So I'm actually part-way through my latest overseas trip now, but feel I should do something to semi-wrap this up before I start a new one. For various reasons I never got around to writing about my time in San Diego. It's too long ago to give a detailed account but a) the three collections I visited are very familiar to many here anyway and b) detailed accounts aren't often my thing. So just a few observations:
A) I quite enjoyed SeaWorld. I obviously took particular interest in the conditions the orcas were being held in and the presentation of the shows. I had no particular qualms with either, other than the general principle that bigger is always better for marine mammal tanks. Congratulations to the people who successfully stopped that from happening. Ahem. The show presentations were basically just dolphin shows.
I saw emperor penguins for the first (and only) time here, but I didn't see a great deal of them because the enclosure has the lighting set to replicate Antarctic conditions. Wonderful for the penguins, but less great for an Australian zoo nerd visiting in the northern summer. I could sort of make out the birds, but it wasn't a very meaningful encounter.
There's a weird bit - I forget the name - consisting of a barn with a handful of small animal exhibits. I saw my first beaver there*, and I think it was also where I first encountered an armadillo if memory serves.
I went on both the ride portion of the polar bear/pinniped/beluga complex as well as walking through. The ride was a bit silly (then again, I'm not the target market), but I really thought the theming was quite well done.
I really enjoyed the interactive dolphin pool where a group of Dolphins were playing with toys, which they would nudge towards visitors to get them to throw them back into the pool. I'm sure it outrages the easily outraged, but it was an enriching experience for both visitor and dolphin.
This visit was before the Blue World project (was that the name?) sank, and there was a petition going around to get the support of the Coastal Commission for the plans. I happily signed it, and would have done so even if they hadn't given me a free drink voucher to do so. Rather dodgy.
b) I spent two full days at the Zoo, partly because that's how long I'd allowed, partly because they were both weekend days so I was allowing for crowds and partly because it was the end of the trip, I'd over-done the walking in Washington and New York and my knees weren't up to rushing about. When I was there the zoo was open until 9PM, but the combination of the dodgy knees and the existence of free vegetarian dinners at my hostel deterred me from staying past about 6 on either day. As it was, I had a luxurious 16 or so hours there and would have gone past everything at least twice.
I remember writing in this thread that I'd had a brief moment at Bronx where I wondered if my passion for zoos had suddenly dissipated. San Diego put that to bed; I loved the place. My first bonobos. My first okapi (the shadow at Bronx notwithstanding). My first hummingbirds. And... my first pangolin!
I almost missed it. Even though it was clearly written on the map that they had a pangolin talk at 1:30 I didn't see it, and it was sheer luck that on my second day I was in the children's zoo area when a keeper pulled it out. I watched for about ten minutes as it moved about, looking like an animated pine cone.
Maybe part of my satisfaction with my SDZ visit compared to Bronx was that I had much better luck with my target species. About the only one I missed out on was the aye-aye which, for some reason that escaped me, was in one of four identical wire cages that were by far the lowest standard in the entire zoo. They weren't obviously bad for the animals (various species of primates), although they were on the small side. But they were just plain ugly at a zoo that (mostly) doesn't do ugly. Weird.
I read a comment here once that argued that the roughly half of the zoo that is made up of rainforest-themed enclosures would stand alone as the best zoo exhibit on the world. I haven't been to many of the contenders but for those that I have I would have to agree. The standard of primate exhibits in particular is very high, and I spent hours with all the aviaries.
The three big walk-throughs equal those at Jurong (although I might have a different opinion if I didn't have chainsaws to contend with in the Waterfall Aviary last February). As has also been canvassed here some of the smaller aviaries, especially those in the Wallacea area, were too small. But whilst I hope that gets addressed over time I really hope it doesn't come at the extent of what must surely be North America's greatest bird collection and one of the top handful in the world.
They're big on reptiles, too. The reptile house and outdoor areas could standalone as their own separate visitor attraction in many parts of the world. A particular pleasure for me here was watching a snake shed its skin - the first time I'd seen it despite previously having had a snake of my own for about 7 years.
All in all, San Diego Zoo stands alone for me as the best zoo I have visited. Granted I have a great many of the world's big players still to get too but it clearly beat Bronx for me. Again, that's quite possibly down to intangibles such as the luck I had at the respective zoos. Certainly I have plans to return to both on my next US trip, for which plans are afoot but will now come to fruition for some years.
c) Believe it or not, I managed to get out to the Safari Park via public transport. It required being up at about 5:30 or so in the morning (I'd say I felt bad for my hostel roommate, but he was a really rude guy so I happily set my alarm to go off), and getting three buses. The first took me across San Diego to an interchange on a freeway. The second took me along said freeway. The third was one of I think only two services that stopped at the zoo each morning, with another 2 heading back. It put me at the zoo about an hour before opening time, so I had to sit and read a book as staff arrived and went inside, no doubt a bit baffled to see me there. Nobody else arrived by bus that day, and I was the only passenger on the return bus too. My driver that time spent the trip quizzing me about the cost of various vices in Australia, including cigars, alcohol and marijuana, and how easy it was to obtain the latter. Somebody was clearly dreaming of a big trip.
It was a relatively quiet, hot Monday morning there and as I had arrived at opening time I didn't have much in the way of crowds to contend with. This was of great benefit when visiting the aviaries. The Wings of the World aviary had 38 species listed, from memory, and I was able to find 30 of the 38. Partly a function of the time I spent there, and partly also that I had the thing to myself.
I don't know whether this will be a disputed view or not, but I believe that the parts of the Safari Park that you walk through are even better than the Zoo. Tiger Trails, Condor Ridge and the gorilla enclosure are all well and truly world-standard. Walking the desert trails up towards Condor Ridge, with views stretching around you for kilometres, is surely one of the greatest zoo settings anywhere.
I give the points to the zoo only because its collection is more comprehensive, and because I wasn't thrilled in the 'safari' section of the Safari Park. With the admission price already very steep I thought it was a bit much that an extra fee was charged to see the Asian Passage area, and I didn't pay it. So I missed that part of the zoo. I also hadn't realised that the buses don't drive through the paddocks, but only circumnavigate them from the outside. The inevitable result is seeing most of the hoof stock only from a long distance.
I did see the Northern white rhinos and can report that they look... Just like Southern white rhinos. Again, I suspect this will be a controversial call, but it's time to accept the situation with the Northerns for what it is. Not that there's safe habitat for rhinos in East Africa anyway, but if there is an opportunity to restore rhinos to their old habitat there Southerns will fill exactly the same niche.
And with that, I bring my US trip report to a limp and very belated end.
* Stop it. Grow up.
