Taming The Lion

My wife and I took our son to the Santa Barbara Zoo today. He loves animals, so my wife likes to take him to the zoo. I haven't been able to go with them until today. Let me just say, if you go to a zoo, prepare for the stench of a lifetime. That place had some serious stench coming from the pens. :)

The Santa Barbara Zoo is tucked away in the midst of the city, between the Cemetery and the beach. This allows for a steady breeze, even on a warm day. I definitely needed that breeze today.

We walked around the zoo, looking at the various animals. Some were harder to find, others were definitely looking for attention. Apparently the last time the Gorillas were right up against the glass. Today was not the Gorilla's day though. as you can see in the above pic, the Lions were out today. How often can one get this close to a lion without being dinner? I thought it was pretty cool. My general rule on cats is this: house cats are best served to dogs, while a cat that can eat you is cool. This is why I am a fan of lions and tigers.

We had a lot of fun at the park. It turns out that the zoo is a Pepsi park, so I was pretty stoked. Too bad some bad apples have thrown lids at animals in the past, because the zoo, like other parks, doesn't serve Pepsi with a lid or a straw. When there are birds flying around, I like having a lid on my cup. Don't you?

One of the things that stood out at the zoo was the play are for the kids. There was a huge hill of astro-turf or something. It looked a lot like grass from a distance. Kids were sliding down this hill and having lots of fun, so I took my son up a few times. That hill turned out to be quite the workout. We would run up the hill and slide back down. The hill was pretty fun, and I only got rug burn on a couple parts of my back. I think the next time we go, the hill will definitely be on the agenda.

I think the highlight of the day was on our way out of the zoo. My wife was, in my opinion, foolishly running her hand along the railing of the path we were on, disregarding the white splotches all around us from Seagulls and all sorts of other avian visitors. She finally got a big handful of guano on her hand. This was no small glob here. This pile was pretty big. She was pretty disgusted, as was I, and we hurried to the nearest bathroom, with myself laughing all the way. She didn't think it was so funny.

This zoo is pretty cool, especially for how small it is. It was nice being able to get as close as we did to the animals. My son loved it, my wife and I had a good time, and I got a great laugh in the end. I am looking forward to the next visit.