be for sale later in a Singapore Zoo picture frame, and, at no charge, on personal cameras and cell phones. There is no limit to the number of times guests can join the photo line within the 60 minute time frame. 

Singapore Zoo

After the opportunity for photos ends, we are free to stay at the buffet pavilion and observe the orangutans or explore the zoo. Singapore Zoo is home to nearly 3,000 animals. In about 2 hours, we visit the exhibits scattered throughout the 26 hectares. 

During scheduled feeding times, food is available for purchase to experience an up close encounter with giraffes, white rhinoceros, elephants, goats, and giant tortoises. Standing in the feeding area, a giraffe slowly walks over, lowers it’s head, and pauses just long enough for Stephanie to feel its soft nose. Disappointed she doesn’t have food, it stomps its foot and walks away. Although brief, it was a close and long enough encounter to leave her with warm fuzzies.

Caught in the rain, not for the first time and unfortunately not the last, we huddle under a tree near the glass wall of the hippopotamus exhibit. While other animals find shelter, the hippos play as rain pelts the water.

Traveling Gingerbread Note: We recommend carrying an umbrella or rain jacket if visiting Singapore in September. We were caught in the rain multiple times. 

After our time at the zoo ends, we have the option to extend our stay and find our own return transportation. Ready to explore more of Singapore, we board the bus to Marina Bay. Next Stop: the world’s highest urban microbrewery, LeVel 33. 

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September 2018