Chimpan A to Chimpan Z

The other day I felt like getting out into the wild, and so I took a taxi over to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. It was only a few minutes from home, and what a lovely place it was! I chose a few dirt paths that weaved through the jungle terrain. It was complete solitude, except for a handful of hikers that passed me, the rustling of animals in the trees, and singing birds. I was entirely encompassed with thick jungle vegetation and weblike vines everywhere in between. It felt as though I was in an Indiana Jones movie.

The majestic beauty of a banyan tree.

All right the highlight of my excursion was an unexpected visit I had from some close relatives. I was nearing the end of the trail, when I became a little disappointed. I was told that there are tons of macaque monkeys in the reserve. I hadn't seen one. Suddenly, two monkeys darted from the trees and into the paved road! This was a pleasant surprise, and before I knew it the entire road and the trees surrounding were filled with a whole tribe of wild monkeys! They were swinging from the trees, wrestling one another on the pavement, grooming, and causing a huge raucous. I couldn't help but watch them for a few minutes, and take some pics.

Haha. LOL MONKEYZ!

DON'T HURTZ ME! I IZ PLAYING DEAD!

Grooming.

They were seriously all over the place, and they didn't seem to mind or really pay attention to me at all. Well, that was until the dominant alpha male of the group got a little irritated. All of the sudden this big monkey charged towards me, snorting in a very threatening manner! It practically scared the pants off me. Never been chased by a wild monkey before, but it taught me that they do not appreciate the paparazzi!

The next day was also an encounter with the animal kingdom. We attended Breakfast with the Orangutans at the Singapoore Zoo. Looooooved it.

I got to feed the elephants!

And I got up close to the orangutans.

I wanted to take them home with me!

I wanted to kidnap the baby, but declined at the thought of having my arms torn out of their sockets by Big Mama.

The whole fambly.

Who couldn't love that face?

Did you know that Orang Utan means "forest people" in Indonesian?

And don't they just look it?

Apparently these apes have 97%

of the same DNA that we humans have.

Chimps have 99%.

Craz-uh.

Grandma and Don with his safari hat.

Sam and Kris looking cool at the zoo.

I had to throw this pic in just because I though this white tiger was so awesome!

Just beautiful!

All right, all right. . . can you tell that I'm a dorky animal lover? What can I say? I've been that way since I was a kid, and haven't changed one bit. Guess where I'm going tonight?

A Night Safari!

I'm way stoked.