Couple of hours at the Oakland Zoo

It was raining in the morning and outside temperatures were in the high 30's. We had made plans earlier to walk around Berkeley and then go on to the Oakland Zoo by noon. The weather was not something we factored in.

So we whiled away the morning indoors with the kids playing Kinect and then the sun came out! It was warm enough to walk outside without a jacket. It was already 11:30 AM.

With a rush of last minute enthusiasm we declared "even if we get to spend only two hours at the Zoo, so be it! Let us go" and we drove off to Oakland.

The weather was perfect to walk around and we got to spend exactly two hours at the zoo. We knew we were going to cover a small section of the zoo and let the kids go at their own pace till the zoo officials kicked us out at 4PM.

We were in for a treat. The lions and tigers were at their active best as were the macaws! The rest of the cages and enclosures were empty but thanks to the skyride we were able to figure out which enclosures had active animals and go see those.

Here are some pictures, thanks to the 70-200mm lens and the 2x extender which was used extensively on this trip. The wife and kids as well as BB family gave the photos a two thumbs up..

The small play area with the frogs and tortoises brought back so many memories of our last trips to the same zoo..

The little one still has the same fascination for the golden lion at the exit after four years!

The kids got their share of "rides"..

Finally for the photographs of the Tigers and Lions. Have never been able to get them like this in any zoo trip so far! Must have been my lucky day..

As far as wild animals go this is what we got to see. So in line with the S.Ve. Sekar joke,

Question : Can you name 10 wild animals?

Answer : 5 Tigers and 5 Lions!

you get 5 photographs of the Tigers and 5 of the lions.

Well, let's make that six pictures of the Tigers as this last one is too good to not post on the blog!

Our short visit in video.. The 70-200 converted to a 140-400 may be great for pictures but it is not easy to shoot video with such a huge lens combination. Holding it steady in your hand becomes quite a challenge.

The next visit might be a few years down the road for all we know. One thing is for sure. If you want a place where kids can have some outdoor fun, the Oakland zoo will always make it to the top 5 in our list!

.