A Day at the Zoo

We went to the Zoo again, just for a short time, but ended staying about 5 hours...

As usual, the zoo was entertaining and we had a great day in spite of our legs telling us to sit down.

This is a Golden Chested Monkey.

Here's another monkey, meditating or posing.

A few Oryx

and a miscellany of African beasties.

Today we arrived at the Polar Bear exhibit when everyone was just sleeping in the sun. How very Californian...

This is an Andean Condor, surveying his kingdom.

These next two pictures are of a Harpy Eagle, the first in profile, the second face-on. Note the usual bad hair day...

The next three are taken of the same little otter. Here he is crying for food...

They are very fast moving on land or in the water...

with eyes full of mischief at all times.

Next is a Lion-Tailed Macaque, not showing the tail of course...

Note the healthy looking coat, typical of all the animals in the Zoo.

Even big cats yawn a lot; this one is a Siberian Lynx.

This is a pair of Giraffes waiting patiently to be hand-fed by tourists who opted for the back-scene tour.

The taller one is the male, a good three to four feet taller than anyone else! He was the biggest, tallest, and decidedly the most majestic of the ten or so giraffes in this area.

We noted that all the giraffes were very graceful in their slow and deliberate movements.

The zoo grounds are just packed with exotic plants from many areas of the world. Mist or rain is provided in some areas making a rain forest environment for the plants and animals that prefer the moisture. In other areas you'll find bamboo fences, cactus, sand, or tropical ferns, like this one. It's just starting to grow in the San Diego Spring, January no less.

If we lived in San Diego, Joan would like to work at the Zoo, and I would like to be there more often than not.

If you are ever this way, plan to spend a lot of time ambling through the zoo like we do, after all, someone has to do it!