Last day at the zoo

We packed and left our luggage at the lobby desk and headed out for one last visit to the zoo. We hadn't seen the mother and baby pandas yet. We were in luck. They were out and active when it was our turn to take pictures.

Next we walked the panda trail where we saw the baby's father and other animals native to the same region of Asia. We saw some sheep like animals whose name I have forgotten including a mother who was hiding her tiny baby behind her.

From there we wandered up to the polar bear area. There were three bears there, two sisters and a huge fellow who weighed more than the two females combined.

We wandered on to the Grevy Zebras next.

 

We ended our visit at a pool with many water birds including this African cormorant. After lunch we walked back to our B&B and said goodbye. Time to fly back home.

 

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Behind the Scenes at the Safari Park

Today we went back to the San Diego Safari Park thanks to Russ, We had a behind the scenes visit scheduled for 11:30. While we waited for starting time we walked around the gorilla area with Russ who kindly drove us to the park. There was a young baby gorilla, his mother and father, an aunt, and way back in a dark area, his grandmother, one of the oldest gorillas in North America.

 

Finally it was time for our behind the scenes tour. There were six of us. Our guide, Victoria, carted us about along roads between the large areas where the animals live. She was a wonderful guide pointing out things along the way. We started with a critter introduction of three critters. First there was a small raptor called a Pigmy Falcon who was really cute. Next Peanut, a small endangered armadillo, the only kind that can curl into a complete ball. Finally we were lucky to be part of the training of a young Binturong. He was about a year old and is being trained to be an animal ambassador. We were his first audience and it took awhile for him to be coaxed out of his cage. He did great and we were delighted to be his first people.

Then we drove around stopping for views into the area where the animals are on our way to the tigers. We were able to see the mother southern white rhinoceros and her new young baby. When we visited the park on Monday she was in labor. Today we got to see the mother and baby together. We also saw another mother with an older baby.

we continued our drive looking at many grazing animals on the way to the tiger enclosure. We saw a young male and his older sisters. The boy was in the large area where his parents live. The two girls were too old to be with the others and were in their own "apartment complex." Then we went off to see the lions. We saw the area where they sleep and where babies are born. And the trainer called in one of the two females for a snack and a skritch.

 

After we got finished with the two hour trip we spent some time in the bird section of the park, feeding the lorakeets and watching the flying bird show. By this time we were really hungry. Russ drove into town and picked up Sharon and headed to a wonderful Mexican restaurant for an early dinner. Russ and Sharon drove us back to our apartment. We chatted and then they headed home and we relaxed. Tomorrow we head back to Bellingham.

 

 

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Visit to Sea World San Diego

Today we visited Sea World. We saw three shows and they were wonderful. Two featured the orcas, Shamu and her family. The third was almost like Cirque du Soleil and had dolphins, birds, a whale and a troop of amazingly athletic young men and women who did aerial acts and rode on the backs of the whale and the dolphins. At the Shamu shows we got to see the new baby orca who is only 13 days old. We had a wonderful day.

 

 

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At the San Diego Zoo Safari Park

We drove to the Safari Park today. We had tickets for the afternoon cheetah run and wanted to see the other animals there too. We both had been there many years before. Our first activity was to take the Africa Tram around the 100 acre open area. We took a few photos there.

On our way to the cheetah run we took some time to check out the resident pride of lions, one large male and two females.

The Cheetah Safari consisted of some personal time with a beautiful African bird called a Caracal followed by the cheetah's run and then personal time with the cheetah and his buddy a big white dog. The dog took the first run, very much slower than the cheetah. Then the cheetah ran. Like the wind. We were lucky because he ran twice. Afterwards his trainer brought him and the dog in for a personal visit. What a beautiful animal. We were both so delighted to see him. Perfect present to ourselves for our 23rd wedding anniversary.

 

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A Day at the San Diego Zoo

We walked back to the zoo today and spent the day there. We didn't have a planned schedule today so we started with a tour bus ride and then went to several areas on foot. This is one of the polar bears taken from the bus.

This is a leopard resting in her cage. It took me awhile to figure out how to focus on the animals behind mesh cage screens like this one. My camera kept focusing on the cage and not the animal. I finally figured it out.

Here is a capybara drinking.

And this is a secretary bird. I didn't realize they had such amazing eye lashes.

Here are some of the many Meerkats they have at the zoo. They are just too too cute.

We also so Singing Dogs. They are nocturnal but this one was awake when we happened by.

When we passed the North China Leopard he was eating something feathered that I am sure he was given. He was enjoying his feast and looking very formidable and beautiful.

We also saw this Bateleur Eagle. I really liked his coloring.

 

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