Yesterday R and I went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. We hadn't been there in 14 years, but now that we have a membership and get in free, we decided to check it out. I guess you can say it's totally different now, and so is our situation. No little kids to take care of... just us to please.
We had a great day. Rather than having many many individual animals, the WAP has fewer in much much larger enclosures, or so it seems. Or maybe it's just the size of the place that makes it seem that way. We spent a long time watching a pride of lions. Two lionesses had a litter of cubs in November, and they are sort of oversized babies now, stepping all over their moms, and I'm sure torturing them when the cubs nurse with their sharp teeth and claws. The amazing thing was that there is a place to watch them from very close up, as they hang out on an old abandoned car, evidently their favorite place. I stood about 5 inches from the lioness, looking into the bottomless pool of her golden eye. She knew that I and about 50 other people were looking at her, but she didn't seem to care. It was an amazing experience.
Another amazing thing was the butterfly and orchid house. I had to stand in line for over an hour to get in there, but it was worth it. There were butterflies everywhere. One had to watch her step because they were on the paths and several Morphos and little orange butterflies with elongated wings landed on my shirt and stayed there for some time, opening and closing their wings. I felt really lucky to be standing there in the middle of that beauty. The orchids were also amazing, and complemented the butterflies. I can't make things grow, or I would try my hand at attracting butterflies too.
4 comments:
I am so glad you got to do this--you deserve a day away just for you. And that Wild Animal Park is a terrific place.
Thanks Lou. It was great, and Richard and I both had a fabulous time. Then last night we went to a movie (a comedy--the Miss Pedigrew one, which is fun fluff) and out to eat Chinese with a Chinese friend, who could translate for us. It was fabulous, despite the grumbling of my gut.
Oh, I bet you could get things to grow. Lots of plants are rampant and unkillable and beloved by butterflies.
I've been in butterfly houses but not one that was also an orchid house. Must be marvelous.
It was absolutely wonderful. I love orchids, and they do grow well around here, but not for me. Nothing grows for me because I am inconsistent in caring for it. I'm not that way with my animals because they remind me. Even the fish, when I had them, let me know I needed to feed them and I was good about doing water changes too.
But all my plants (and I have had a few, particularly succulents, croaked.
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