First Zootrip in the USA

J

Jonas Livet

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Dear All,

After visiting some 999 zoological institutions around the world, I am currently planning my first zootrip to the USA: 18 days in California the second half of March. I will be travelling with a colleague from Tiergarten Nürnberg in Germany and the main focus of the trip will be discovering local zoos and wildlife.

Please see below our draft planning. Any comment/advice/idea/suggestion/tip is very welcomed! Don't hesitate. We may have overlooked interesting locations too, just tell us.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Jonas Livet
Leszoosdanslemonde

18/03/2013:
Arrival in LA
(+ Carlsbad Sea Life Aquarium
OR Doheny State Beach Aquariums & Visitor Center)

19/03/2013:
SeaWorld San Diego

20/03/2013:
San Diego Zoo

21/03/2013:
San Diego Whale Watching
+ Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography
+ La Jolla

22/03/2013:
San Diego Natural History Museum
+ San Diego Zoo (second visit)

23/03/2013:
San Diego Zoo Safari Park

24/03/2013:
San Diego Zoo Safari Park (second visit)
(OR Carlsbad Sea Life Aquarium)
+ Emerald Forest Bird Gardens

25/03/2013:
The Living Desert
+ Moonridge Animal Park/Big Bear Alpine Zoo

26/03/2013:
Orange County Zoo
+ Santa Ana Zoo
+ Aquarium of the Pacific
(+ Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab and Aquarium)

27/03/2013:
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
+ California Science Center

28/03/2013:
Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens
+ Griffith Park Zoo (1912-1966)

29/03/2013:
Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens (second visit)
+ Behler Chelonian Center (BCC)?
(OR Santa Monica Pier Aquarium)
(OR EFBC 's Feline Conservation Center)

30/03/2013:
Santa Barbara Zoo
+ Ty Warner Sea Center
+ Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

31/03/2013:
Charles Paddock Zoo
(+ Morro Bay Aquarium)
+ Highway 1 via Big Sur
+ Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery
+ Heart Castle in San Simeon

01/04/2013:
Monterey Bay Aquarium
+ Monterey Bay Whale Watch

02/04/2013:
Pinnacles National Park
+ Fresno Chaffee Zoo

03/04/2013:
California Living Museum (CALM)
+ Gibbon Conservation Center (GCC)
(+ Santa Monica Pier Aquarium)
+ Departure from LA
 
Trying to fit in the Santa Ana Zoo, Orange County Zoo, and the Aquarium of the Pacific in one day may be a bit much. The Aquarium is quite large and you could spend a good chunk of a day there alone. You might consider combining it with a trip to the AZA-accredited Cabrillo Marine Aquarium which is much closer to Long Beach than Irvine or Santa Ana are.

Also, the Living Desert is quite large and you can spend much of the day there between the animal exhibits, gardens, and wild desert habitat with nature trails. Palm Desert and Big Bear are not that close to each other and I'm not sure that you could go both places in a day.

If you are interested in meeting fellow Zoochatters when you visit the LA Zoo let us know. Some of us have been talking about visiting the old zoo also and I'm sure would enjoy touring the LA Zoo with you.
 
Wow, very impresive list you have planned ! About Emerald Forest Bird Park, I had heared about them and knew about their large collection of toucans but didn´t know they were open to the public. Checked their website and they are indeed - surely a place I have to visit when I ( someday:( ) go to the USA.
Another place of intrest is the Behler Chelonian Center, several species you woun't get to see at other places !
Hope you take with you a good camara and takes loads of pictures - and please share them with us !!!!
Already wish you a nice trip.
 
vogelcommando said:
Another place of intrest is the Behler Chelonian Center, several species you woun't get to see at other places !
Click to expand...

B.C.C. doesn't allow visitation due to what species they hold and the fact that most of the species live outdoors. They do tours now and then, but email them ahead of time to see if they are offering tours when you planned to visit.
 
29/03/2013:
Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens (second visit)
+ Behler Chelonian Center (BCC)?
(OR Santa Monica Pier Aquarium)
(OR EFBC 's Feline Conservation Center)

I would definitely recommend EFBC. I've only been there once, but it left quite an impression. There's cats everywhere, some of which you won't see at other zoos/parks and the staff I met was really very nice.

Enjoy your trip.
 
I have never met Jonas Livet, but he and I have sent emails back and forth on a number of occasions in the past year. We've also exchanged zoo map packages, and I'm in awe of his 1,000 zoos as so far he's never been to the United States. But since there are 500+ zoos just in the nation of Germany it is possible to never leave Europe and pass the 1,000 mark. Nevertheless a very impressive total!

I already sent Jonas a long, detailed email this morning in regards to his draft of the March trip, but one thing that I wanted to point out on this forum is that the time frame for visiting zoos and aquariums is different for everyone. I know of a couple of ZooChatters in England that easily tick off two zoos a day on various vacations, and it seems that the more zoos people have been to the less time they perhaps spend at each individual exhibit. However, it is all subjective and there are some zoo nerds that insist that one should book 2-3 days for each of the mega-zoos (San Diego, Omaha, Bronx, Berlin, Singapore, etc) and while in some cases I agree with that...BUT quite often a couple of single guys touring a mid-sized zoo can tick it off by noon and then drive to the next one!

There are plenty of places that Jonas is looking at visiting that can easily be seen in 2 hours or less, and so in theory one could visit a zoo from 9-11, drive to the next one and tour it from 12-2, and then drive another hour or so and tick off a third zoo. Some aquariums are open late at night and so the evening would still be free for various choices and destinations, and many of the really small, non-AZA-accredited venues in California can probably be seen in less than 2 hours. He is not married and does not have little kids tagging along and so he can bang off tiny facilities by the dozen! Naturally having two days set aside for San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park is a smart choice, but the rest of the itinerary should definitely be attainable.
 
snowleopard said:
There are plenty of places that Jonas is looking at visiting that can easily be seen in 2 hours or less, and so in theory one could visit a zoo from 9-11, drive to the next one and tour it from 12-2, and then drive another hour or so and tick off a third zoo.
Click to expand...

That is theoretically true, but trying to go from Irvine to Santa Ana to Long Beach all in one day (assuming normal hours for aquarium and zoos) could be quite hellish depending on traffic. He may find himself spending half the day stuck on the freeway.
 
Funny thing is that I was planning to visit the LA Zoo on the 28th also! So I agree with David in that if you would be interested in meeting with some Zoochatters just let us know.
 
Dear All,

Thanks a lot for all your messages and comments! They are all very valuable and helpful to prepare my trip.

I am aware that my plan for Orange County Zoo/Santa Ana Zoo/Aquarium of the Pacific in one day could look ambitious… My first idea was to combine Aquarium of the Pacific and Cabrillo Marine Aquarium on a one day basis but looking at the opening times it didn’t look so much better that the current plan… and I didn’t know what to combine with Orange and Santa Ana then! Any suggestion?

It seems that I have overlooked a bit The Living Desert and I have decided to put the Moonridge Animal Park/Big Bear Alpine Zoo as an option (only if time allows). Spending a full day in Palm Desert could be a good option! Would it be a big miss not to visit Big Bear Lake?

I will confirm soon what are our final plan for Los Angeles but it could be a great idea to meet some zoo fellow over there!

Best regards

Jonas Livet
Leszoosdanslemonde
 
Jonas Livet said:
Dear All,

Thanks a lot for all your messages and comments! They are all very valuable and helpful to prepare my trip.

I am aware that my plan for Orange County Zoo/Santa Ana Zoo/Aquarium of the Pacific in one day could look ambitious… My first idea was to combine Aquarium of the Pacific and Cabrillo Marine Aquarium on a one day basis but looking at the opening times it didn’t look so much better that the current plan… and I didn’t know what to combine with Orange and Santa Ana then! Any suggestion?

It seems that I have overlooked a bit The Living Desert and I have decided to put the Moonridge Animal Park/Big Bear Alpine Zoo as an option (only if time allows). Spending a full day in Palm Desert could be a good option! Would it be a big miss not to visit Big Bear Lake?

I will confirm soon what are our final plan for Los Angeles but it could be a great idea to meet some zoo fellow over there!

Best regards

Jonas Livet
Leszoosdanslemonde
Click to expand...

Hi Jonas, I think your day in Irvine-Santa Ana-Long Beach could work fine if you are able to work around the traffic.

I have not been to Big Bear. The zoo is tiny - less than a hectare I think, although it looks high quality from what I have read of it. Honestly, I don't think that you would miss much if you did not see it. If you are interested in experiencing the real desert at all then Joshua Tree National Park is fairly near the Living Desert and might make a good companion to it.
 
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