Holiday 2011 Day 20: San Diego Zoo

I sleep quite well in my great big room.  I have some juice and a coffee and make plans for the zoo.  I buy my day pass for the zoo at the hotel  for $38 - a $2 discount.  Ready to go, I can't find the Tom Tom - a bit of a panic but it turns out to be in the car.  I head off 11ish: its only 10-15 mins to the zoo and its lovely and sunny.  I take the 35 min narrated tour bus which goes round most of the zoo giving me some orientation.  Its a huge and somewhat confusing place so the tour is useful, showing me some places to come back to.  I go to the sandwich shop in the zoo (there are loads of food, drink, photo and caricature stalls dotted about the site). The chicken sandwich isn't that good - too rich and they grilled it.  Can't anything be unslaked by heat!  Plus a coffee.  Anyway, it perks me up which was the point.

I go to the Skyfari which is basically a ski gondola type thing.  The view isn't actually that brilliant but its part of the ticket and luckily I'm not too bad with the height.

The Skyfari, that I'm about to go on.

This takes me to the top of the site - with the aim to walk down.  I see the some elegant gazelle type things, then polar bears which have a big tank you can see them swimming in - if they happen to want to swim.  They were busy eating carrots.  I get a huge frozen lemonade (which is mainly sugar - I shoud have known) and queue for the giant pandas which are OK.  Then up the travellator (sic) to the aviaries.  Again, OK.  Next the hippos which are great and various bears and things.  Actually, re the hippo, they had a huge tank which you could see below the line - like the polar bears.  Everyone was staring - all I could see was  darkness.  Suddenly I realised that the darkness was actually a big hippo up against the glass.  Weird eye reorientation!

Southern Geranuks

Mmm, carrot

Tired

Most of  a big snake

Oh

Hippo-tastic

This is meant to be one of the best zoos in the world and I guess I was expecting cutting edge animal enclosures but actually many of them are not that great. The herbivores don't seem too bothered but the carnivores seem pretty bored.

I wanted to properly see the giraffes which we passed on the bus. They are brilliant and cheer me up. Nearby,, there is a cheetah in an enclosure with a dog - they pair them up as buddies - these animals are tame and get taken to schools etc.  Called Ambassador Animals. Weird but heartwarming to see. Then loop back to the kiwi trail where there is a kiwi running about in a darkened enclosure (they're nocturnal). Funny round fluffy things.  LIke tribbles with legs and a beak.  You can't see much but its good to see one. We failed to in New Zealand.

Chums

I want a giraffe

baby giraffe

The fern trail

Then, still buoyed up, go up the fern trail  - a lovely tropical area on the hill, which is nice and quite quiet (the zoo is sandwiched between highway and the airport though its the kids not the animals that make most of the noise.

I'm pretty exhausted as I leave, about 4:40. 

Camero found a friend

Back to my room for coffee and ibuprofen and have a well needed lie down.  I decide to go to the Afghan place I found on Trip Advisor yesterday.  Its not too far and in the Gaslamp area. I leave before 7. On the way, I pass a garage that has a De Lorean for sale for $37000.  They are beautiful buy don't look very well made.  The sign says that flux capacitors are available separately :)

Expensive!

Badly fitting doors.  Pride of Birmingham.

Chopahn Authentic Afghan Cuisine is a single large, high roofed room with fake arches, presumably recalling Afghan decor.  The waitress is a bit odd and its quite dark in there and I struggle to read the menu (I so need to take my contacts out when I go out in the evening).  I have to wait a bit to get a drink but my meal: Sabsi Challaw (pork cooked in spinach and garlic with rice) is fabulous. One of the best meals of the holiday.  1 or 2 stars for the restaurant, 4 for the meal.

I walk back via the Gaslamp district for which san Diego is 'famous'.  Its nothing special - just lots of restaurants and bars.   No gas lamos at all.  I see a Rock Bottom Brewery - a fave of mine from Minneapolis and go in for a drink.  I have their IPA which is very nice.  I consider having a pizza there tomorrow's there but actually its dark and noisy so probably better just for beer.

  

Overall the zoo was great but they are always slightly sad places and some of it didn't live up to the super standards I was expecting.  Great giraffes though :) 

Zoo trip

Day trip