We saved our trip to the famous SD zoo for Monday, our last full day, for a variety of reasons. It was a must-do item on our list and a stop Susan seemed the most excited about, so it would be a good finale. Also, we had hoped that because it was Monday, the crowds would be down some. We knew it would still be best to get an early start, so we grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel and took off. We arrived at the zoo a little before 10 (it opens at 9) and it was already pretty busy. Luckily, we had bought the 2 trip pass at the Wild Animal Kingdom, so were able to bypass the ticketing lines.
As expected, the zoo was massive. We checked out a couple areas near the front gate straight away, then used the map to figure out our plan of attack. We had high hopes of conquering the entire zoo in one trip. After taking the advice of others, we next took the skyfari (gondola) to the top of the park and started working our way back. As with the Animal Park, there are literally hundreds of awesome pictures taken by Susan, so we’ll just let them do the talking for a bit…
Tiger posing for his picture
Little Monkey sneaking a snack
Crazy flamingos
Swinging monkey
A couple of crocs
Pretty bird and contemplative orangutan
The little guy just could not figure out how to get food out of the sack hanging above him – he got in it eventually
Mr. Bear and Mr. Lion
These camels moved in unison.. it was crazy!
Snow Leopard taking a nap
Baby catching a ride
Rhino taking a swim
Grisly Bear and Koala Bear
GIANT turtle
By 4 PM, we were at the gate and had succeeded in seeing basically everything the zoo had (with the exception of the shows). I used a pen to mark our routes on the map, and we managed to cover almost every path in it’s entirety. According to my Forerunner, which was hanging from a belt-loop all day, we walked about 4 miles in total.
My thoughts on the zoo are that it is definitely a must-see attraction and all that it was hyped up to be. The sheer variety of animals to be seen is impressive, but it’s also well designed to walk-through without having to backtrack much and offers pretty reasonably priced, quality food as well. Yes, it’s crowded, but you have to expect that. All that said, Susan and I agreed that we think for repeated visits, or for travelling with kids, the Wild Animal Park is a little better because it is less crowded and doesn’t require as much walking. Also, it is unique with the more natural scenery and safari-like atmosphere. At the end of the day, the San Diego Zoo still resembles most other zoos, just on a larger scale.
After returning to the hotel feeling victorious, we quickly realized that while we had conquered the zoo, the battle had taken its toll…we were beat. Luckily it was still mid-afternoon, so we had a chance to relax a couple hours at the hotel before heading out for our final dinner. The plan was to head to La Jolla, but this time to take a more upscale approach and go clean and well dressed. We attempted to grab a last-minute reservation, but were too late, so we would just have to try the walk-in route. We got to La Jolla around 7 and went straight to George’s Ocean Terrace to put our names in, the wait was long, but that gave us plenty of time to walk down to the cove and watch the sunset. George’s seated us at around 8:30 and we had a pretty sensational final dining experience, which we had expected given the reviews. It’s pricey, but for 5-star quality food served on a rooftop overlooking the La Jolla cove, that’s to be expected. The dinner was a perfect wrap-up to the trip.
Tomorrow, we don’t fly out until mid-day, but that really only gives us time to take care of “business” aspects of travelling. So, essentially this is the end of the trip. That said, it’s only fitting to finish the post with views of the sun setting at La Jolla.
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