Edinburgh Zoo - Chinese lanterns

Edinburgh Zoo has been on my list of places to visit for a while (and especially so since the pandas arrived). I haven't been there since I was a child, and I knew I would enjoy photographing the animals when I finally got round to going, so it's been on my summer "could-do" list for a few years. But when I found out there was an exhibition of Chinese lanterns going on, I just had to go and have a look at that, even though it was the middle of winter!

A couple of my friends had recently been there with their families, so I checked with them whether I needed to book to see the lanterns during the daytime, but it was just in the evening that you need to book. And there was also no need to book the pandas at this time of year, you could come and go as often as you like - this seems to be because they are hiding inside at this time of year, and there was no hope of seeing them!

Like the pandas, a lot of other animals were either hibernating or keeping themselves cosy indoors, so there wasn't a huge lot to see. This is what makes the lantern festival such a good idea - it gives some visual interest at a time when there aren't a lot of animals to see.

However, I did see some animals and of particular note were the meerkats, flamingos, and the penguins. And I did get a few glimpses of the koalas.

The Chinese lanterns were really spectacular, even in the daytime. They were large and brightly coloured, and in the shapes of many animals and plants.