San Diego Zoo Safari Park...

My dear friend, Cindy, arrived for a two night stay and our plan was to hit the ground running. SUCCESS!

A huge surprise for us was the visit to Walkabout Australia! We could not believe how close we were able to get to these magnificent marsupials!

"Envision yourself following a backcountry road shaded by eucalyptus trees, with brilliant red bottlebrush blooms waving to you in the breeze. Follow the path of the roo as you are transported Down Under to walk among kangaroos and wallabies, wonder at cassowaries and more—this is San Diego Zoo Safari Park Walkabout Australia!"

We were mesmerized by the joeys in their mom's pouch. Can you see the eight month old's leg hanging out? So dang weird but so cool. Wow.

Here, the joey turned himself around and was dining on the grass within easy reach. Did you know that a kangaroo's pouch is called a marsupium. A roo is an animal with an external pouch in which offspring suckle and develop. Unlike mammals, marsupials do not nourish their embryos through a placenta attached to the mother. Instead, marsupials are born at a much earlier stage than mammals and continue their development within the pouch. When first born, marsupials have underdeveloped eyes, ears and rear limbs. However, the forelimbs, nose and mouth are fully developed to allow them to move to the pouch and latch onto their mother's nipples so that they can feed and continue to develop. We were so amazed by witnessing this interesting fact.

Wallabies are smaller in stature than their kangaroo cousins, but wallabies have no less awareness of their environment and their place within it. Like their fellow family members, mother wallabies are equipped with the wonders of a pouch, a warm, safe envelope to protect growing joeys, nurturing the life-force of the being to come. So dang cool!

Our next awesome experience was at Lorikeet Landing. Cindy bought us a cup of special nectar. We were then mobbed by the friendly and noisy birds, which landed all around and even on us as we stood there with our offering.

Parrots are famous for their bright colors. Some of the most colorful parrots are lorikeets. They live throughout the islands of the South Pacific and Australia. Lorikeets have a unique, brush-like tongue. Instead of eating nuts and seeds like other parrots, they dine on flowers, pollen, and nectar. Their beak is perfect for crushing flowers, and their tongue mops up the nectar. They use their strong beak and four-toed feet to hang upside down to get to all the flowers on a tree.

The Lemur Walk offered us an immersive experience to get close to these adorable mammals. How fun to walk along the path as ring-tailed lemurs frolicked among the trees, branches, and path around us.

No visit is complete without taking the 2.5 mile (25 minute) Africa Tram. Where else can you see giraffes, warthogs and rhinos... oh my!

We also had to check in on the new baby elephants. They were as cute as ever.

As were the gorillas!

Our next stop was to ogle tigers. The Sumatran tigers have three different exhibits for ample ogling. This five year old, $19.6 million exhibit is named the Tull Family Tiger Trail after movie producer Thomas Tull and his wife.

On our walk around Condor Ridge, we saw amazing succulents and Big Horn Sheep.

We loved the lions.

Then we cheered Amaru, the cheetah who was the star of the Cheetah Run. the sleek cat, raced on a straight 330-foot-long track that allowed her to really stretch her legs while she reached a speed of about 70 miles per hour.

We were excited to meet the new cubs. So adorable.

A favorite aspect of being at the Safari Park is the natural occurring Nature. The flora and fauna continued to surprise and delight.

Hummingbirds make me happy... always.

It has been years since either of us had been to a petting zoo.

Joan, the goat handler, was helpful and informative. So fun.

Not only did Cindy and I have a fabulous day of friendship, but we also experienced so many unique things, while actually getting some exercise. We walked over 13,000 steps while seeing some awesome sights. [Synonym for awesome: breathtaking, amazing, stunning, astounding, astonishing, awe-inspiring, stupendous, staggering, extraordinary, incredible, unbelievable. magnificent, wonderful, spectacular, remarkable, phenomenal, prodigious, miraculous, sublime. formidable, imposing, impressive.]

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