Often called the ‘best zoo in the world’, there was no doubt in my mind that Jack would insist that we visit San Diego Zoo whilst in the city. Located in Balboa Park, the enormous zoo is home to over 3,700 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies, and is one of the few zoos in the world that houses and successfully breeds the giant panda. That, along with the relatively new ‘Koalafornia Adventure’ exhibit, meant that I did not need much persuading. Read on to find out more about our trip to San Diego Zoo…
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Rising early in the morning with the intention of avoiding the crowds, we set off in the San Diego sunshine zoo-bound (of course, grabbing an American treat on the way for breakfast!). After a short bus ride from the city centre, we arrived just a few minutes after it opened, finding it already packed with people who had had the same idea as us. Fortunately we did not have to queue for too long, and were soon in the zoo map in hand and ready to explore.
We spent a good few minutes discussing the routes we wanted to take, before deciding to start with the Australian Outback exhibit. We were greeted by Tasmanian devils, wallabies and noisy kookaburras. The real jewel though was of course the koala and the best part was, there wasn’t just one koala, but about TEN! I could have stood and watched them for hours, and honestly wanted to just give one a big cuddle. They were so adorable!
Leaving Australia behind we started to walk into more African territory. We saw a rhino, a family of giraffes (including a little baby one) having their breakfast, and then saw a cheetah and her beautiful cub. The mother cheetah however had a rather unexpected friend… a labrador. These two were playing together, and walking side-by-side. The keeper told us that they had been raised together and had formed an exceptionally close bond.
Our attention, however, was diverted by loud noises coming from a nearby enclosure. We walked eagerly to see what it was and were soon greeted by a flock of flamingos dancing together and showing off their bright pink feathers. Jack told me that it was a mating ritual that they perform, and it was both mesmerising and hilarious to watch! The noise was deafening however, and so we decided to move away to quieter territories.
For the next half an hour or so we saw some more African exhibits, including a huge band of babboons, which were rather scary when they were seen up close!
We then compared some meerkats, and saw a majestic crowned eagle, one of the largest birds of prey in the world. However these were dwarfed by an American bird we saw next; the Californian Condor. This bird was colossal, and had a wingspan of almost three metres at least. Apparently we could have seen some at the Grand Canyon if we had gone in the summer, something that would have truly been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Maybe next time..
One of my spirit animals has to be a giant panda; it’s cute, cuddly, and just sits down all day and eats. Despite this, I’ve never actually seen one! We were lucky enough to change this at the zoo’s world-class panda exhibit, and saw two of the cool animals just chilling there. They were a lot smaller than expected, but were far cuter! We saw a lot of other bears at the zoo; grizzly bears, sun bears and black bears, but there was one bear to end all bears. When Jack first spoke of the zoo, he mentioned that there were polar bears there, something which I thought was a bizarre choice for a zoo practically on the Mexican border. However, the zoo said that the bears had gotten so used to the heat, that they refused to get into a cold pool – nature is strange! I could not believe just how BIG these creatures are, and managed to get within a metre of one as it sat on a ledge by the window. One day I just have to see these in the wild, hopefully from the safety of a boat!
After chilling in the Arctic exhibit, we then moved along through the rest of the zoo. We saw the gorillas, walked through a giant bird house and saw the Victoria crowned pigeon (which was obviously the coolest animal there!), watched the elephants play with their toys, and then walked through the leopard enclosure until we eventually made it to the hippos.
If you have never seen one in real life, I cannot prepare you for just how big these things are! Well, one of them was big, the other was a little baby one. The enclosure was made of glass, and so we could watch them ‘swimming’ under water. I think this was one of the highlights of the day, and watching the mum teach the baby how to swim was simply beautiful. We enjoyed it so much that we even adopted a hippo through the zoo, and got a cuddly toy with it!
Finally however, it was the exhibit I was most excited for… THE PENGUINS! If you know me or follow my blog, you will know that I have a little obsession with these animals (along with flamingos and sausage dogs), and San Diego zoo really helped promote this excitement. They had a giant underwater viewing area, where you could see the penguins elegantly swim through the water. They were just so cute and funny to watch, and could have provided hours of entertainment.
Sharing this enclosure were many leopard sharks, which worried me a bit… but Jack assured me that no penguins would be harmed, so I was much happier. After this, we were just about to leave but we saw a star of San Diego zoo, in the form of a talking parrot. He came out with his owner and made noises to go with the conversation – it was absolutely hilarious! He pretended to be a dog, a cat, and even at one point let out a few clear words. With that, and our new hippo friend underneath my arm, we got ourselves ready to go to La Jolla beach, which would become one of the most magical evenings of the holiday. But of course, that’s a different story…
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Did you enjoy my blog post on San Diego Zoo? Perhaps you have visited yourself or been to another world-class zoo somewhere around the world? Do share with me your thoughts and experiences – I always love hearing from you! Love V x
