Tuesday, August 5, 2008

A Zootiful Day

For the Monkeys, no visit to San Diego is complete without a trip to the world-famous zoo.
zoo 027
Torry had never been, so it was exciting to experience it with her. that girl and that boy happened to be free on Sunday, so they came along for the fun, too.

The koalas were cute but very very sleepy.
zoo 028zoo 029
Wallaby.
zoo 030
Yellow-backed duiker.
zoo 031
Loved the meerkats!
zoo 033
zoo 035
Crafty elephant.
zoo 040
This guanaco wasn't skittish like the ones we saw in Chile.
zoo 043
Dancing rhino! Not really.
zoo 051
We love giraffes. They are so gentle and sweet.
zoo 060
zoo 061
Camel butt.
zoo 080
Red river hog.
zoo 116
Zebras.
zoo 121
Polar bear through a dirty window.
zoo 123
Exhausted parent.
zoo 126
Western red-flanked duiker.
zoo 127
This southern gerenuk was one of the dumbest creatures I'd ever seen. Here he is looking totally normal. Kinda cute even.
zoo 130
Then he stuck his face in his friend's nether regions.
zoo 131
He dove really deep.
zoo 132
Then his friend peed all over his head, and he made this face.
zoo 133
He had this distorted look for a really long time. We were all laughing so hard at him. It was a like a Billy Idol sneer.

And then he licked his peed-on face! So stupid!
zoo 134
Flamingos.
zoo 139
Otters rule!
zoo 145
zoo 156
Me! Ha!
zoo 150
Snack time.
zoo 152zoo 153
zoo 154zoo 155
This crazy hippo loved squashing himself against the glass.
zoo 159
zoo 163
Despite its familiar domesticated appearance, this is actually a fierce fishing cat.
zoo 166
Scary monkey.
zoo 173
The gorillas were so fun to watch, especially the baby.
zoo 182
zoo 178
zoo 183
The orangutans were great, too. I love primates. Obviously.
zoo 188zoo 189
zoo 196
This sun bear wouldn't stop digging, so we pretended that the random fur on the log in his enclosure was an animal. So. Weird.
zoo 203
zoo 204
Bored hyena.
zoo 205
My favorite part of the day was seeing the pandas. Twice!
zoo 211zoo 210
It was little Zhen Zhen's first birthday on Sunday! The zoo gave her a present with non-toxic pink paint for her to enjoy, but Zhen Zhen just slept in a tree all day.
zoo 218
Instead, Zhen Zhen's mother Bai Yun played with her daughter's birthday present, which is why she has some pink marks on her snout!
zoo 221
Su Lin's third birthday was on Saturday. We came at the perfect time to celebrate both of these cubs' milestones. Seriously adorable.
zoo 213
Then it was Creepy Mask Time. Somehow, Torry still looked cute in her mask.
zoo 224
zoo 225
zoo 226
We ended the day with lots of amphibians and reptiles. The only one I actually liked was the Galapagos tortoise.
zoo 236
We bid that girl and that boy adieu around 8:30 p.m. and began the drive home. We were still full from brunch at that point! But, as we neared L.A., we stopped and chowed at In-N-Out. Mr. Monkey had a gift card, so dinner was gratis.

Lovely weather. Fun friends and family. Cutie pandas. Free double-doubles.

Life is good.

23 comments:

  1. Love the zoo and all your lovely pics are the next best thing to being there myself!

    ReplyDelete
  2. i looove the zoo and loved going through your great pics. otters definitely rule, and the pandas are just precious. ending the day with in-n-out is icing on the cake, especially if you splurged on a shake. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awesome pics! The ones of the southern gerenuk (along with your commentary) cracked me up. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hurray for the zoo! Love your photos of the panda and other animals.

    ReplyDelete
  5. nice photos. my former dental hygienist liked to talk about meerkat manor every time i was in her chair.

    the pandas are SO cute.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I seriously think we walked a million miles that day. But it was worth it to see the gorillas pounding glass and the orangutans rolling rolling rolling.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AAHHHH! I love this post. Fiance calls me Little Panda, and I call him Monkey. I emailed him the post for him to enjoy as well.

    ReplyDelete
  8. hi :)
    looks like the best time! your photos of the animals are amazing, professional looking!

    ReplyDelete
  9. LOVE the zoo!!!

    especially the pandas,zebras, and gorilla's!!

    LOL @ Camel butts.....better then camel toe right???.........:P

    I ALWAYS wanted a gorilla and put him in pampers...and carry around like a baby.....so cute!

    ReplyDelete
  10. i am so cute on my birthday! almost as cute as scary monkey.

    kiss

    ReplyDelete
  11. *hee* at Scary Monkey -- not the intended effect.

    Love the meerkat shots. :) Jack does a meerkat pose when he sits on the sofa; I'll have to post a pic sometime.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love animals. I love your pictures. And I want to take the bored hyena home with me.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Awww, love those pandas! They remind me of the kids in the toddler room at work. Paint and then sleep.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your favorites are most of my favorites too. I've never been to the San Diego Zoo. I hope to remedy that someday.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yay for meerkats and baby gorillas!

    ReplyDelete
  16. that part about the gerenuk made me spit out my Pepsi - hilarious!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Your pictures came out great! They're so sharp and up close...The peed-on antelope made my day.

    ReplyDelete
  18. i've got a friend or two whose head(s) i'd love to pee on at times.

    ReplyDelete
  19. we pink puffy <3 the zoo.

    how great is monkey trails?!

    the meerkats, pandas and koalas are big favs of ours, too.

    ReplyDelete
  20. The giraffe pics are the cutest! What a fun SD weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I love the zoo.
    I would hate getting my face peed on.
    I forgot I commented on this already. lol

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...