Ready for a day of fun!

If you are like me and have a kiddo that loves animals, then the San Diego Zoo is the place for you! This zoo is located in Balboa Park in San Diego and is full of wonderful animals! The zoo recently celebrated its 100^th birthday in 2016 so this is a really great time to go! Oliver’s school was closed for a few days in August so we took the opportunity to travel the short distance to San Diego and visit for a few days,

Where to start touring the San Diego Zoo?

There’s so much to see at the San Diego Zoo, it’s hard to know where to start! We started with the monkeys. They were so fun to watch! We made our way past the Tapir (which is an animal my son has loved since 18 months old) to the birds. I love walking through aviaries because the birds in there are usually so beautiful! I love seeing all the different colors. One animal that I could not miss seeing was the Koala. I’ve always loved those and they didn’t disappoint! They look so cute sitting on their trees and eating the leaves. They had a Koala statue that you could pose with so I couldn’t miss getting a picture of Oliver with it.

Almost as good as the real thing!

Northern Frontier

Excited to see the polar bears!

One of the best areas of the San Diego Zoo was the Northern Frontier area featuring the awesome Polar Bears. It was quite a hike to get up to them but so worth it. Beyond the fantastic animals like the artic fox, mountain lion and reindeer (which reminded me of Sven from Frozen!), there were a couple areas where kids could play. One involved getting to climb in a stationary helicopter and a polar bear den to crawl through! Near the Northern Frontier, you could board the Skyfari Aerial Tram which takes you high in the air and across the zoo. What an AMAZING view! I highly recommend it when visiting the zoo.

Peek-a-boo!

DIStracted tip: The San Diego Zoo is HILLY, make sure you are wearing comfortable shoes!

Food and Shopping

There is not a shortage of either at the San Diego Zoo! Every area we went to had their own little shop and it was cute seeing themed merchandise everywhere and not seeing the same thing. There was a HUGE shop near the exit and we couldn’t leave without picking up a few souvenirs from our trip. There was food in so many places too and you could pick from any type of food. We had a delicious Chinese food lunch near the pandas. They also have a nice restaurant near the Gorillas that looked like it would be a perfect date place.

What a perfect day!

Before we knew it, we had seen the zoo! The last animal we saw was the giraffe and we couldn’t help but take a picture. The zoo is so large, it took us most of the day to walk through it. With all the hills and walking, I felt like I got a good workout too! If you are ever in the San Diego area, this is a do not miss! Have you ever been to the zoo? What was your favorite animal?

Giraffe!