Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland

Our last main stop before we move over to London was to the Edinburgh Zoo. It seems we must make a pit stop at a zoo in every major place that we visit. There are quite of marine park and zoo in Scotland but Edinburgh is one of the bigger and better zoo in UK so we felt obliged to drop in.

Edinburgh Zoo is one of the few zoo in the world to have the Panda bear. But it is more famous for its Penguin Parade where the Penguin goes on a real march through the zoo, Unfortunately we were there at the wrong time so did not get to witness this spectacular sight.

But we did managed to catch the feeding of several of the animals like the Oriental Short Clawed Otter gobbling down the mouse.

And the Asiatic lion running away with a piece of meat.

We also saw up close the Amur Leopard

The very rare Scottish wild cat

And surprise surprise surprise the Koala bear. This is the first time I seen one outside of Australia.

And another import from another country, the Stellar Sea Eagle.

And last but not least, this beautiful snake aptly named Taiwan Beauty Snake.

But overall I was disappointed with the layout of the zoo. It was a bit messy and most of the primates were kept behind glass enclosures. Maybe it is to protect them from the cold but the view of them were spoilt by the glass which were badly scratched. The variety of animals were not as great as I had hopped as compared to say Ueno Zoo or the Shanghai Zoo. 

River Safari & Amazon River Quest

Went back to the River Safari. Last visit was slightly over 6 months ago and the "boat ride" had not started then. To get to the boat ride, there is an extra $5.00 on top of the entrance fee. But frankly was a bit disappointed with the ride though.

The ride was the sort of lazy river ride that one get nowadays in the big water park. Just that we sat in flat bottom boat which winds round a small area of the park. There are supposed to be a number of animals along the way but maybe we were too early or it was too hot. We only got to see a few of the animals like this capybara, some howler monkey and some pig like animals.

The rest of the animals like the Brazilian Tapir, jaguar, giant anteater, wolf and some smaller monkeys were not visible at all.

Then there are the birds. The flamingoes were behind a netting which was kinda disappointing but there was a small flock of red bird - scarlet ibis(?) and they seems to be flying freely.

Of course the highlight of a visit to the Singapore River Safari is the panda and this time round we managed to see both of them and their cousin the Red Panda. Much more fruitful than the last trip.

This is Kai Kai

This is Jia Jia

The pair of Red Panda seems very stressed compared to the one we saw at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. I think it is because the enclosure is in an enclosed area and too near to the visitors.

Anyway, in my opinion, the Amazon River Quest is not worth the $5.00 especially if there is a long queue. But on the other hand, $5 is not too much and it is definitely better than the boat ride at the Bangkok Safari World where there are no real animals!

Ueno Zoo

Most country we visit, a trip to the local zoo is a must. And in Japan there are plenty of zoos but we only managed to find time to go to the nearest the Ueno Zoo. This is the oldest zoo in Japan I think. We were pretty excited because they have animals that we don't have in Singapore and the regional zoos - like gorillas, bison, okapi, dholes and some other interesting rare animals.

Unfortunately, the Eastern section of the zoo was closed for maintenance so no gorillas. We also couldn't see the bison. What a disappointment! But we did get to see some beautiful owls and took their pictures, something that is extremely difficult to do in Singapore since the owls are housed in the House of Darkness. Here, they are in the outdoor enclosures and once we overcame the problem of shooting through the bars and glass, we got some nice photos.

Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl

Wood owl?

Eagle Owl

Barn Owl

Some other birds

These are a pair of dholes. I think.

And guess what is this animal? The outcome of a horse and a zebra?

Too bad couldn't get a clear shot of it

All photos by Alicia

Langkawi Wildlife Park

Went for a short trip down to Langkawi, Malaysia. Purpose was to see the Princess who is doing her internship there so first stop after check in was her place of work, the Langkawi Wildlife Park. 

Now coming from a place where there is a world class zoo, a unique Night Safari and a brand new super duper River Safari, the small little Langkawi Wildlife Park pales in comparison. But what it lack in size and the quantity of the animals, it more than made up for it with its super service fully justifying the Certificate of Excellence awarded by Trip Advisor.

We didn't announce our presence as one of their staff's parent. We paid the usual admission fee and strolled in. What hit was most was the sheer small size of the place and the exhibit. Frankly in term of exhibits, there was nothing much. Some birds, mostly parrots, macaws, parakeets and budgie, peacock and some fowls. There were 2 crocodiles, admittedly one of them was super huge, 3 donkeys, some snakes and monkeys and some smaller mammals. Nothing much but what bowled us over was the friendly zoo keeper. They were so friendly and they freely chit chat with the visitors and during feeding time, invited the guests to help with the feeding which is how we ended up with these:

M feeding the peacocks

Mum feeding the Cassowary with tomato

The Kid having a swell time feeding the rabbits

We also got to feed the donkeys and the ostrich and also got to handle the Oriental Whip Snake. The amazing thing was we were handed the snake by a teenager. We found out later he was the boss' son and it being the school holiday, he was there to help out.

But what we found most amusing was the many signs place all over the place. I can imagine that if they can come out with cute fun signs like this, the Management are definitely on the right track to make the place a truly must visit attraction in Langkawi.

We found 2 similar theme things and I thought it be fun to post it here. Can you see what are the 2 similar theme in both pictures?

And this is no photoshop image here. The monkey really has blue balls!

River Safari

Our first visit to the Singapore River Safari. To my disappointment, it was only partially open with some exhibits still not opened. But what was open to the public certainly didn't disappoint. And the landscaping was good. The place was beautifully landscape that it was like being in a resort.

True to its theme, there were exhibits after exhibit of fishes. In this respect, I actually prefer this to the South East Asia Aquarium where what they have are the usual sea water fish.

Here there are more exotic fish like the alligator gar, the Cambodian fish, Siamese Catfish, piranha and manatee, ok that is not a fish but still it lives in the water.

 And of course the highlight of the place are the panda.

And the side show

All photos by Alicia.

Jurong Bird Park

Singapore has some very world class parks and animal parks. One of the most unique is the Jurong Bird Park. Unfortunately, after seeing 1bird, 2 birds and 3 birds, all the birds start looking alike. So unlike the Zoo where we go more often, we hardly go to the bird park. The other deterrent of course is the cost. But since the Princess was volunteering there, we decided to pay her a visit.

One thing about the birds are that they are mainly in cages abide big cages but with the bars, it wasn't easy to take photograph. But there were a few walk in aviary  like the Waterfall, the Jewels, the Lory Loft etc where there are free ranging birds flying all over us.

Here are some of the birds that we saw.