stormy seas at Ocean Beach

There were unusually high seas this morning and a crowd of locals on the cliffs in front of our house to watch. No surfers, not surprisingly. 

            Jim watching the waves

They closed the pier because waves were breaking over it as you can see in the photo above. There is a restaurant out along the pier so I guess they didn't get many customers for breakfast. 

We drove to Mission Beach and La Jolla (pronounced La Hoya) and saw the same  big waves. 

Carol and Jim went off to their wedding, dropping us at San Diego Zoo. First surprise: $50 is the cheapest ticket (I guess we don't get out much...) Second surprise: so many people! A combination of perfect weather, Saturday and children free in October meant there were thousands of adults and tens of thousands of children. I've never seen such vicious-looking strollers used as battering rams. And a large preponderance of twins. 

We started with the bus ride to get an overall view - 20 minute wait - so it was half an hour before we saw the first animal, then another 10 minutes to see the next. After the bus we walked 7,644 steps (measured on my iPhone) and I came to the conclusion that it was primarily a nice walk along pleasant green paths; only occasionally did you see an animal or part of one. 

David remembered the Pygmy hippo from our visit in 1979 so was pleased to see it still in residence:

       Pygmy hippo with monkey above. 

I could find only one otter, a pacing tiger, some striking zebras, beautiful giraffes - an excellent breeding programme - pandas you have to pay extra to visit. 

I was shocked at a sign saying if you can't see the aye-aye, go on-line for it. 

Liked  the aviaries the best. Lots of birds and very clean. 

We saved the best till last and crossed the zoo on the skyway:

The guide on the bus cheerfully informed us that they make LOTS of profit which goes into research and conservation - so we have done our bit to save endangered species. They say koalas are endangered: wouldn't have thought so. The koalas are in an area called "Koalifornia" poor dears. Every possible way to squeeze money out of the punters is tried like in-your-face photographers, extra for pandas, theatres, fast food, cotton candy; it becomes tiresome.