Monday, June 11, 2007
Getting close and friendly with the birds
Recently I visited the KL Bird Park which is promoted as the 'world's largest walk-in free-flight aviary'. I guess I bought what that says and expected all the birds to be flying free so I put down my RM30. I figured it was well worth that even though Malaysians pay around half the foreigners' rate. With the long zoom on my camera I should be able to get some pretty decent shots. I figured I'd be happy.
When I got inside I discovered that probably half, or perhaps more, of the birds are in cages. I realize there are huge logistical problems with having all the birds flying free but that's what the promotion material suggests and it didn't live up to the expectations.
After I'd spent a couple of hours there—it really is big—and worked hard to get a few good shots despite the wires, I discovered that for RM5 more I could take pictures of myself with a tame bird or two. I declined. Considering the promotion I figure it is a bit rich to expect you to pay more for what you expected to get included in the entry price.
Having got that off my chest, I must say that the park is quite well run and has a good range of birds. It is a pity that more Malaysians don't take advantage of what is a very good price (to them) for such a facility. I visited during school holidays but it wasn't crowded and I think the vast majority of visitors were foreigners.
I managed to take quite a few shots. The pick of them will soon be showing on my main photo page (see sidebar).
When I got inside I discovered that probably half, or perhaps more, of the birds are in cages. I realize there are huge logistical problems with having all the birds flying free but that's what the promotion material suggests and it didn't live up to the expectations.
After I'd spent a couple of hours there—it really is big—and worked hard to get a few good shots despite the wires, I discovered that for RM5 more I could take pictures of myself with a tame bird or two. I declined. Considering the promotion I figure it is a bit rich to expect you to pay more for what you expected to get included in the entry price.
Having got that off my chest, I must say that the park is quite well run and has a good range of birds. It is a pity that more Malaysians don't take advantage of what is a very good price (to them) for such a facility. I visited during school holidays but it wasn't crowded and I think the vast majority of visitors were foreigners.
I managed to take quite a few shots. The pick of them will soon be showing on my main photo page (see sidebar).
Labels: "Bird Park", "Kuala Lumpur" KL, Asia, fz20, Malaysia, photography
