After twenty years of traveling, we have been to over forty countries, almost every U.S. state, most national parks, and basically every major U.S. city. But there are still places out there to explore.
“We have still, somehow, not been to San Diego,” Victor said.
I vaguely remembered how. We have been to California several times and each time, San Diego never made it into our itinerary. In 2004, both of us young, unemployed, and almost broke, spontaneously hopped in my car and drove to California to explore Death Valley and the Lake Tahoe region. We had just over a week and California was expensive even when we camped, slept in the car, and ate at grocery stores, so we never made it as far as San Diego. A year later, we took a road trip down scenic Highway 1 from San Francisco to Los Angeles and had briefly discussed driving a bit further to visit San Diego, but once again, we didn’t have enough time or money to do so. In 2012, we drove through Eastern California with our friend Ayala, exploring Death Valley, Mammoth Lake, Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon, and even stopping by Las Vegas for one unbearably hot day. We never made it far enough south to consider San Diego and so, for years, it was one major city in California that remained unexplored by us. Until now.
We had four days to explore San Diego and took full advantage of every single day. There were plenty of things in that city we loved – hiking the gorgeous Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, exploring the architecture and natural beauty of Balboa Park, strolling through the street of Little Italy, unable to decide which of the dozens of cute little cafes or restaurants should be our lunch stop for the day. But there was one thing on our itinerary that didn’t make sense to me, at least not at first. When Victor first mentioned he was thinking of spending a day at the San Diego Zoo, I was a bit confused. We are not really zoo people, and I don’t remember the last time we went to the zoo. I always wonder about the ethical considerations of keeping animals in captivity, while on the other hand, I do appreciate the roles zoos play in conservation and education. It’s a complex subject I have avoided for years by simply never visiting a zoo. But the thing that jumped out at me the most wasn’t even the zoo itself, but the fact that we were planning on spending the whole day there. Turns out the San Diego Zoo is one of the biggest and most popular zoos in the world, sprawling over 100 acres and housing over 4,000 animals of more than 800 species. One day might not even be enough to see it all! But at $72 per single-day ticket, one day was all we were willing to pay. We might no longer be broke twenty-somethings, but California is still expensive!
We arrived first thing in the morning because we didn’t want to miss the opening ceremony with a flight of macaw parrots and did in fact see one single parrot fly over our heads as we stood in line to scan our tickets. The first surprise of the day was how much I loved all the frogs, snakes, lizards, and turtles at the Cool Critters exhibit. The giant Komodo dragons and Galapagos tortoises were the definite highlight, but I spent so much time staring at tiny colorful frogs and strange lizards that it was becoming embarrassing. The next exhibit featuring all kinds of creepy and crawly bugs blew me away. I’ve seen most of these insects before – dried up and pinned up under glass at the Chicago’s Field Museum, but never alive and crawling around. The giant and tiny beetles, the colorful butterflies, the incredible stick insects, and the fascinating scorpions, I could have spent the whole day just in that one exhibit. It quickly became apparent that we needed to get a move on it if we wanted to see half of what we initially planned.
![53776871613_0c66bdf5ba_k 53776871613_0c66bdf5ba_k](https://twocatsbackpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/53776871613_0c66bdf5ba_k.jpg)
![53776668871_fb4fe58959_k 53776668871_fb4fe58959_k](https://twocatsbackpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/53776668871_fb4fe58959_k.jpg)
![53776669186_cdc43d8ed1_k 53776669186_cdc43d8ed1_k](https://twocatsbackpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/53776669186_cdc43d8ed1_k.jpg)
I could not believe some of the animals we saw. As in I literally had to stop myself and wonder if this was a real animal or something created by a mad scientist in a laboratory. Gharials that look like crocodiles with a super long thin snout with a hundred sharp, interlocking teeth swam around in a pond. Okapi grazing in a field looked like a mix of zebras and giraffes with a head that resembles a giraffe and zebra-like white and black striped legs and hindquarters. Tapir, an animal neither of us has ever heard of, looked like a strange mix of a hog, a bear, and an elephant. These barrel-shaped animals on short, hoofed legs had a long flexible nose that resembled a short elephant’s trunk and were an absolute delight to watch.
There were plenty of more common animals that I had never seen live before – koalas, red pandas, axolotl salamanders, capybaras, and Amur leopards just to name a few. Of course, there were the standard lions, elephants, giraffes, orangutangs and various primates that are always fun to see, but I was the most impressed with the hippo exhibit, especially when the hippos swam right up to the corner of the tank where we were standing and pressed themselves right against the glass.
It was already getting dark and only an hour from closing time when we were making our way past the bears' enclosures and stopped to watch a grizzly bear snoring away in his cave. Next was a sloth bear, who despite his name, was awake and energetically pacing around. The moment Victor looked down at a map, the bear crouched low and tensed up, getting ready to leap at us. Even though there was a cement moat and a fence separating us, I panicked and screamed. I spent the next 10 minutes explaining that the bear scared me while Victor explained that I scared him.
![53776665606_e87588fcac_k 53776665606_e87588fcac_k](https://twocatsbackpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/53776665606_e87588fcac_k.jpg)
![53776871153_b869cf7286_k 53776871153_b869cf7286_k](https://twocatsbackpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/53776871153_b869cf7286_k.jpg)
![53775759902_f18b1c460a_k 53775759902_f18b1c460a_k](https://twocatsbackpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/53775759902_f18b1c460a_k.jpg)
As we kept walking down the darkened street, searching for the exit, Victor wondered, “How do they make sure all visitors leave the zoo on time? It’s such a large park.”
“They release the bears, and the park gets cleared of all people one way or the other!” I joked and immediately found myself increasing my speed, just in case.
We arrived at the front area just in time for the closing ceremony with African drummers, dancers, acrobatic groups of animal-themed performers, and giant animal puppets entertaining children and adults. By the time we exited the parking lot, it was pitch dark and we were exhausted from the full day of walking around.
All in all, despite the exorbitant price, it was absolutely worth it, and we had a blast. It felt like we did a mini trip around the world and spotted Amur leopards in the Russian Far East, Komodo dragons on Indonesian Islands, koalas in Australia, penguins in Antarctica, and all of the incredible animals of Africa. Hopefully, one day we can see all these animals in the wild, but until then the San Diego Zoo will remain my favorite day trip.
![53776674116_db4bcc0436_k 53776674116_db4bcc0436_k](https://twocatsbackpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/53776674116_db4bcc0436_k.jpg)
![53776667581_e3e4292695_k 53776667581_e3e4292695_k](https://twocatsbackpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/53776667581_e3e4292695_k.jpg)
![53776677326_b78958446e_k 53776677326_b78958446e_k](https://twocatsbackpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/53776677326_b78958446e_k.jpg)
![53777002084_dd8299ff24_k 53777002084_dd8299ff24_k](https://twocatsbackpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/53777002084_dd8299ff24_k.jpg)