20 Mar 2020 - Cloud Forest (Gardens by the Bay)

From Flower Dome, we walked over to Cloud Forest, which is just next door.  Cloud Forest is a Cool-Moist Conservatory where we could explore the tropical highlands amidst orchids, pitcher plants and ferns from the Tropical Montane region.  The moment we stepped into it, we encountered the world's tallest indoor waterfall at 30 metres and descend through the surreal mist-filled Cloud Walk and Treetop Walk.

Cloud Forest is not short of amazing flowers, just like Flower Dome.

The mountain is densely planted with fascinating orchids, delicate ferns, colourful bromeliads, dazzling begonias and carnivorous pitcher plants. All of these are epiphytic and live on top of other plants in nature.

The path led us to a lift which we took to level 6 where we entered the Lost World, the highest point of the mountain, which showcases cloud forest vegetation typically found at around 2,000 metres above sea level.

From the Lost World, we arrived at the Cloud Walk and slowly made our way down to the plateau below, which took us outside of the mountain for a close-up view of various epiphytes plant species that clad the side of the mountain.

At specific timing throughout the day, the entire Cloud Forest will be covered by mist.

Next, we stepped into the Crystal Mountain Cave and discovered the many interesting shapes of real stalactites and stalagmites.

As we approached the bottom of the mountain, we went on a Tree Top Walk which took us close to the forest canopy for a spectacular bird’s eye view of the treetops.  As we looked up, we had a spectacular views of the Cloud Walk which we had "conquered" earlier.

There were many interactive boards around the walk which provides information about the various plants in great details.

Then we arrived at the Cloud Forest Theatre where we find out how we as individuals can do our part to help conserve nature, veer away from potential disaster, and move towards a more sustainable future.

The last section of the walk is the Secret Garden.  Here we discovered a new landscape of more than 7,000 plants of more than 135 species and hybrids in a representation of limestone forests and caves. Many of the plants belong to the gesneriads, begonias, orchids and ferns families, as these plants are commonly found in these habitats.

Throughout this trip at Gardens by the Bay, Javier had been busy taking photos to be uploaded to his Instagram story.

As it was getting late, we decided to have our dinner (Tim Sum) at Majestic Bay Seafood Restaurant, which is located near the entrance/exit of the Cloud Forest.