San Diego Wilderness

   San Diego is world famous for its zoo and safari and the sea world. I believed it only when I experienced it! A wonderland for children, and no less for adults, these attractions make any aged person say 'amazing'!! Here are some interesting tips and guidelines for visiting these places, and loads of pictures with my favorites.

Macaw

     The San Diego Zoo is located in the area dense with trees inside Balboa park of San Diego. When you are visiting here, make time for a day for each park. Unless you slowly walk along and see all the animals you wouldn't cover all of them right? And its going to be quite an interesting walk so I am sure it will be slow too. We took advantage of the multi-day pass and got free visitor tickets for my sis in law. We could visit 2 parks in two days. And that was exactly what we planned to do! The ticket includes the bus ride in the zoo and he tram ride in the safari park for the two of us, but the third person needs to buy tickets for these rides. The first thing we did was take the bus tour. The map was very clear, but we needed to see what we were in for before we walked all the way to the other side to see something we thought we liked. The tickets for the bus tour are sold exactly opposite to the entrance. And the loading point, a little further. Quite a few buses were coming along to take all its passengers, but it did seem like we were wasting time But in the mean time, we were greeted by plenty of peacocks and peahens! I couldn't get a good picture of them but I did bring back a good pic of the macaw that welcomed us to the bus. A bright red bird watching all of us as though it were to keep us in order in the line. It was so beautiful.
     The sightseeing bus took us to all the major locations of the zoo, slowly explaining about the animals, and the stops that they have along the path. So once we were done, I knew where I wanted to go. The two aviaries. The Scripps and Owens Aviaries are at the heart of the zoo, amongst all the chimps in the place. One useful this about the map and the sign boards along the pathways was that they are not only named they also tell you how long it takes to hike along to finish it, and whether it is moderate or easy or steep terrain.

Golden breasted Starling

Victoria crowned pigeon

     One thing I loved about this zoo compared to the ones I have seen before was the way the animals were free. Certain animals like say the birds of certain kind were free in the aviary and sometimes could fly to you. Kids could interact with them. Amazing birds they were. A paradise for me and my husband with our camera!

Skyfari

    Once we were done with the birds and the chimps, we wanted to go to the other side of the zoo to catch a glimpse of the polar bears. at the Polar Rim. To do that, we could either walk all the way, or take the Skyfari. It is an aerial tram that runs all day long. The line is very long so you need to be very patient. At the other end, the polar bears were sun bathing. It is interesting to know the names of all the animals, and they also have descriptions of what each bear is like. Active, or lazy, their favorite thing to play with , etc everything is written on the walls. We were told that the best time to see them would be earlier in the day. We were hoping to see some in the water, but no luck.

Polar Bear

     Next it was time for Panda Canyon!! A sweet family of Pandas resides in the zoo. A cub was born 6 months ago, and they were having lunch when we visited them. Sorry I cannot recollect their names but I brought you pictures!!

Baby Panda

    It was now time for the elephants. They have both african and indian elephants spread across a large area. But before that, We saw the most spectacular Lion ever. A lion and a lioness were having their meal. Chewing and gnawing at a chunk of meat on a bone. He was so majestic, they dont call him the King of the jungle for nothing!

Lunch time!

     The elephants were calm strolling in their spacious courtyard. A baby elephant was hopping along the mother eating straw. it was a pleasant sight. There is also a show sometime in the afternoon that introduces visitors to the elephants and their life.

Indian Elephant

     After watching many other cats like snow leopards, black leopard, hyenas, I stepped into my favorite place in the zoo. The reptile house has about a hundred kinds of reptiles and I loved the various kinds of snakes they had. Each one so discreet, poised, watching through the other side of the glass.

Pit Viper

     My experience here was fun, amazing, and tiring with all the walking. We had a field day with taking pictures and admiring natures creations. It is a well kept zoo and I enjoyed it thoroughly. For more lovely pictures, go to, http://www.vijayram.net/