I have been looking forward to today...cos i'm finally heading to the Zoo! Moreover this trip was courtesy of my foto buddy ~ Wei's corporate zoo pass. I couldn't remember when i last stepped into our Zoo, probably 20yrs ago?
Woke up early & carrying a 3 kg backpack, I spent 1.5hrs of travelling time before reaching Mandai! Luckily, my journey was smooth while Wei who stayed nearer took a longer than expected time. Hence, we started past noon amidst a windless & cloudy day ... I juz prayed that it won't rain!
We scanned the map of the Zoo & tried to follow the paths... The first animal to greet us near the entrance was the Cotton Top Tamarin, a small & furry monkey. It's veri hard to photograph it as it was moving in an agile manner. Next, we walked thru' a glass enclosure area & saw the ugly & long nosed Proboscis Monkey sitted high up on the tree. This is where my zoom came in handy! Thou my zoom is not meant for wildlife shooting, the max capacity of 250mm made a vast difference compared to juz a kit lens. If only hv kit lens of 55mm, can forget abt taking the elusive animals!
When a bunch of kindergarden kids came into the area, we quickly went off... so noisy! The joke of the day was after walking a few mins, we heard some loud shrilling noises... Wei asked me if tt's made by the kids? I replied, 'No lah! Confirm it's some animals' calls...'' As we ventured thru' the bushes, we finally discovered the source! It's none other than the mischievious Gibbons! They were swinging around the trees & making sharp-tone sounds... mystery revealed ;-) Then, we strolled to view the pair of White Tigers. But alas! They were so far away & view was blocked by the foliages... no luck of snapping them.
Sun-tanning!
Our Feets vs Elephant's!!!
At the 'Great Rift of Ethiopia' zone, we saw the Hamadryas Baboon, most noted for their 'red bums'... A bunch of them were sitting near the waterfall, enjoying the cool respite! Then as we walked thru' the glass, we saw more of them... the younger ones were playful & would even fight/chase each other. While some u could identify immediately, who's the boss? (by how big & red is their bum). Next, we visited the Elephants of Asia & I was dismayed that the smaller asian elephants do not hv tusks... i prefer the african ones! (but not in sight). By now, we had walked for almost 3hrs...hungry & tired. However, the 'Rainforest Fights Back Show' was nearby, so we decided to catch it bef lunch. The show was entertaining as the baby orang utan swung across the rope, paused unexpectedly mid-way for the audience to take pics! So cute!
Baby peeping thru' (chewing sugarcane)
Next, the famous mascot of the Zoo ~ Ah Meng's descendents were an interesting lot to observe at the free-ranging broadwalk. I trailed a few of them & noticed that their snack was actually sugarcane! Then, the mommy Orang Utan chewed it into smaller pieces for her baby! The baby has cute innocent eyes ^o^ Followed on, we spotted the Giant Tortoises, really huge & barely moved, haha! Afterwhich, we traversed into the 'Fragile Forest' area where the Ring-Tailed Lemurs, Flying Foxes & Sloth roamed freely. I enjoyed tis area as it's interesting to be in so-closed contact wif the animals in their natural habitat.
Cute Squirrel Chewing Nut
Komodo Dragon
After a super late lunch at KFC, we continued our exploration to the 'Wild Africa' zone... I wanted to do a close-up of the giraffes but luck was not on our side. As it happened to be their feeding time, they stood at a far-flung corner. Wif some patience hanging around, I finally spotted one which was somewhat closer. The 'Lion King' was also elusive as it layed on its ground far far away! We learned abit on differentiating the Jaguar & Cheetah fr their spots...but still posed a huge challenge! Finally, it was approaching the zoo's closing time when we saw the Zebras!
It was a tiring but rewarding afternoon, practicing wildlife shooting which is exceptionally tough in an urban city... Nevertheless, was happy & thankful (あなたの友人に感謝) to have such an opportunity! My biggest travel dream would be to visit the Safari or view the animals great migration in Africa! Hopefully, it would be materialised within the next few yrs!
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