Ok I'm a little behind on getting the post up this week, it's been a little busy the past couple of days. But day five of our vacation was our last real vacation day. Mom and I had made plans to go to the San Diego Zoo since it is supposed to be one of the best zoos in the world. I was a little worn down from Sea World the day before and not sleeping well so I wasn't as thrilled as I normally would be going to the zoo.
We got there a little before two and got our tickets, on the way into the zoo we saw that they too had a backstage tour. Mom asked me if I wanted to do it, and I told her only if she'd do it with me. She relented, some what reluctantly, and we signed on. We had to head back to the area because the tour was actually starting soon. So while we were waiting we looked at the giant anteater and her baby on her back and took pictures of each other with our backstage tour badges on.
The tour started soon after we got there. First thing we got to see was a little hedgehog, they brought this out while we were filling in a little quiz to see how many famous logo animals we knew. We got most of them, but some we didn't have a clue. Mom's knowledge helped a lot. After we got to touch the hedgehog we were introduced to their little cheetah cub, who was only going to be there for the summer, since she is being relocated this fall. We watched her chase one of her balls and bounce around on the props they had on the small stage for her. We were able to get up really close to her, mere inches away, but were asked not to touch since they didn't want her used to too many people. Her long tail would often whip out, and came close to touching a couple of the other people on the tour since there weren't that many, but everyone kept their distance. Mom thought she was really pretty.
After that they took us back to the rhinos. We all got to take a bit of grain and carrot and each had a turn to feed them. Mom even did it, but she wasn't happy when she got slobbered on. The rhinos had been rolling in the dirt to help keep them cool so even their top lips were dirty. Mom wanted to see what they felt like so she petted the side of one of their faces. She said that if anyone needs lotion, they do. We got to scrub them with brushes after that, one of them really likes that and we were told that he even rolls on his back so we can do his tummy properly, but he didn't do that for us. Then we gave them showers with the hose, they liked this a lot too since it was really warm.
We washed our hands in the buckets just along the fence and followed our tour guides through the park back to the kangaroo exibit, there we were joined with the Make A Wish Foundation kids. They brought out an emu for us to see. She has actually been on several TV talk shows, and has met a lot of celebrities. We each got to go up and pet her. She didn't really feel like a bird because she didn't feel feathery. In fact her wings are very oily, it was really interesting. Mom kept telling her how pretty she was, and how she could easily see her wearing mascarra with her long eyelashes.
Then they brought out a couple of young kangaroos. We got to pet the female, but her brother hasn't had enough interactions with strangers so he was kept away, which is probably a good thing because he got in a fight with his trainers, kicking and clawing at them as they tried to put him away. The female was really soft though, and we all got to feed her a bit of carrot as well as she walked past our feet.
They took us back to the main area after that where we were given a lunch and got to watch a show of many different animals that they brought out. They had ocelots, a full grown cheetah, an animal that looked like part bear and part cat - but is actually closer to the meerkat and mongoose, but I can't remember its name, and an Arctic wolf. We were told a lot of interesting things, most of which I already knew. But I loved the show anyway, we even got to howl with the wolf, and I really enjoyed that.
After that we went exploring, we took the tour bus so we could see most of the park, and it was included with our backstage tour price. Then we went on the skyride to get across the park where we looked at most of the deer, zebras, polar bears, Asian cats, and then went to the elephant odyssey which was really cool. It started off with fossils of a bunch of animals buried in the earth or on display, and then a whole wall of what the pictures looked like. Mom wouldn't stand by the wall for me to take a picture so I just took a picture of the wall.
After that we grabbed the bus to the bird show because mom wanted to see it. Since we had reserved seating, another bonus of the backstage tour, we went and looked at all the big cats like the cougar,lions, black leopard, bobcat, and snow leopards. I didn't get to see the tigers so I was a little disappointed, but mom was really happy we got to see the bird show. We also got to see the hyenas since they were down there as well. I've always thought it interesting that hyenas have the strongest bite per square inch of any land mammal. Over six hundred pounds per square inch. And their stomach acid is so strong the can devour everything on a carcas including the hair, horns, hooves, and bone. They are like the garbage disposals of Africa.
After the bird show it was time to go home. But when we got in the car it wouldn't start. Mom swore a lot as she cleaned the battery a little, and with a little coaxing, and a lot of praying, the car started. We got to Paul and Angela's and told them about our day. Angela said that the girls would be jealous because mom and I do all the fun stuff at the parks, where they only do the normal. Paul looked at mom's car the next morning, found the problem and told mom how to fix it. But we left around 11:30am or so on Wednesday and came back to Utah. I had a great time on the vacation with mom, it was so much fun.
We got there a little before two and got our tickets, on the way into the zoo we saw that they too had a backstage tour. Mom asked me if I wanted to do it, and I told her only if she'd do it with me. She relented, some what reluctantly, and we signed on. We had to head back to the area because the tour was actually starting soon. So while we were waiting we looked at the giant anteater and her baby on her back and took pictures of each other with our backstage tour badges on.
The tour started soon after we got there. First thing we got to see was a little hedgehog, they brought this out while we were filling in a little quiz to see how many famous logo animals we knew. We got most of them, but some we didn't have a clue. Mom's knowledge helped a lot. After we got to touch the hedgehog we were introduced to their little cheetah cub, who was only going to be there for the summer, since she is being relocated this fall. We watched her chase one of her balls and bounce around on the props they had on the small stage for her. We were able to get up really close to her, mere inches away, but were asked not to touch since they didn't want her used to too many people. Her long tail would often whip out, and came close to touching a couple of the other people on the tour since there weren't that many, but everyone kept their distance. Mom thought she was really pretty.
After that they took us back to the rhinos. We all got to take a bit of grain and carrot and each had a turn to feed them. Mom even did it, but she wasn't happy when she got slobbered on. The rhinos had been rolling in the dirt to help keep them cool so even their top lips were dirty. Mom wanted to see what they felt like so she petted the side of one of their faces. She said that if anyone needs lotion, they do. We got to scrub them with brushes after that, one of them really likes that and we were told that he even rolls on his back so we can do his tummy properly, but he didn't do that for us. Then we gave them showers with the hose, they liked this a lot too since it was really warm.
We washed our hands in the buckets just along the fence and followed our tour guides through the park back to the kangaroo exibit, there we were joined with the Make A Wish Foundation kids. They brought out an emu for us to see. She has actually been on several TV talk shows, and has met a lot of celebrities. We each got to go up and pet her. She didn't really feel like a bird because she didn't feel feathery. In fact her wings are very oily, it was really interesting. Mom kept telling her how pretty she was, and how she could easily see her wearing mascarra with her long eyelashes.
Then they brought out a couple of young kangaroos. We got to pet the female, but her brother hasn't had enough interactions with strangers so he was kept away, which is probably a good thing because he got in a fight with his trainers, kicking and clawing at them as they tried to put him away. The female was really soft though, and we all got to feed her a bit of carrot as well as she walked past our feet.
They took us back to the main area after that where we were given a lunch and got to watch a show of many different animals that they brought out. They had ocelots, a full grown cheetah, an animal that looked like part bear and part cat - but is actually closer to the meerkat and mongoose, but I can't remember its name, and an Arctic wolf. We were told a lot of interesting things, most of which I already knew. But I loved the show anyway, we even got to howl with the wolf, and I really enjoyed that.
After that we went exploring, we took the tour bus so we could see most of the park, and it was included with our backstage tour price. Then we went on the skyride to get across the park where we looked at most of the deer, zebras, polar bears, Asian cats, and then went to the elephant odyssey which was really cool. It started off with fossils of a bunch of animals buried in the earth or on display, and then a whole wall of what the pictures looked like. Mom wouldn't stand by the wall for me to take a picture so I just took a picture of the wall.
After that we grabbed the bus to the bird show because mom wanted to see it. Since we had reserved seating, another bonus of the backstage tour, we went and looked at all the big cats like the cougar,lions, black leopard, bobcat, and snow leopards. I didn't get to see the tigers so I was a little disappointed, but mom was really happy we got to see the bird show. We also got to see the hyenas since they were down there as well. I've always thought it interesting that hyenas have the strongest bite per square inch of any land mammal. Over six hundred pounds per square inch. And their stomach acid is so strong the can devour everything on a carcas including the hair, horns, hooves, and bone. They are like the garbage disposals of Africa.
After the bird show it was time to go home. But when we got in the car it wouldn't start. Mom swore a lot as she cleaned the battery a little, and with a little coaxing, and a lot of praying, the car started. We got to Paul and Angela's and told them about our day. Angela said that the girls would be jealous because mom and I do all the fun stuff at the parks, where they only do the normal. Paul looked at mom's car the next morning, found the problem and told mom how to fix it. But we left around 11:30am or so on Wednesday and came back to Utah. I had a great time on the vacation with mom, it was so much fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment