Having started the day here, and coming home with hundreds of photos, it was nearly impossible to make a choice! I'll explain why this picture, which isn't even one I took, rose to the top!
As we were leaving the zoo yesterday evening, there was an immense gold drape concealing "something special" with guards surrounding it! We asked when it would be revealed, and were told the unveiling would be at 8 in the morning.
On this day, my head was still in dreamland on my pillow as 8 came and went, but this was a holiday, and I had no desire to rise that early! As it turned out, we learned that the unveiling had been later the night before, perhaps for the dignitaries and invited guests. There had been speakers in the morning, but this was good enough for me!
As the San Diego Zoo is celebrating its 100th Anniversary, this lion was designed to commemorate the occasion. He's gorgeous, of course, and metallic. A zoo staff member was photographing the days guests and she was kind enough to take my camera, too.
That’s a very impressive lion leaping behind you both! Good to see you both in the sunshine! It sounds like San Diego zoo does good work with conservation - so impressed with their work with the panda.
Marvelous souvenir photo! He is a fabulous lion, you two look so cool, backpacks, hats, cameras, comfortable shoes, you talk the talk and walk the walk on how to be just the best tourists!
@stownsend You're fairly close enough to make San Diego a nice visit for a few days! Every time we go down there I tell Ken I'd like to plan to stay for several days! There's SO MUCH to do and photograph! It's an awesome city!
@parisouailleurs We like our cats! I'm even fortunate enough to have an August birthday, so I'm a Leo as well! I love have my picture taken with lion statuary, or, best of all, when we were in Mexico and I got to hold a lion cub! https://365project.org/Weezilou/365/2014-01-22
@pamknowler The SD Zoo and its Safari park (about 25 miles to the north) are world renowned for their reintroduction of near-extinct animals back into the wild. There is a mountain goat from Iran that was down to about 400 in the wild, and they've been propagated and reintroduced. The California Condor is one of the biggies around here that they've brought back from the brink of extinction. It's a HUGE zoo, and built into hills...you'd have to have a wheel chair...I have trouble enough traversing it all, but if you can get there, it's so worth it!
@tunia We were mulling that one as well!!! I put my ear to it and tapped; it's metal! It must just have an armature in the back section and more weight( obviously!) toward the front! I wonder if many people there yesterday noticed and thought of that!
