Health & Fitness
Let's Go to the Zoo!
The Misplaced Midwesterner grabbed her camera and husband and made her first trip to the San Diego Zoo. She had heard rumors of the zoo's greatness but words did not do the park justice.
I have always loved going to zoos. I love watching the animals and viewing their habits and movements. I've visited the animals at the Cleveland Zoo and rainforest park. I've walked through the Cincinnati Zoo and visited the animals at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.
One of the first things I knew about San Digeo before moving here was that the San Diego Zoo was outstanding. I heard their conservation programs were wonderful and the animals were beautiful. I couldn't wait to visit.
On a sunny morning, my husband and I decided to make a trip to the zoo. We squeezed in a morning run, packed a lunch box full of goodies and drove the 8.6 miles to the zoo. We arrived their just before 11 a.m. and left the whole afternoon open. My typical zoo trip typically doesn't take more than three hours. I get in, walk around and get out. (That's one of my biggest complaints with zoos.) Because of all the great things I've heard about this zoo, I was hoping this trip would be different.
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It was.
It took the two us nearly six hours to walk through the entire park. We started at the Outback and then made our way up through the Urban Jungle where we visited the giraffes, and rhinoceroses. We walked through the Asian Passage and took a path through the Lost Forest. We broke for lunch and dined on homemade sandwiches and fruit snacks. After lunch, we walked through the Lost Forest again, hitting the animals we missed before lunch.
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Visting the apes and gorillas may have been one of my favorite stops. They were incredibly active and vocal. After the Lost Forest, we crossed into Panda Canyon and made our way up into the Polar Rim where we saw the polar bears. We then walked through Elephant Odyssey where we got some great photographs of the elephants. The Discovery Outpost and reptiles were our last stops of the afternoon.
We didn't leave the park until nearly 4 p.m. and we think we walked nearly five miles.
I don't know if I can pick a favorite animal of the visit. I certainly loved the elephants and the orangutans for their photogenic nature and personalities. My husband did certainly love them as well.
I did think that the San Diego Zoo was lacking in the penguin and sea lion department. I always loved listening to the barking sea lions during my visits at the Cleveland Zoo. Hopefully when I make it to Sea World, I'll be able to see some penguins and sea lions there.
