Our Day at the San Diego Zoo
Yesterday after church the kids and I ventured out to the world famous San Diego Zoo. Adam has been out of town so I wanted to do something special with the kids. The tickets are normally pricey but we took advantage of Kids Free Days (kids ages 3-11 get in free for the entire month of October).
Our first stop was to the reptile house. That was Paul’s idea. He made sure that we saw each and every snake in the exhibit. From there we saw just about everything else that the zoo had to offer. Including mating Galapagos tortoises. They caused quite a stir with the digital cameras in the crowd. Paul commented that he couldn’t wait to tell his kindergarten teacher that turtles made noise. I guess he discovered the exception to the rule that turtles are quiet animals. I’m sure that he had no idea what the turtles were actually doing.
A few highlights of the day were the giant pandas (4 out of 11 giant pandas in the US are at the San Diego Zoo), Ituri Forest, Tiger River and Sun Bear Forest. Some of the habitats are so well re-created that you forget you are at a zoo in the 7th largest city in the US. The kids were disappointed that there was no indoor butterfly garden like at the Detroit Zoo (which we frequented often when we lived in Michigan). We also all agreed that the underground polar bear exhibit at the Detroit Zoo has more “wow”.
My first impression of the zoo was that it was difficult to get around. There were plenty of maps keeping us from getting lost but we still did a lot of backtracking. Secondly, if you plan on visiting the zoo wear good walking shoes. There are a lot of hills. You can pay extra to hop a double-decker tour bus or to be shuttled. Near the end of the day the kids and I waited for an “express” shuttle (i.e. golf cart) to bring us to the top of a hill where the polar bears were located. We didn’t realize that the service required a ticket until the shuttle arrived. The driver took pity and offered us a ride anyway.
Overall we had a great day. The San Diego Zoo is a great place to spend a leisurely day with the kids and I’m sure that we will be back.
October 13th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
I love the zoo… seriously. My husband took me to the zoo a couple years ago for my birthday. I just think seeing animals in their “almost” natural habitat is wonderful.
October 13th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
You summarized it very accurately. I agree with you completely!
October 14th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Sounds like a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.