San Diego Zoo- December 3

We are now parked northeast of San Diego,in the Santee Lake Recreation Preserve. It is a 190 acre park surrounding a chain of seven scenic lakes. It is a very lush green area with lots of trees,many of which are changing their colors now,and I also saw a blooming rose garden here today. Interestingly,the hills surrounding this park look bare and dry,with only cactus plants on them. Today we went to the San Diego Zoo,one of the world's largest zoos. I liked it a lot,but John thinks the St.Louis Zoo is just as good. Besides just being a zoo,the San Diego Zoo is also a botanical garden. There were lots of flowering hibiscus bushes,as well as bouganvilla,bird of paradise,and even the aloe plants were in bloom. I have here a picture I took from the aerial tram. In the picture you will see a blooming tree,as well as some of the palms which are in the park. Being that high up over the zoo we could see how it sits down in a canyon. I enjoyed the many different aviaries which the zoo has-the picture of the brown and red bird here was taken in the hummingbird enclosure. I have no clue as to what kind he is; we did see hummingbirds and other tropical birds in this aviary,but this one was the only bird to sit still for a picture! Also the zoo's duck ponds were very active with birds flying in and out of them-I have here a picture of an blue heron who was willing to pose for me. I will have more on our experience in this zoo on tomorrow's posting.