In case you didn't notice from Facebook, Paul and I did our San Diego trip this past weekend. I can safely say this was one of the more unique trips I've been on. On this trip we did more than just visit a few zoos. We did a bunch of up close, "VIP", behind the scenes type stuff.
I will sum up the weekend by saying A) Paul is too good to me, I can't believe he put all this together and B) I now want a red panda, penguin, or cheetah for a pet. So there are some Christmas ideas for you...just saying.
Most of the pictures I'm going to post from the trip will be on Facebook too, but I wanted to use the blog to go into more detail with some of the key moments of the trip.
Friday:
We didn't do anything "special" on Friday. We just went to the San Diego Zoo. Though, if you've never been it's like a zoo on steroids.
The red panda! I'd have to say these guys were my favorite from Friday.
How cute are these guys? Though they're called pandas they look like they're part fox and part raccoon....and part awesome.
I've seen peacocks before but I've never been lucky enough to see them show off before.
The peacock kept turning from side to side to show off but in doing so he kept hitting the ducks behind him with his feathers. They looked like they were plotting his death after a while.
Saturday:
Sea World...and the main event.
The penguin exhibit at Sea World was insane. So big. So many penguins.
Outside. This guy was hanging out by the air conditioner (even though it wasn't very warm outside). My kind of guy.
Inside the exhibit....as most people get to see it.
But sometimes pictures don't do things justice and are better said with video...
I think I made Paul watch the penguin exhibit for at least 20 minutes.
Seriously, watching penguins waddle along is one of the most entertaining things for me.
Let's do this!
A video with our penguin expert. And the "souvenir" she's talking about at the beginning is getting pooped on. Like all birds, penguins just kind of go whenever, wherever they feel the need, and there some force to it when they go...and it happened to her about 10 minutes after this video. Call it a hunch, but I don't think that was the first time it's happened to her.
It's a short video but I'm petting a penguin...it gets posted.
Ahhhhhhhh
I couldn't believe how SOFT he was. I wasn't expecting that at all.
I think Paul found a good spot
I think Paul now understands the pure awesomeness that is a penguin
Afterward Paul said something about every February 24th should be national pet a penguin day...I like this idea.
So, based on our time around this guy, and what the researcher was saying, penguins are practically feathered dogs. They're extremely sociable and friendly. I'm posting the video below because, even though we don't know the guy petting the penguin, you can see how the penguin interacts like a pet would. Like, "yeah that's a good spot keep scratching there."
And now we go INSIDE the exhibit...they have to make snow every morning for these guys and it was about 29 degrees in there. Can't say I really noticed the cold though since I was standing only a few feet away from penguins! We were only allowed in the back corner, but it was still beyond awesome.
EPIC - all I can say.
Sunday:
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
I had never been to the safari park before. Some of the exhibits are HUGE. Which is good because the animals get to be in more of a natural, and less of a zoo-like, setting. However, it also means it can be hard to see everything...unless you do a caravan safari, then you get to see things UP CLOSE. Oh yeah...and you get to feed a giraffe.
Our guide giving us the dos and don'ts of giraffe feeding
Paul's turn
Giraffe's aren't very shy
Success
My turn...
The giraffe was a bit of a drooler, so both Paul and myself were left with some souvenirs
How you doin'?
(One of my favorite pictures from the trip)
So cute I wanted to throw up. And the baby was ONLY 7 feet tall.
Next we visited some more animals, among them rhinos...
Living, breathing TANKS
In a different part of the park we saw a mama rhino and her 2 month old baby...for obvious reasons we kept our distance from them though...
Nap time
...and now off to find some food
And elsewhere on our visit at the park...
Greatest bird name ever
That's the actual wingspan for this type of bird. Holy cannelloni!
We ended our animal crazed weekend with the cheetah run at the safari park. A cheetah run is basically...exactly what it sounds like. A cheetah runs, chasing a toy, down a decent length of grass to show off her speed...all 70 mph. And most cheetahs get to that speed in about 3 steps. Oh, there's an option to sit up close for the run and see the cheetah close up afterwards? Why yes we'll do it. And boy am I glad we did. I actually learned quite a bit about cheetahs. For example, though they are wicked fast, cheetahs are big wimps. As the trainer said, "in a fight or flight situation, a cheetah will always choose flight." So, how do they get the cheetah to do the run where there's a bunch of people and noise and other potential scary things? They actually raise and train the cheetahs with domesticated dogs. The cheetahs learn to look to the dogs to read if a situation is scary. If the dog is happy and calm (and a dog basically always is) the cheetah knows there's nothing to worry about. Because of these wherever the cheetah goes her canine companion must also go...actually the dog always has to lead the way. You could actually see her look over to the dog every so often to see how things were going. It was one of the oddest, yet sweetest, things I've ever seen.
So, as I said, the dog goes first and the cheetah sees everything is okay.
And now it's her turn...
A little post run snack for our athletes
After the runs, we were able to meet the stars of the show...as you can guess we weren't allowed to pet the cheetah...but we were only about three feet away from real life, living, breathing cheetah, so I'll take it.
Watching her with her trainers, she was simply acting like a BIG house cat...and notice the dog isn't too far away
A cheetahs BFF
NO ZOOM NECESSARY
No, no, THANK YOU
And that sums it up! I told Paul on Monday it almost felt weird to not be walking around looking at animals. A completely fun, but absolutely exhausting weekend.
