The Night Safari

As I mentioned at the end of yesterdays post, Kate and I went to the Night Safari on Wednesday night. At a traditional zoo, you don't get to see some of the animals as they are nocturnal; the whole purpose of the Night Safari is to see the animals usually missed at the zoo. This was not an easy place to take pictures as there is minimal light and flash photography is forbidden, for obvious reasons (but that doesn't seem to stop some idiots). I set the camera at ISO 3200, and tried my best.

The tour consists of both a tram ride and walking trails. The tram takes you by some of the bigger exhibits (lions, elephants, giraffes), and makes a couple of stops for you to explore the trails that lead to the smaller exhibits. The trails also allow you to get a bit closer to some of the bigger exhibits that the tram goes by. I think the highlight of the tour was the Mangrove Walk. This is a huge area enclosed by netting where you get a chance to get up close to Malayan Bats and Fruit Bats. The fruit bats aren't that much bigger than the bats we have at home, but the Malayan Bats are huge. The picutre below is not that clear, but the orb in the lower part of the photo is an average sized apple. This was not one of the larger bats either. These things had the wingspan of a good sized eagle.



The animals are obviously fed right before the park opens, as most of them were eating or had just finished eating when we were there, a good way to get them out to be seen. The fruit bat below is munching on a bunch of bananas



I think I enjoyed the regular zoo more, but all in all it was a pretty neat evening. Oh, I almost forgot, it wouldn't be a complete trip without the cheesy tourist photo: