Today was ZOO DAY!
Getting there was fairly easy. San Francisco Municipal Transit (MUNI) has a real-time website for trip planning. The site locks up occasionally but it’s still pretty good with lots of options. You can decide that you want to travel at 8:41am in 3 days, using only buses, with no more than a ½ mile walk between stops and voila you get a step by step set of instructions for 3-5 options varying in departure time, travel time and walking distance between stops. Our only snag was when we got off at the NW corner of Geary & 33rd and we were catching our next bus at the NW corner of Geary @ 33rd… but it turns out it wasn’t the same stop. There was another just around the corner where we couldn’t see it and we missed our connection and had to wait for 20 minutes. But once we got there it was smooth sailing!
Most of their buildings were being renovated (Lion House, Tropical House, Pachyderm building) but all the exterior exhibits were open. They have a good selection of primates, a family of giraffes, babies all over the place (including a baby gorilla) and a great kids‘ section. In the Children’s Zoo they have a discovery center, insect building, and all sorts of interactive stuff. In the main part of the zoo, Penguin Island reminds me so much of the movie Madagascar that I was waiting for a threesome to try a jailbreak.
All around the zoo they have employees with different creatures to show off like a 44 year old turtle, or a couple of small reptiles, and even a spot to pet rabbits. And another thing that was really neat was that when you get to the zoo, before you even go inside, you got to enjoy one of the biggest exhibits. Their African Savanna houses several different animals together, including the giraffes, zebra, ostrich (did you know there were brown ostrich? I thought they were all black and white!), kudus and oryx.
We thought we’d be at the zoo for a couple hours and then go to our next attraction, but we ended up there all day and we were sooo tired we just wanted to head “home”. Grabbed some pizza on the way (Village Pizzeria – yum!) and walked the last few blocks, downhill thankfully.
We are now officially half-way to becoming experts in the SF transportation system. In the past 3 days we’ve taken a cab, a bus, a slinky bus, an electric bus, an electric slinky bus, a tram, a cable car, an underground train and an above-ground train. At $2-$5 per ride cash, the $18 unlimited pass has been a lifesaver.
And while we’re talking transport, I should mention something about yesterday’s Alcatraz visit. The ferry ride out to the island was so easy I couldn’t believe it. I took my Gravol, but I’m sure I didn’t need it… and this is a girl who gets ill THINKING of riding a boat.
Well, fog’s been rolling in all evening and now we’re almost completely enveloped… time to call it a night.
Getting there was fairly easy. San Francisco Municipal Transit (MUNI) has a real-time website for trip planning. The site locks up occasionally but it’s still pretty good with lots of options. You can decide that you want to travel at 8:41am in 3 days, using only buses, with no more than a ½ mile walk between stops and voila you get a step by step set of instructions for 3-5 options varying in departure time, travel time and walking distance between stops. Our only snag was when we got off at the NW corner of Geary & 33rd and we were catching our next bus at the NW corner of Geary @ 33rd… but it turns out it wasn’t the same stop. There was another just around the corner where we couldn’t see it and we missed our connection and had to wait for 20 minutes. But once we got there it was smooth sailing!
Most of their buildings were being renovated (Lion House, Tropical House, Pachyderm building) but all the exterior exhibits were open. They have a good selection of primates, a family of giraffes, babies all over the place (including a baby gorilla) and a great kids‘ section. In the Children’s Zoo they have a discovery center, insect building, and all sorts of interactive stuff. In the main part of the zoo, Penguin Island reminds me so much of the movie Madagascar that I was waiting for a threesome to try a jailbreak.
All around the zoo they have employees with different creatures to show off like a 44 year old turtle, or a couple of small reptiles, and even a spot to pet rabbits. And another thing that was really neat was that when you get to the zoo, before you even go inside, you got to enjoy one of the biggest exhibits. Their African Savanna houses several different animals together, including the giraffes, zebra, ostrich (did you know there were brown ostrich? I thought they were all black and white!), kudus and oryx.
We thought we’d be at the zoo for a couple hours and then go to our next attraction, but we ended up there all day and we were sooo tired we just wanted to head “home”. Grabbed some pizza on the way (Village Pizzeria – yum!) and walked the last few blocks, downhill thankfully.
We are now officially half-way to becoming experts in the SF transportation system. In the past 3 days we’ve taken a cab, a bus, a slinky bus, an electric bus, an electric slinky bus, a tram, a cable car, an underground train and an above-ground train. At $2-$5 per ride cash, the $18 unlimited pass has been a lifesaver.
And while we’re talking transport, I should mention something about yesterday’s Alcatraz visit. The ferry ride out to the island was so easy I couldn’t believe it. I took my Gravol, but I’m sure I didn’t need it… and this is a girl who gets ill THINKING of riding a boat.
Well, fog’s been rolling in all evening and now we’re almost completely enveloped… time to call it a night.
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