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San Diego Zoo - Day 1

We've been hearing that the San Diego Zoo is the nicest zoo in the country so when in San Diego with a small child it seemed to be a "must visit" site. Unfortunately we picked an unusually cold and rainy day. We expected nice weather in mid-April, not low 50's with heavy rain. Heck, it was 85 degrees back in Chicago the same day!

We started our visit by going straight to the Children's Zoo section where we saw some of the "cuter" animals you can see elsewhere in the zoo but in a more child friendly environment. There is also a petting zoo, which terrified by nearly 2 year old daughter. The goats seemed friendly enough. Oh well.

Within an hour of being there it started to rain. We thought we'd wait it out in the reptile house but it was just getting harder. We decided to instead take the tram for a tour of the zoo where we could at least be somewhat protected from the elements. Bad idea. I must have picked the one seat where all the water from the upper deck runs off right down my back, despite me using my rain jacket to direct the rain off the side of the bus. By the end of the 40 minute ride we were all miserable and we just left to go back to the hotel to dry off and warm up.
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We're here and the weather doesn't look bad, yet..
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Pink Flamingos.
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A Peacock in it's full glory.
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Meerkats bite!
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Giant Millipede.
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Western Lesser Panda from Nepal.
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A pair of Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats sleeping.
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This looks like a Red-faced Lovebird.
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From the rainforests of Brazil come these amazing Hyacinth Macaws.
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You can see the first drops of rain on the back of this Leopard Tortoise.
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Way back there is a Polar Bear.
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Don't remember what these were, some sort of Deer.
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Obviously Zebra.
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Giraffe.
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A grumpy (and soaked) bear.
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A Rhino taking a nap.
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I think this was a Tapir.
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You can see the falling rain on this wet Asian Elephant.
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San Diego Zoo - Day 2

A couple days later we had a free afternoon and the weather was WAY better so we decided to head back to the Zoo for another try. We were directed to Guest Services where we told them about the terrible rain out a couple days prior. They were very nice and told us that we should have gone to Guest Services before leaving the park but gave us complementary tickets anyway. We now REALLY like this zoo! We didn't even bother riding the bus this day and just walked the park.

Some of the highlights of the day include seeing the Panda. There was a VERY long line to see the baby Panda but we found the line to see the adult male to be non-existent. Just as we got there he was taken in back to eat and have the enclosure cleaned. We just waited for the return and got some great pictures.

We were somewhat disappointed with the Gorilla and Tiger areas. The only part of the Tiger I saw was the tail sticking out of it's hiding spot and there was only one Gorilla down in a ditch asleep. We weren't sure if he walked down or fell down. Later in the day we saw one other Gorilla but only from the back.

One thing we did find amusing was the effect Disney has had on the American culture. Time and time again whenever we saw a Warthog or Meerkat (three different displays throughout the zoo) parents would tell their kids that it's Timon or Poomba rather than a Meerkat or Warthog. *SIGH*.
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Buergers' Tree Kangaroo from the rain forests of New Guinea.
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I think these are Red-flanked Lorikeets.
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A sleeping Koala.
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A Warthog.
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A South West African Suricate, a.k.a. Meerkat.
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Zambian Sable Antelope.
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Masai Giraffe.
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The endangered Mhorr's Gazelle.
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The delicate Saharan Dorcas Gazelle, a.k.a. Lion Appetizer.
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...and Bongo was his name-o.
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A Damara Zebra.
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The Forest Buffalo, the most dangerous game animal in Africa?
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Gao Gao, the 11 year old male Panda.
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Gao Gao searches for hidden food pellets.
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One of the several walk-through aviaries in the park.
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No idea what kind of bird this is.
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A Black and Crimson Oriole?
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This friendly bird walked right up to us.
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Some sort of Vulture I guess.
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This Gorilla doesn't look comfortable in this ravine.
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I later found another Gorilla up on some rocks.
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A Bonobo using tools.
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The Bonobo are sometimes called Pygmy Chimpanzees.
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Let's play find the Hippo!
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Asiatic Elephant.
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A Roatan Rat? No, it's a Capybara.
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Greater Indian One-horned Rhinoceros.
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A sleepy Lioness.
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