Twycross

Next on our world tour of zoos is Twycross. This is the place to go if you want to see primates. They have dozens of primate houses, all with lots of room, lots of things to entertain the monkeys and big, clean glass windows.

But glass is horrible to shoot through. Reflections and optical imperfections mean that we would rather shoot through wire fences, so the pictures from Twycross are not very representative of the stock.

Chester

Next day, we were off to Chester Zoo. This place is huge. Bigger than Marwell. Bristol zoo would fit easily inside the Chester car park. With magnificent, spaceous, well-designed enclosures.

Using a camera in the butterfly house took some planning on a cold Frbruary day. First, we went to the Jaguar house, which was slightly heated, to warm the lens in our hands then assemble the 180mm macro on the camera. Then, keeping it cosy under a jacket, we went to the butterfly house and held the camera under the downdraft of the heater at the door to warm it further, wiping to remove any surface condensation. A good half-hour of preparation and we were ready to take pictures in the humid hot-house.

On the way home, the trusty van clocked 100,000 miles. We have had it since new and it has been an excellent vhicle.