Our Safari Adventure

We went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park on Sunday for the first time.  We didn't tell the girls where we were going - Eliza thought we were headed to the park (which was not technically a lie).  They didn't seem to notice the drive that took longer than our usual choice of parks, but as we pulled up to the entrance there was a huge sign with a rhinoceros.  That's when the real excitement began.  We parked the car and walked over to catch the tram to the entrance.

This was a treat in itself, and the smiles got bigger and bigger.  Eliza handed the tickets to the man at the entrance and we were off.

We started with the flamingos - as usual.  Is there some law that they must be close to the entrance at every zoo/animal park in the country?  We saw an american alligator, some meerkats, and lots of ducks, pelicans, egrets, and other species of birds.  The girls were most excited about all of the fun things for them to climb in/on though.

Daddy helped Audrey across the lily pads.

Eliza jumping across them on her own.

We climbed inside this huge weaver's nest for a picture.

Eliza liked these giant turtle shells.  Audrey liked spinning her in circles with more help from Daddy.

My two little bats.

Practicing their jumping.

Daddy and the girls under the beautiful wisteria.

We passed by the butterfly house, which was unfortunately closed.  They are opening next weekend for their huge exhibit, so we could see hundreds of butterflies inside.  This picture was taken through the window.

Audrey checking out the gorillas.

Eliza comparing her size to the gorilla.

 We went into one of the amphitheaters just in time for a cheetah talk.  We got to see a cub, and a full grown cheetah that was almost 2 years old.  It was interesting to hear that the Safari Park trains all of their cheetahs with a dog companion from the time they are cubs.

We headed over to the Africa Tram to do the "safari" part of the park.  This picture is while we were waiting in line.

Eliza was excited about all of the pictures while we were in line.

Audrey liked them too.

Almost our turn!

Audrey and I on the tram.  She was so excited!

Still happy as can be during the ride - Eliza was kind of grumpy for most of it.

Most of the giraffes were down a hill from where we drove by...

Lucky for us, this one was way up by the fence - we could almost touch him!

Eliza sat up straight to see this!

We went to see the elephants next and Eliza loved this statue of the herd.

And here's some of the actual herd.  The big one in the picture was gigantic!

Some of the other elephants playing with a ball.

The girls were both excited when we got to the Discovery Station.  Audrey tried on all of the hats, but only modeled this bumble bee one.

Eliza did this awesome layered puzzle.  The first layer was a tiny caterpillar, it became a bigger one, then a cocoon, then finally a butterfly.  Such a great way to learn about metamorphosis!

Eliza tried on some of the hats and costumes too!

We made a quick stop at the petting zoo before leaving.  Eliza got to pet some deer, but Audrey was upset that she couldn't color some more, so threw a fit in the stroller instead.

Eliza also stopped for a picture on this huge rhino statue on the way out.  Dominic took a few pictures of her there, then went to hand me the camera - which we dropped.  Hopefully it will be an easy fix at the repair shop, it seems to be one part that needs replaced on the lens.  It was a great day nonetheless.  The girls both fell asleep on the way home.