Talk With The Animals

We are off to Balboa Park and the San Diego Zoo! Normally we are not zoo people but we have heard so much about this one we had to go. We hopped on the trolley which dropped us in the center of the gorgeous, 1200 acre, Balboa Park. This is the nations largest urban park and home to 15 different museums as well as the zoo. You can't believe that this was a desert, there are trees and plants here from all over the world thanks to a lady named Kate Sessions. It's truly a botanical masterpiece.

Down the walkway lined with blooming fragile white Ornamental Pear Trees to Reflection Pond on our right and the entrance to the Latticed Botanical House on our left. The Bontanical Building is filled with trees and flowing plants, but you can't miss the displays of extraordinary orchids of every color. We followed the path back out to the main promenade, past fountains and arrived at the zoo entrance.

The zoo admission for one day was pretty good compared to some of the parks we have been to. $37 and that includes the tour bus and skyfari gondola which you can take all day. We were told to take the bus to learn the layout of the zoo first. It takes all day to see the zoo and then we probably wouldn't see it all! As the bus went down the Fern Canyon Trail you realized this was a botanical garden with a zoo enfolded into it. We arrived in the Urban Jungle area where we saw a baby Giraffe on the left and Hippos on the right.

After the tour we got off in the Outback to see the Koala's. There was a mother with a baby Koala and we were really lucky they weren't sleeping (like the rest)! Walking down the Big Cat Trail we saw Chetahs and Lepoards. We were standing at the walkway in front of the Leopard's cage when a very strange thing happened. On the road just below us a little girl was running in circles playing with her father. The cat spotted her from the back of the cage and ran aggressively from the back to the front, jumped up, and put it's paws right up on the fence and watched her. This was pure predator in action. Beautiful but scary.

Our next stop was the Polar Bears but unfortunately they were "off site" and would not be back until March. We were disappointed, but everyone needs a vacation.... We hopped on the bus and drove through Elephant Odyssey and Africa Rocks. The Painted African Dogs were very strange looking. They look like Hyenas with big ears and have gray and yellow spots.

Walking down the parkway past blooming Bird of Paradise and red Bougainvilla to Panda Canyon. It's early afternoon now and believe it or not it's nap time for the animals. We walked through Panda Canyon and Shin Lu was napping on a limb. We missed the viewing of the new mother and baby which was early this morning. Across the street was a very unusual Panda. It was a Red Panda and absolutely adorable. It to was sleeping and I couldn't get a good picture myself so I found one on line. I think he was my favorite. Unlike the black and white pandas he has a long bushy tail.

Unfortunately the park closes as 5pm today so we decided to walk through the Eagle Trail seeing Condors and South American Eagles. We took the Skyfari Gondola across the top of the zoo seeing Gorillas on our way.

It's now 4PM and we wanted to catch the Model Railroad Museum. This is the largest operating model railroad in North America. There is over 28,000 sq. ft of scale model railroad layouts. Ken loved the way they landscaped the displays and put down the different levels of track. It is an amazing exhibit, even if your not a big train buff.

There are 15 different gardens here and we just didn't have enough time to see it all. This is a great place for picnics and spending several more days if you have the time.

Unfortunately it was getting dark and we were wondering how to find a cab when lo and behold a trolley came into the plaza! Although it was well after pickup time he did stop and deposited us at our next stop... Little Italy. Once a predominent fishing village Little Italy is an active neighborhood lined with restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and shops. India St. runs through the heart of Little Italy and we found a couple of chairs on the plaza and watched people for a while. There are some 60 restaurants on this area so it was Italian night for us. We walked past many but settled on Mona Lisa. Unfortunately it was mediocre at best and we don't recommend it. To make up for this we stopped at a bakery and got a couple goodies to take back to the hotel.

We are tired after our fun day and need to rest up for tomorrow. Today was fantastic and we loved the park and the zoo!