Shrubbery

San Diego zoo. Established in 1922 is notably famous, along with all the conservationist work on endangered species it performs, for having one of the few Giant Panda exhibits in the world.

The zoo is located in Balboa park and is again a short drive from the USS Midway. We arrive as an apparently innumerable number of summer camp children are being collected from the zoo by their parents, creating a log jam of vehicles back to the zoo drive turn off.

A zoo official bids us to stop and having confirmed we are visiting the zoo, politely suggests we by pass the queue and pull into the (free) zoo car park on our left. We happily comply and are shortly at the zoo entrance preparing to pay the $40 per person day entry fee.

The ticket clerk, a deeply tanned pleasant soul, asks us where we are from and whether it is our first visit to the San Diego Zoo, we reply that it is and as he passes across the tickets he suggests we head straight to the bus tour, which will give us a free 40 minute guided tour of 70% of the exhibits.

Once again the obligatory photo awaits at the entrance to the bus tour and as we offer our park entry tickets to join the queue we are stamped on the left wrist with the word 'BUS' and a paw print. This branding will allow us to use the park busses all day free, hopping on and off as we please.

We elect to use the lower tier of the double decker bus, having learnt from our San Francisco experience that it is easy to burn on the upper deck. The day had begun overcast with a pleasantly warm temperature, by this time however the sky was a bright cyan and a brilliant sun burned in it.

The tour proceeded past the entrance concessions and onto a concrete route past dense foliage, occasionally glimpsed through the shrubbery some fencing or netting, the driver spoke nasally describing the wealth of wildlife that may be observed, here some Flamingos, here a stripped hyena, here a spotted hyena.

We pass more Flamingos then a construction site for a new pen, the bus starts to climb noisily towards the Arctic compound where a polar bear lies asleep amongst some rocks. On the right a couple of Rhinoceros can just be glimpsed receiving a back rub from a keeper.

Then the Elephant pens, where huge 'utility trees' made of concrete and steel provide structures for food to be suspended on mechanisms which allow the Elephants a degree of play whilst they eat, this is clearly an Elephant thing as we encourage our own children not to 'play' whilst eating.

The tour continues past apparently empty compounds where the guide explains the sleep patterns of their occupants, Lions and Koalas it seems share the basic attribute of sleeping 22 hours a day, this is reflected by their lack of visibility from the low ride position in the bus, we pass some Flamingos.

The tour is concluded with the antics of a human infant whom screeches incessantly as we approach the final stop, jumping up and down and clutching his trousers, 'Mama, I need to go NOW' he cries, his mother hustling him towards the exit as the driver struggles to unlatch the low gate as quickly as possible. Mother and Son disappear rapidly, leaving the father to pacify the second infant and wrestle with a pushchair and souvenir drinks containers (large size naturally) presumably the cause of the problem.

We step off and stride out toward the Panda exhibit, which is in the 30% of the park not visited by the bus. Our route takes us uphill as the zoo nestles in the steep hills and valleys of Balboa park, soon we are feeling the strain and take a slight detour to use one of the two routes provided that include travelators.

This slight detour takes us upwards, towards a netted aviary and the Monkey exhibits, which we stroll around, the smaller apes are visible, one choosing to ride on the back of a small hippopotamus.

The Gorillas sit sullenly, staring out at the humans gawping and clicking their cameras. A family of Orang-outangs provide the most animated display although the glass wall that protects them from the visitors is smeary and proves an obstacle to clear photography.

We start to head down towards the Panda enclosure, a construction site shrouded in green hessian passes on our left as we approach, the main entrance door to the Panda house has a sign on it indicating the entry is ahead.

We can see a queuing system unfolding before us a number of people gathered at one end of it, 'No queue then', I comment to David. As we approach it becomes clear why, the exhibit has closed for the day to allow 'enhanced facility' construction to continue.

We pause at the exhibits shop and ubiquitous cafe where 'chinese fare' is offered, I have a shredded beef stir fry with rice, whilst David chooses chicken stir fry. Many Americans grumble at the absence of more traditional item such as Burgers or Hot Dogs and move on.

Disappointed with not accessing the Panda exhibit we decide to lift our flagging spirits with a journey over the park using the cable car or 'Skyfari', this bisects the zoo travelling from a location near the main entrance to the 'Polar arctic' exhibit. Due to the time there are no queues at the entrance boarding area and many departing cars are empty.

We board and anticipate a thrilling ariel experience with herds of giraffe, elephant and prides of lions arrayed below us, we are disappointed. Once again the burgeoning foliage foils most attempts to view the animals, or even the enclosures. We do get a clear view of the treetop cafe and retail outlets and once again a couple of construction areas, before alighting near the polar exhibit.

The polar bear is moving and we get a quick video before attempting to find a shuttle bus to return us to the entrance. The one bus that turns up is not in service and another is not forthcoming within the promised fifteen minute interval, so we start to walk back up the hill to the 'Skyfari' where a queue awaits, as this ride will return us to the Zoo entrance.

We are both weary now and decide not to wait out the Zoos night time program which will commence at 20:00, already entertainers are providing street music, a number of children writhe with hula hoops before a group playing what could loosely be described as 'rock-country', in an effort to win a prize, possibly a stuffed Flamingo I speculate.

We turn right and head towards the exit before reaching them. The drive back from the Zoo to the hotel is straightforward and takes around 20 minutes. We park the car and proceed to reception with the intention of cashing a travellers cheque and printing our boarding card for the following days flight.

Travellers cheques initially seemed to be accepted in most places, but since leaving Las Vegas there has been a greater reluctance to accept them, preferences usually being expressed for cash or charge card (Credit or Debit). The Hotel however is happy to accept the US dollar American express cheques and armed with folding green ones for the New York cab I attempt to check in and print our continental boarding cards.

The screen accepts my confirmation number and an animation briefly plays whilst it process the request at the server, I wait confidently. The animation finishes and a simple white screen appears with the Continental logo and the simple message, 'Sorry we cannot complete your request, check in is only possible in the 24 hours prior to departure'. I frown and repeat the exercise with the same result.

The console that I'm working on pops up a message advising me I have 119s remaining before auto log off. I decide to check in at the airport the next day.

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