San Diego Trip: San Diego Zoo

Aaron and I have figured out a system that works for us when we are on trips.  We have a day of rest, then a day of crazy fun, then a day of rest, then another day of crazy fun and so on a so forth.  That way, we are always rested for a crazy day.

Since Sunday was such a calm relaxing day, we thought that Monday, the 4th, would be a great day to head to the San Diego Zoo.  Since it is a world famous zoo, we figured that we should try and check it out.

And boy, was it worth the money.  I've been to some lame and weird zoos in my life (I'm talking about you Thailand) so I wasn't sure what to expect but this was BY FAR, the best zoo that I've ever been to.

Also, after Sunday without my dSLR, I figured that it would be worth packing around all day to get myself back into the groove of taking pictures (But I didn't work too hard on editing them so...deal with it).

This was a Fishing Cat....which is apparently entirely different from a Fisher Cat.  He was sitting up there, staring at the back door to his cage....I think that it was almost breakfast time for him.

The great thing about the zoo on Monday was that, since it was a Monday at the beginning of March, there were hardly any people there.  It was interesting to me because there were a TON of photographers with their huge lenses spending tons of time trying to get the perfect picture.

In front of this tiger, there were about 3 photographers waiting for kitty to come away from the glass front and head over to them where the picture would look more natural.

But this kitty wanted to stare at a child that was running around not paying any attention to the tiger at all.

This is the tiger telling me how delicious I was looking.  Thank you Tiger...I try.

This is a picture of a mommy hippo playing with her two year old "baby".  Apparently you can tell that he is still a little one because he hasn't gotten his big boy teeth yet.

Red Panda....not a panda at all.  In fact, it is more related to the raccoon and weasels.  Which is why I think it should be called a Red Raccoon.  I mean, it looks more like a raccoon anyway.

I can't remember what these are called but they live in the Himalayas and apparently have children that are annoying.  This little guy was going around bugging ALL of the other goats.  Here he is chewing on the horn of what was once a sleeping goat.

While hiking around the "Nepal/Himalayan" area, we quickly found ourselves in "China".  Where there was a special exhibit.

We had no idea that a couple months earlier, the San Diego zoo had been blessed with a brand new baby, Xiao Liwu (Little Gift).  Apparently a couple weeks before, they had started showing the baby with his mother for a couple hours every day.

This is Xiao's mother looking for some more things to snack on while her baby naps.

Proof that I was actually at the zoo.

Aaron and I always seem to luck out on trips like this.  There always happens to be some kind of bonus in it for us once we get to a place.

Some monkeys helping each other groom and look pretty.

This mountain lion was VERY interested in the Service dog that was helping its master get around.

This guy was running up and down his enclosure, and ramming his head into the wall.  I don't know whether he is a weird frustrated animal or if he was practicing in case he had to beat someone up later.

This is a Kingspringer sitting on a cliff and enjoying some sun.  I have a closer picture of him on Facebook but I really like the framing in this picture...and it's my blog and I'll put the pictures up that I want to.

This is a gerbil...just kidding.  I'm trying to remember what this little guy is.  If you recognize him, let me know.  But we will just call him an ROUS until you do.

This was another kitty that was EXTREMELY interested in a child.  Aaron and I were looking at this leopard and it was in the back of the enclosure not giving a crap that we were there.

Then, a little girl in a stroller is wheeled up to look at him...and suddenly, we all became very interesting to him and by "we all", I mean the little girl. 

This meerkat was on guard duty.  He took his job very seriously.

This was when a zoo tour bus pulled up next to the enclosure.  I think his face reads, "This is a big problem...I don't know how to handle this kind of pressure!!"

This is a picture of Aaron trying to make me happy by pretending he is having a good time.

"Come at me, bro!" -Vulture

"What did I come out here for?  I was back in the cave...and then I came out here for....something...."

I found these camels highly amusing.  Mostly because they reminded me of my brothers.  They would just be hanging out and then all of a sudden, one of them was like, "I'm going to bite your ear!".

Then they would be like, "Just kidding...best friends!  You're so awesome.  I'm so glad we get to hang out."

Then, "I'm going to BITE YOUR FACE!"

This is a picture of Aaron wishing that he had bigger dogs at home.

If I had been less pregnant, I probably would have hopped on this thing and pretended to ride it.  But I was pregnant and thought that a hug would do the trick.

Aaron looked at this bird from a ways away and said, "Wow...what is that weird thing."  To which I replied, "Oh, secretary bird."

(I only knew that because a couple days before, I saw a GIF of one of them doing a crazy dance.)

African and Asian elephant living together.  Do you know how to tell the difference?  Racial stereotypes.  Asian elephant it has more brains in its head...because Asians are smarter than everyone.  Oh...also, they are shorter.

Aaron must be the most Asian of them all.     ....because he's smart.

Llama rolling around in the dirt like a dog wanting its belly rubbed.

A bunch of Capybara taking a nap.

This jaguar was obviously hearing someone making him his food because he was growing more and more impatient with the fact that the lion next door got served before him.

Aaron was so happy when we finally got to the big cats... particularly this big cat.  He was so scared that the lion would be asleep by the time we got to it and was thrilled when we found it wide awake and munching on some lunch.

This Asian elephant was throwing dirt onto itself.  He isn't steaming.

Aaron did a great job of spotting that this little lady was a hot mama.  I didn't even see the baby at first until Aaron pointed it out.

This is a dik-dik.  Don't yell that out in front of Aaron in public because he will be embarrassed to be seen around you.  But I was excited because I've only ever seen dead ones at the Bean Museum in Provo.

The funny thing is how I had to get my 7 month pregnant self onto the floor and through a tunnel to get to that spot....that spot that was for children.

I learned that Arctic foxes are basically the same thing as my dog Pippen.  This guy has a super cool Kong toy and was very proud of it.  But then he saw that his friend had a stick.....and so he dropped the Kong toy and took the stick.  So his friend got the Kong toy...classic.

This is a kangaroo.

We wanted to get back across the park fast, so we hopped on here.

I'm trying to remember what this is called.  Aaron wanted to see it so badly but when we went to the enclosure, he was gone for some reason.  So when we went over his enclosure later, I yelled for Aaron to look down at him...Aaron almost wet his pants because he thought I was yelling because we were about to die or something.

LIVE ACTION!!

Aaron and I both enjoyed the reptiles.

This was an ambassador animal that they had trained at the park.  This lovely lady was clicker trained...just like my dogs.

 

And she knew where the treats were.

 

Can you guess why these guys are called Golden Lion Tamarin or Golden Marmosets?  I'm guessing because of the color.

 

This is my favorite kind of fox, Fennec fox.  I wish that he has been awake.  I also wish that I could play with those big beautiful ears!!

 

I love petting zoos.  Aaron is not a fan.  But this little girl was  HUGE fan of this goat.  She kept snuggling him and giving him giant hugs around his neck...she didn't really want to share him with me but all of the other goats were in a special "safe zone" for when they don't feel like being around people.

This little guy was the hardest thing to photograph of the day.  This little river otter who insisted on napping in a location that I couldn't look through the viewfinder to take a picture....rude.

This is the butt of a Servel.  He didn't want to turn around or talk to me...I guess that that is his choice.

Baby meerkats in a basket!

This baby and baby meerkat were very interested in each other.  But in this picture it looks like the meerkat is getting bored but it is because this baby's sister was throwing leaves into the exhibit and the meerkat was super hopeful that it was a snack.

He also was hoping that my camera was a snack.  It was not.

This is a zebra.

Apparently this is a picture of a man taking a picture of a rhino.  I was too far away for a good photo and at the last second my camera made a decision, without me, to focus on the guy.

This is an ambassador animal.  Ambassador animals like this cheetah are paired up with a buddy, like a golden retriever, who keeps them clam when they go on trips to schools or businesses to educate the public. I think that it is crazy that this cheetah's best friend is a Husky.

This is a polar bear.

This is a peacock.

Apparently this pole is super delicious.

This is a grumpy sea otter.  I don't know why he looks so mad.

These two bears are brothers.  They were actually living up by where Aaron and I are, but they were running into a lot of problems with the law.  They liked going into camp sites and taking food from people.  So the San Diego zoo adopted them before they hurt anyone and had to be killed.

This is a Sunbear...but not the kind of sunbear where I'm from.  Apparently there are multiple kinds of sunbears.  Don't worry, I didn't cry for a very long time.

The orangutans were amazing to watch.  They are ridiculously graceful animals...despite looking like giant shag rugs.

 

I didn't know that this was a real animal until this day at the zoo.  Apparently hippos come in pygmy size.  Who knew?  When I think of hippo, I think HUGE but apparently they also come in fun size.

This is a novelity toy that you can find all over the place in Thailand.  It is a wooden toad, that when you run the stick along the bumpy back, it makes a toad noise.  The smaller the toad, the higher pitch the voice and the bigger the toad, the lower pitch. 

I've only ever seen one wooden toad this big and it was in a street market in Hawaii.

OH NO!  It got me!

This is a picture of Aaron apparently asking the bear to prom.

I'm guessing that it said no.

Beautiful peacock posing for everyone.

Ugly jealous peacock.  Poor guy.

I hope that that wasn't too much of a picture overload for you!  I know that my Flickr account is thinking, "Wow, she really wanted to get her moneys worth."
The San Diego Zoo is TOTALLY worth the money if you are ever in the area.  We loved our day there and I even think we would have enjoyed a second day there.  That way we could have taken our time with the animals.  But my feet were very glad that the next day, was a rest day.