Singapore Zoo Trip 2013

It's been quite a while since I last made an entry into my blog.  This time around it will be about a visit to the Singapore Zoo back in November 2013.

For this trip I equipped myself just with the Nikon D5100 and the AF-S 18-300mm F/3.5-5.6G ED VR.  Lincoln was very excited from the moment we arrived.  At the entrance we were greeted by this small cute fellow.

I really forgot the name of this little primate....

Nearby the monkey was the otters enclosure.  They are cute little critters that like to lie in the sand and wrestle around.

Wrestling otters - reminds me of myself and my son when we roughhouse a bit

We then walked on to the white tiger display and I managed to get some decent shots of the tiger prowling about his enclosure.

Managed to snap this shot as the tiger stopped to make a turn

A closer look of the tiger prowling around

Near the tiger's enclosure are the baboon cages, a goat cage and the Australian enclosure where we saw some kangaroos and possibly an ostrich.  However I didn't get decent shots of these cute animals.  We also saw the cheetah, elephants and giraffe.  The cheetahs in particular preferred to hide under the shade for most of the time.

Then it was time to visit Inuka the polar bear.  He's such an amazing sight to see, especially when he swims close to the glass panel where we can get a good close look at him.

A swimming Inuka

Inuka chewing on his lunch

 After the exciting meeting with Inuka we walked to nearby butterfly enclosure where I snapped this gang of butterflies.

Gang of butterflies

Then there are these sleepy ring-tailed lemurs which reminds you to "move it, move it".

This guy moved too much

Then we took a tram ride to rest our feet while still enjoying the sights of the zoo.

An orang utan shot from far away

In conclusion, I really liked shooting with D5100 and the AF-S 18-300mm F/3.5-5.6G ED VR.  The 16.7x zoom range is extremely useful, the VR oh sooooo helpful at telephoto end.  And I don't have to change lens from time to time.  The 2nd time I visited the zoo I brought the 18-55 and 55-200 combo, but seriously, I hated that combo...  And the AF accuracy of the DSLR is so much more suitable for these zoo shots rather than the mirrorless.

I guess I'll still keep my DSLR after all no matter how good the AF of my X-T1 is.  I found shooting on my D5100 with this lens a better experience than the X-T1 in all honesty.

Here's a closing shot of my wife and Lincoln feeding a rhinoceros.

Rhino feeding time

~ Photos taken with Nikon D5100 + AF-S 18-300mm F/3.5-5.6G ED VR ~