San Diego Zoo............

Welcome to the San Diego Zoo! They are celebrating their 100 year anniversary. An amazing zoo-it is one of the best zoos in the world. We certainly liked it a lot. They have Panda bears! My favorite...hahahha. I have been known to spend a little time watching them at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Hard to tear myself away sometimes..hahhaha. At this zoo, there is a line to see the Pandas, and you are channeled through so everyone gets a chance to watch them for a bit. We were there first thing, so we didn't have to wait in line at all, which was nice for us. We passed by a few bears on the way to the exhibit too. They were all awake, so very enjoyable to watch.

San Diego Zoo...getting ready to open

so excited! (like a kid)

washing out his food bowl?

two grizzlies hanging out

the landscaping at this zoo is really nice! 

comfortable?

the female panda....pacing the entire time we were there

aren't the pandas just the cutest??

the younger male, in a separate area

There were also a lot of big cats at this zoo. Most of them were pretty active since it was still rather early in the morning. (You know how cats are! They sleep 22 hours a day....ahhahaha). The first cat we saw was a jaguar. What a beautiful animal. Strong and healthy. Wouldn't want to mess with one though. They look like they could rip you to shreds in seconds. I always think about that because one of our cute little cats bit me 3 different times over the years, and I had 3 different abscesses as a result. Painful to say the least...as was the tetanus shot. Ah, memories! 

beautiful 

this guy was pacing

4 of these cats were separated and they were still hissing and "fighting" with each other...check out that annoyed face

the distance didn't seem to matter...they were still fighting with each other when we were there

the spring flowers were really nice too...but didn't take too many pics of the outstanding gardens here

Happy Spring!

So many different species from all over the world. Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica........We had a great day just exploring. We didn't know what some of the species were, but we still enjoyed watching these animals. 

check out the striped mane

nature's art

a reindeer

sleeping polar bear

let sleeping bears lie

these two were pacing....the male on the left was annoying the female on the right

the bears are dirty because they rolled in the mud (they really are very white when clean)

There was quite a crowd around the gazelle exhibit, and word spread that one was just born! Right there in front of everyone. We didn't see the actual birth, but we saw the newborn. Amazing to see. (Though I felt badly for the mom).

gazelles

A newborn gazelle! JUST BORN! We missed the actual birth, but I think only by minutes!

cool

We had such a beautiful day-the weather was just perfect. There are several ways to see the zoo-walking, riding the bus, taking the aerial tram. We opted to walk the entire time. It was so nice because the landscaping is really great too! Even if there were no animals, it would be a pleasant way to spend some time-walking through the beautiful plants and trees.

It wasn't too long after seeing the newborn gazelle that we happened upon the lion's "den". Well, an amazing thing happened. As we were about to walk away and let the lions rest, the lion got up, walked over to the elevated stand and jumped up on it. He then proceeded to ROAR for a couple of minutes...loud and clear....at nothing in particular. We all stood in amazement and wondered what would happen next. He just laid down, and licked his face and sat there......no problem. Amazing. I never heard a lion roar. Have you?

The zoo is very large, and hilly. Many people opt to ride the bus or take that aerial tram. Not us...we are hikers :)

I don't know what these are...I think they are from South America

the lioness sleeping on top of the stand, and the lion in the back

amazingly, the lion got up and walked over to another stand....

and stood there and roared really loudly for a few minutes.....

before sitting down and getting ready for a snooze. AMAZING!

The other extraordinary thing we saw at the zoo was the baby leopard. Just one year old. Looks like he was teething...hahaha. A beautiful animal-so healthy looking.

a one year old leopard....still awake!

a really good elephant exhibit

beautiful outfit on this fancy bird, eh?

tarantula-it was huge

hey guess what day it is? Hump day? (you know that funny commercial, right?)

California condors....giant wingspan!

tip: bring your own food and water! its allowed here! check out those drink prices!!

meercats...fun to watch

what?

so many big cats here

We saw half the zoo before lunchtime! It was easy to do because there were no crowds in the morning. Right after lunch though, wow! It sure got busy and crowded. Just sayin'. It makes for a very pleasant day if you can get to the zoo early. The animals are active and the crowds few. 

lunching

Glad we brought our own lunch and snacks! And water!!!

As we ate lunch, we could see the tops of the giraffes so we knew that was our next adventure. There was one young giraffe, or at least one that was much shorter than the others. AND, there was a baby! He was mostly resting the whole time we were there. Probably ready for an afternoon nap.

the giraffes were fun to watch too

the baby-resting

they sure do like to eat!

yummy tree

Again, the landscaping was wonderful. So many different plants and trees, and lots of shade. Made for some nice walking through the zoo. 

heellllooooo

another pretty flower (seriously, the grounds here were beautiful)

rhino .... i think he was looking at us

the kangaroos were sleeping (it was afternoon, so a lot of the animals slowed down for a snooze)

color coordinated with the flamingos

these guys did everything the same...either all standing straight, or doing the wingspan thing...they all did it together

on alert-checking us out

Another outstanding area was the Australian section, with the koala bears. They were all sleeping in trees, curled up so comfy-looking. There were about 10 of them, and the area was nicely spread out which helped with crowd control. No crowding when we were there, and it was a popular area! Aren't they cute? This was the first time I've ever seen a koala bear!

are they cute or what? 

another

there were about 10 koalas

awww....what happened to your leaves?

check out the landscaping....really nice park-like place....lots of shade

see the hummingbird? (in the middle)

Monkeys, big cats, hippos.....we really had fun watching the animals. Bonus: we had a gorgeous day to walk around this beautifully landscaped zoo. 

lots of monkeys too (not a big fan since that lady in Connecticut got her face ripped off by her friend's chimpanzee a few years ago)

another cute cat ...zeroed in on us  (yikes! just remembering my abscesses and how painful that was!)

lush green plants

the tigers were napping

great day at the zoo!

are we lost?

we see you

there they go

check out that face close up!

there they go again-they were doing laps like this

lots of shaded areas, which made for some very pleasant walking

are you looking at us?

a mom and youngster

The otters were so playful, and we spent some time observing them. When we see otters, in zoos or in nature, we always reminisce about our son's favorite stuffed animal (Ollie the Otter) when he was a three-year old many moons ago. It takes us back...the memories so fresh even though it was so long ago. Hahah. Guess we are getting old!  

Otter!  

another couple of otters sunbathing

they are so playful and fun to watch too 

Believe it or not, we also spent a bit of time watching these birds. The young one in the tree was quite feisty. He would push out sawdust, or bedding, from the tree onto the mom, and she would get all annoyed and want to get the sawdust off her wings. Kids! We had fun observing!

these birds were fun to watch too

look at that unusual coloring

moving uphill and around the bend for a different angle to view the birds

Nesting material? and the little one in the tree kept chucking out sawdust at the big bird. We weren't sure what was going on

yoga pose?

We took our time exploring the whole zoo, and the day seemed to fly by in a flash. Actually, we had planned on staying till the 7PM closing time, and even brought enough food for lunch and dinner too- but we had seen all the exhibits by around 3PM, and we called it a day. A very pleasant day at that!