Thursday, February 15, 2007 ;
3:11 PM
7 Feb Wed
San Diego Zoo
We left checked out of the motel in Anaheim really early, and was on the road by 7.15am, hoping not to be stuck in too much trafiic. We headed down south to San Diego and the drive was around 2.5hours with jam included. We did use the car pool lane and it helped a little.
We had all the luggage in the car but drove right to the zoo because we wanted to spend a full day there. Since young dh and i had separately heard about the zoo and been keen on visiting it. It is a famous zoo, which has won numerous awards, especially for conservation and for being able to keep the animals happy and healthy enough such that they breed successfully and also are constantly challenged by their surroundings.
Besides that, it is really really huge, and contains an amazing number of animals. It is not possible to go through the whole zoo in a day but like Disneyland, I had already done my research beforehand: printed out maps from internet and read up on the different areas/ exhibits and also marked out the exact route we were taking, so we maximise our time and get to see everything we needed too.
We got our tickets for every place online too and I had printed them out already so we skipped long queues at Disneyland, at the Zoo and later at Legoland too. These places are so crowded during such off-peak times already, I can't imagine how they're like in summer! :-)
Once we entered the zoo we headed for the Children's Zoo where the kids had most fun at the Petting Paddock. Ds2 could not stop hugging the goats, pigs and sheep. He even wanted to lie down on the dirt ground full of dung with them and put his face on their faces!
We spent quite some time at the Nursery there then proceeded to the hummingbird Aviary.
Look carefully, did you see? There is an Anna Hummingbird! :-) I was so pleased to know that because I love hummingbirds.
In church, I even belonged to this "Hummingbird" Ladies group. :-)
Why are hummingbirds so special? I think they are so beautiful. Not like mynahs or crows, they are usually dressed in vibrant, bright colours, several of them on one bird! Then, they are so tiny, and tiny things are usually cuter (think: babies?). Then they fly so quickly and hover while feeding at the flower without needing to perch. While hovering, they can flap their wings so vigourously and quickly you can't even see them. Which is why I don't have any pictures, couldn't get them well. Did use video though, but mainly we just stood there and admired them quietly. Such fantastic birds.
The reptile house and reptile mesa was next and then we caught a sea lion show at the amphitheatre. No pics of the gigantic anacondas or the poisonous king cobras cos the pics won't come out well through the glass and I didn't have enough memory left anyway. Saw some big lizards and aquatic reptiles too. There is something about boys and reptiles or insects too. I won't understand how come boys can like such animals so much. While the 3 males in my family stopped, lingered at each glass window and admired each reptile or insect (like the Madagascan Hissing Cockroach that made me shudder), I moved on rather quickly and waited near the amphi for them. Most of the snakes were hibernating anyway, but they still had to examine the snake in such detail? And there were sooooo many snakes there...
While waiting, I read up more and this is interesting, so I included it here:
After lunch, we took the express bus around the whole zoo, cos ds2 decided to take his nap. We passed by and were able to see countless animals. It was very pleasurable, this ride. We sat on the top deck which was open air. We then stopped to walk through in detail some themed areas or exhibits that particularly interested us, like the Monkey Trails, the Ituri Forest and Tiger River. I guess the Okapis intrigued me most, amongst the rest of the animals. It has the lower body of a Zebra...looks interesting.
We also took the Skyfari (cable car). This cable car ride, the express bus and the guided tours were all included in our tickets which we got at a discount online, due to offpeak season and due to us ordering online. The rides are unlimited so we took the cable cars twice. Ds1 loved it. ds2 was a little scared but he looked excited too. We were able to get an aerial view of the whole zoo, including surrounding downtown San Diego. With the top-down view, we also further decided which areas we plan to explore in detail later.
Then we took the guided tour, and sat on the top deck of the bus again. The tour lasted 45 min and gave us even more info about the animals all around the zoo. The guide was able to point out some animals that we missed earlier and also told us stories about the animals' breeding, the zoo's history and conservation efforts.
I am very proud of the Singapore Zoo because it is also well-organised. Like San Diego, it is not just a collection of animals, but there is a lot of research going on, the animals can breed successfully and the grounds have a wide diversity of flora as well. The San Diego Zoo also has many gardens: Bromeliad, Fern, Cycad... Singapore also has the fern, the spice and herb garden, the orchids...
Both have a lot of free range animals in very natural habitats. I also saw many animals being provided with enrichment items in both zoos. E.g. monkeys will have long tubes with objects placed within and the monkeys have to try to find ways to fish them out. Parrots will have different items tied to the tree branches to encourage them to explore... They are also provided with different smells or scents that will stimulate them. Such enrichment prevent mental problems (haha, but seriously, think about Mumble the Emperor Penguin in Happy Feet...), simulate the natural environment the animals were from etc. Healthier animals also breed more successfully.
In fact, I had visited many other zoos from other countries before (don't want to be specific here, hee) and I had not felt any was better than the spore zoo. But now I think San Diego is one of the best I have explored. A factor where San Diego will win Spore hands down would be the weather. ALthough the admission price is double, I was able to tour the zoo the whole day, walking through large tracts while carrying ds2 even, but not feeling tired.
In Singapore, I had brought both kids to the zoo several times but we never lasted a whole day. Somehow sweating profusely in the hot and humid weather with the relentless sun blazing down made me exhausted and I did not wish to drag my sons through the zoo any further.
At San Diego, I was able to continue exploring with dh even when kids napped peacefully --ds2 slung onto me and ds1 in the stroller. In Singapore, they weren't even able to fall asleep because they too felt hot, sticky and lying down in the stroller just makes their backs itch, and sweat even more. I wouldn't even want to sling ds2 for long cos his body heat will make me want to faint. :-)
Singapore would fare better (among tourists from temperate countries) with water-based theme parks, :-).
Ok, I'll end with a pic of the Silk Tree I saw in the zoo. (trunk and fruits)
rainbows every day, do not worry for the morrow
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