a trip to the zoo

mark and i decided that we would take turns chosing what we would visit next in our discovery of the san francisco bay area.

i got to pick first, and thus, we headed just north of the city to the serene and beautiful muir woods. mark choice for our next destination took us south along the ocean, to the the san francisco zoo.

we started our day in chinatown, actually, where we enjoyed a light dim sum lunch. we then headed across the city to the ocean, and took the famous "great highway" coastal tour down to the zoo.

it has been years since we've been to the zoo, and let me tell you, we had a great time! not only were the animals amazing, but so many of them were outside rather than enclosed in small spaces or behind the bars of cages.

here are some photos of our favorites animals.

i've always enjoyed watching the gorillas, and these two were just traipsing around for all of us.

the bears were amazing, as well. polar bears, black bears, and even grizzlies! i don't think i've ever seen a grizzly in person.

and our all-time favorites: the large cats.

we saw them in the cat house about an hour before these were taken. just fed, they were fairly quiet and content - not too frisky. behind the bars in his cage, however, the king of the jungle has his sights on me. his eyes followed as a walked up to the bar in front of his cage. as he stared me down, a chill ran down my spine as i imagined how daniel must have felt in the lion's den.

a pair of sumatran tigers

the king, resting after his meal.

this beautiful lioness was literally four feet in front of us, separated by what felt like a all-to-thin layer of glass. as we she groomed herself and lay watching us, a little girl excitedly ran up to the glass and crouched down to get an eye-to-eye view. as they started at each other, her dad said "look at the eyes on that lion. she's examining her afternoon snack". wide-eyed, she stepped away and ran to cling to his leg. :)

aside from the wonderful animals, we enjoyed watching the children. their excitement, fascination and love for these creatures absolutely made our day. some day *sigh* we look forward to taking our own children on trips to the zoo.