(photo courtesy of the San Diego Zoo)
The San Diego Zoo is celebrating 100 years
Centennial Celebration all year long
Centennial Nighttime Zoo all summer
Our favorite road trip destination is San Diego. From Phoenix, it’s about a 5-hour drive – easy enough for a weekend trip. Perfect when the temperatures are hitting over 100 degrees (highs today are 110). Besides the beach, we love to visit the San Diego Zoo. I’ve visited a lot of zoos around the country, and the San Diego Zoo is the best.
I asked my son “What animals do you want to see at the zoo?”
MONKEYS!
My favorites at the San Diego Zoo: pandas, polar bears, elephants, giraffes, hippos…it’s hard to pick. I could spend hours watching the hippos swim in their pool, the polar bears romping and the gibbons swinging from tree to tree.
The San Diego Zoo was founded in 1916 by Dr. Harry Wegeforth. The zoo has since grown to include not only the zoo in Balboa park but also the Safari Park in Escondido and the Institute for Conservation Research.
The San Diego Zoo is celebrating its centennial anniversary all summer long during its Centennial Summer Nighttime Zoo with music, activities, and special Centennial Puppets. Such a great family activity and through September 5th. Don’t miss out! This annual event is extra special this year.
To learn more about the 100 Year Celebration, visit the San Diego Zoo’s website
In addition to the San Diego Zoo being an incredible education experience (and a fun family outing), the zoo does an incredible amount of research and conservation projects. Part of the 100-year celebration includes their Roaring Forward initiative to end extinction. Institute for Conservation Research is a division of the San Diego Zoo where the science happens. As a Biological Sciences major at the University of California – San Diego, I had the opportunity to take classes taught by San Diego Zoo scientists and I even got to visit their genetics laboratory, an experience which I will never forget.
My son’s first visit to the San Diego Zoo (2006) – he was only 2 months old. We spent the day at the Safari Park (back then it was called the Wild Animal Park) – always a great outing when you want to get outdoors and get some walking exercise plus all the incredible animal exhibits to experience.
