San Diego Safari Park

Today with the much-appreciated assistance of a Garmin GPS we braved the freeways of Southern California and drove to San Diego.  We went directly from Jo and Ian’s to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, which is still somewhat north of San Diego city.  We didn’t crash, get lost or end up in the wrong lane at any time (we also did not pass Go and collect $200 but never mind).

The Safari Park is superb.  They are world leaders in the conservation work that goes on in zoos these days, and have so much space that creating nearly natural habitats is possible.  They don’t go to the extremes of putting predators in with prey of course, but the African plains are well-represented.  It is very hard to choose a favourite exhibit, although I did particularly like the flamingos.  They are such an amazing colour.

The mountain gorillas are awe-inspiring.  It is heart-breaking to think that while places like this are working so hard to preserve the species, their native habitat is still steadily shrinking and they are in so much danger from poachers.  The group here includes a baby who is very endearing.  The silverback leader of the troupe is just massive.  Our photos struggle to capture just how big he was.

We stopped briefly at a show involving different birds.  The owl that they had was really big and tawny (just like owls should be), and the juvenile Andean Condor was huge.  They have massive wingspans.  The African grey parrot was a very good mimic and that part of the show was pretty funny.

Next stop was the African Safari trail where we wound through a number of different animals including warthogs, bat-eared foxes, an okapi, and a variety of deer things.  The variety of animals was only surpassed by the variety of flora – the whole place is beautifully planted and landscaped. After lunch, we boarded the Africa Tram which took us around the huge area where they have a huge collection of African herbivores.  We saw about 5 rhinos, dozens of giraffes, water buffalo, gazelles, wildebeest, wild Somali asses and other deer things.  They have an amazing set up here.  The reason that you have to take the tram is that it would probably take you two hours to walk around the same path.

Next was the lions who were just lion around.  The male was basking in the sun on the roof of an old Jeep while Sarabi was sunning her tummy nearby.  The male was so funny, he stood up, had a big stretch, turned around and just flopped back down as if that had been really hard work!  We were delighted to have been there at just the right time.

The tiger trail was slightly disappointing.  They have two Sumatran tigers who were out in the enclosure but they wandered off out of view pretty much as soon as we got there.  Luckily the elephant exhibit more than made up for it.  They have at least five babies as well as their many adults.  These are such wonderful creatures, somehow managing to be ungainly and graceful at the same time.

After that, we headed up to the top of the park where we got to see a bald eagle and two condors.  The top of the park was also amazing for the variety of different plant life that they have.  One of the park attendants I talked to was saying that despite the number of animals that the park has, its plants were now more valuable in terms of the number that they have and the rare nature of some of them.  They had some great succulents and a well-appointed garden of bonsai trees – not what you’d expect in a safari park, but very interesting.

As if we couldn’t get any luckier on this trip to date, one of Ian’s friends owns a condo on the beach near Del Mar (just north of San Diego).  A guy Charlie is currently living here and he has welcomed us in to stay here while we are in San Diego.  It is lovely – in a gated community.  We have just been out for beer and pizza at some flash place overlooking the ocean and watching the sunset.  Reality is sure going to hit us hard when it arrives – let’s hope that it is still a way off.