Going to the zoo zoo zoo

A few years ago now Graham brought home a CD-ROM for Crom. An Encyclopedia Britannica San Diego Zoo edition.
Now we’re in San Diego so the first thing on the agenda was getting to Balboa Park (earlyish) and getting to the zoo!

Balboa Park is a 1200 acre park space close to the centre of San Diego. It is home to many museums, art galleries and beautiful garden spaces, many of which were originally built for the 1915 – 1916 Panama California Exhibition and the 1935 – 1936 California Pacific International Exposition. There is a lot of Spanish influence in the architecture and it is a beautiful reprieve from city life. After the Panama California Exhibition the museum’s founder was sad to see exotic animals abandoned in cages and set about pioneering a “cageless” style zoo in the park in agreement with the city council. Over the years the zoo has built up it’s conservation work and now it is also home to the Institute for Conservation Research.

Once we got in we realised we really needed a plan of attack. The zoo covers 100 acres of Balboa Park and

has over 3,700 animals within that. We thought a good way to start would be to get a bus tour with Maddy to see the biggest sights and get the layout of the zoo. I think Maddy may love animals even more than Crom! She was a very enthusiastic guide and told us lots of stories about each animal and their names as well. We saw the polar bears, leopards, lions, baboons, tigers, koalas, sun bears, and many more!

We set off after the bus tour with the ultimate goal of making it to see the pandas. First up were the cheetahs. The young cheetahs had dogs with them in their enclosures to help them learn. We then saw an Asian rhinoceros, giraffes and Californian condors. It was really interesting to see that many of the exhibits had companion animals in them.

We headed past the baboons who were having running races around the enclosure and saw some little mongoose and meerkats on our way to see the snakes. We had a quick pit stop for some cheesy nachos (cheese is very different here!) and then spent some time in the aviary spotting lots of different birds. Past the lemurs, penguins and sharks we found the pandas. San Diego Zoo is one of the most successful at breeding pandas and they also grow about 40 different varieties of bamboo to keep the pandas happy and well fed. It was incredible to see them up close and watch how they shred the bamboo to eat it.

The zoo is quite hilly so we headed up the slope to see the gorillas, including a baby who was really interested in watching the people through the glass. Round the corner we found the two hippos enjoying a swim. Back up to the polar bears and the reindeer before lining up for a ride down the hill in the Skyfari Gondola. A thrilling five

minute ride over the top of the zoo giving us a great appreciation for its expanse. We found the insect house which gave Jo the creepy crawlies (mind the pun) and then she headed home while Crom explored the reptile exhibit.

The reptile house is one of the oldest parts of the zoo and is home to a huge array of snakes, turtles and lizards from all over the world. Everything from a six metre long green anaconda from the Amazon to komodo dragons from Indonesia and everything in between. Further down there were also poison frogs, Galapagos Tortoises and many different turtles and tortoises, even some that were making some hilarious noises as they did their best to procreate. A little girl starting asking her dad what they were doing and was promptly pulled along to the next exhibit! Not the best place for the birds and the bees chat maybe. After finishing up here it was time to head back home to rest up before tonight.

For dinner we went back to our fav, Ballast Point, where we met Dana and her husband Devon for a drink and a quick catch up. Amazing to hang out again and meet her husband. It was fun to swap travel stories too! Seton is in a band, Well Well Well (you can find them on Spotify, well worth a listen) which was playing just down the road so we hung out there for a few beers to enjoy the music before hitting the hay for some well deserved rest.