California Vacation: San Diego Safari

We rode a bus from Anaheim to San Diego. I had booked us at the Manchester Grand Hyatt - an imposing hotel on the waterfront with its twin towers overlooking the aircraft carrier and the Naval Base in the distance. Down below from our room on the 22nd floor, we could see Seaport Village with its collections of quaint little shops, restaurants and boardwalk by the sea. We watched the sun go down over the Bay and headed downstairs to dine at a small seafood restaurant run by a Mexican woman. As the skies darkened, we sat down with freshly fried fish, tacos and wine enjoying the cool breeze that came off the sea.

We had booked tickets for San Diego Zoo's Safari Park. It was only when we got onto a taxi that we realized how far this place was. After 30 minutes and a $100 cab fare, we arrived. Having visited the place I can now say it was worth the money and the effort! We loved this place even more than the Zoo. Spread over 1800 acres of wilderness, this park is home to over 3000 wild animals including the big four from Africa.



We took a safari ride on tram across the 'African Plains' watching families of giraffes, elephants and deer among others. Then we headed off on foot covering Condor Ridge, Elephant Valley, Tiger Trail and Gorilla Forest. There weren't too many visitors during the time we were there, and some of the enclosures made me think we were in Jurassic Park - but thankfully, no velocirapter leapt out of the bushes.

On the way back, we saw several farms dedicated to oranges and ostriches. So if very large omlettes are your thing, stop on your way back!