Lots of things going on over the weekend, but Vegas wasn't one of them. Mike wasn't feeling well and ended up working very late of Friday evening. He didn't have to work on the weekend, but our trip to Vegas was postponed just the same. That was OK.
On Saturday morning, he woke me up and told me to get ready to leave on a day trip. OK. We ended up going down to the San Diego Wild Animal Park in Escondido, CA. It's not quite as far as San Diego, but it's not that close either! By the time we arrived, everything was sold out as far as all the tours and the "behind the scenes" type of activities. That was OK with me since we've already done that. It was actually pretty nice to just wander around at our own pace and not have to worry about getting from point A to point B in a certain amount of time!
We spent time with the gorillas and the lions. Amazing creatures all. There is something about looking at a gorilla and seeing the vast intelligence there in their eyes. Breaks my heart that they have to live like that, but I can also see them being ambassadors for their species and getting those homo sapiens to contribute money towards their preservation.
The silverback gorilla has the most "pissed off looking face" of any gorilla I've ever seen. He seems to have a permanent scowl and even though he was relaxed, he sure didn't look very happy. The other gorillas seemed to be intent on amusing themselves with a little donut ring on a chain. We spent almost 45 minutes with them and I would have liked to spend more time, but seems like the crowds like to gather when the animals are actually doing something.... imagine that! LOL!
We ate lunch outdoors at the Mombasa Island Cooker. The patio sits just next to the lagoon and there were several species of water birds that entertained us with their displays. Some snowy egrets were preening for the females and they put on an impressive display.
After lunch, I went up in the hot air balloon. Mike wouldn't do it... he doesn't care for heights. But I went up and took lots of photos from 400 feet up. Spectaluar view! When we were coming down, the male lion started roaring. Man, that's a sound that carries for miles! We went over to watch the lions and I got some pretty good shots of the male lion looking right at me. Glad that plexiglass was there in front of me! Although, I have to say these lions are VERY well fed... there was a rabbit in the exhibit with them and they never saw it! Amazing!
Last stop of the day was the gift shop on the way out. I got a lion figurine that is painted to look like a mosaic. I got a turtle the last time we were there. They are pretty cool looking and I think I will get another mosaic animal on each of my trips there. We've just renewed our membership to the San Diego Zooilogical Society, so our new membership cards should be arriving soon!
