It was the first weekend of 2022, so hubby gave me a surprise and brought us to River Wonders to see the new addition - Baby Panda (Le Le 叻叻). I've been keeping tabs on the newborn via the Zoo's Facebook page and since we are both fans of pandas, how can we miss it when the baby's "for show" now?
It's been raining cats and dogs that day, not only was it a wet day, it was also very crowded with tons of panda fans. The queue went from the panda sanctuary, all the way till the bridge across to the other side of the River Wonders.
Some people gave up halfway while queuing, but I didn't want to waste the chance, not knowing when hubby will be free again to visit the zoo with me, and how often will you get to see a baby panda? So we just "fought on" and waited for our turn.
Whilst waiting, we treated ourselves to some panda buns and drinks. There was also some panda themed coffee and desserts but they were require seating at the cafe, so we skipped them. By the time we finished the buns, the queue started moving and we were inching our way towards the sanctuary.
I couldn't hold back my excitement as we got closer and closer to the pandas. As we got to the entrance of the Giant Panda Forest, more information on baby Le Le was on display. You can read about the pandas here - https://www.mandai.com/en/river-wonders/animals-and-zones/giant-panda.html
Upon entering the cold panda sanctuary, we were first greeted by the sleeping red pandas. I remembered them running around the branches when I came by last time to visit Jia Jia and Kai Kai, so I guess it was nap time for them...
Anyway, we were all told to keep 1metre distance away from each group of visitors, keeping tight to the Covid-19 rules. But that also became a little restrictive as we can't linger around to observe the pandas and get more photos... :(
Next, was Kai Kai (Daddy Panda) out showing off his eating skills, enjoying his bamboo meal on his back. He looked so chill at 3pm in the day enjoying his tea break whilst we all queued along his space, taking photos. Wonder if we were there to see the pandas or for them to see how humans queue..... 😰
Jia Jia (Mummy Panda) was on maternity leave, and so her space was empty. You can see her size compared to baby Le Le in this statue above and next came the exciting moment - Baby Le Le's time!
Tucked in a glass window just slightly before you leave the sanctuary and enter the souvenir shop, you will find this little shy fur ball. I hated the way we were shuffled and asked to move on, not giving us proper photo opportunity.
The zookeeper simply took out phones and snapped 2 photos, asking us to move along. If not for my request to retake the photo at another angle and try to capture the panda out of hiding. the above picture would be what we have and seen of Le Le. I didn't even get the chance to wave and say hello to him... 😒
Lucky for good camera lens on smartphones these days, I managed to zoom in from the souvenir store and waited for Le Le to get out of hiding, these are a few of my precious photos of him...
Queued for nearly an hour and we only got to spend 10 minutes in the sanctuary, I left feeling so disappointed, so I went over to the other side of River Wonders to spend some time with the super adorable Manatees...
On the way, we were greeted by playful otters before we enter the huge aquarium in the Amazon Flooded Forest that houses the Manatees alongside other riverine fishes.
You can learn more about the Manatees here - https://www.mandai.com/en/river-wonders/animals-and-zones/manatee.html#Larger.
The Manatees can also be viewed from a top view as we moved further down the sanctuary, don't they just look like little submarines?! Anyway, I found out that you can spend a night with the Manatees, here's the link to it - https://www.mandai.com/en/river-wonders/things-to-do/whats-on/staycation-with-the-manatees.html.
Night was approaching when we left River Wonders and the rain didn't help dispel my disappointment. Guess I will have to make another trip to see Le Le again and hope it's soon, he is growing bigger everyday...
The public can view the Le Le twice a day, at about 10.30am and 3.30pm. Each viewing session will last 20 to 30 minutes. Hope you have a better chance than me in seeing the baby panda in action. 😆
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