San Diego Zoo

Today we visited the San Diego Zoo after getting a quick breakfast at Denny's. We walked the entire zoo, which by the way is rather extensive with some very huge hills. When we arrived at the Zoo we went on a 35 minute bus tour that gave us an introduction of the entire zoo. Even though the bus took us all around, it was a necessity to go back to most of everything and spend some more time.

Once we got off the bus we headed to the Lost Forest to see the animals that live in the rain forests of the world. We saw flamingos and many other birds, all different kinds of monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees, tigers, and hippos. We then saw the panda exhibit. There we saw a male, female, and baby. The female was possibly pregnant. The were all extremely cute. The male was actually eating bamboo right in front of everyone.

After the pandas we walked up the hill to the polar bear tank, where they were sunning and playing in the water. Upon leaving the Arctic we entered Africa. There we saw lions, jaguars, elephants, and camels, as well as a few other animals along the way. After Africa we entered Asia, where we saw all different kinds of bears.

Our next and final stop in the zoo was the Urban Jungle where we got to see giraffes, rhinos, a cheetah, and koalas. The cheetah was really interesting. His best friend was a dog named Duke. They are inseparable; they sleep together, eat together, and even go on walks around the park together. The dog actually calms the cheetah, so he is able to be around humans.

We left the zoo extremely tired, however decided to drive around downtown San Diego a little to get a feel for the city. The city is extremely nice and feels a lot like home. The atmosphere and people are more east coast than we have experienced in other places. We drove through Balboa Park, their big park near the city center where all of the museums and cultural institutions are located. We headed down 5th street their major main street where their were a ton of outdoor restaurants and shops. We decided to go back to the hotel and get cleaned out and then head back downtown for dinner.

When we got back to the downtown area we parked and walked along 5th Street to find a good restaurant. We found one called Croce's, which had live jazz music and outdoor seating. It was a great meal. After dinner we drove along the harbor and headed back to the hotel to post our blog and try to get some pictures up on flickr. Safari tomorrow. Good night!