Sophie Campbell went to Singapore for the city’s celebrated ‘Night Safari’

MOONLIGHT. Out of the trees steps a tiger. Orange coat, white belly, all griddled with stripes. Sprays of whiskers caught in the moonbeams. Massive paws. He strolls down 5 to the river, files his claw thoughtfully on a log, steps over it and slides into the water.

The territory is 40 hectares of rain-forest, next to the respected Singapore Gardens. The Night Safari Park opens at 7.30pm as night falls and closes at midnight. 10 Its inhabitants are the nocturnal creatures — otters, leopards, rhinos — which you never really see in a daylight zoo because they are curled up and snoring.

Night Safari, now nine years old, is one of Singapore's top tourist attractions. Even so, the old rules 15 about animals still apply. On the night I was there, the Creatures Of The Night Show — with humorous commentary by a keeper with a headset — ground to a halt because the first act (a large owl) refused to come on. The mutiny spread: a leopard failed to appear on its platform.     

The Night Safari is staggeringly popular and since its great charm is the illusion that 20 you are out there with the animals, it really is worth aiming for solitude. You can walk — there are three different walking trails — or take the open-sided tram, which does a West Loop and an East Loop.

My advice is to turn up at 9pm, avoid the show, always packed, and while everyone else is watching it, do one of the walking trails. The authentic jungle noises alone make 25 the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.

You should get back just as the people watching the show rush off on the trams. This is your cue to dine at the Bongo Bongo Burger Bar and walk another trail to work off the food. As the stampede begins for the exit, you nip on to the last tram (11.15pm), and survey the creatures in peace!