A Day Out to Oakland Zoo

Yesterday, five of us including Ella and Flynn took a trip to see the animals at Oakland Zoo and the kids in particular had a ball. The zoo, located on a hillside above Oakland, was well maintained and the animals were often housed in very large enclosures which gave them some privacy alongside good viewing opportunities for the public. It also had great views across the Bay area towards San Francisco to the north-west and Palo Alto to the south-west.

Let's just do a roll-call of the animals Ella and Flynn saw on a brilliantly clear and warm day:

Flamingoes and spoonbills

 Tiger

 Eland

 Lions

 Buffalo

 Eland, again

 Giraffe

 Hephalump

 Zebra

 Python

Hyenas

 Sun-Bear - the kids' favourite

 Unidentified  Monkey

 Macaws

 Unidentified Small Monkey

 Unidentified Monkey

  Unidentified Monkey

 Tortoise

 Bonobos

 Worthog

 Emus

I should say one other thing. The vegetation enshrouding the animals was, in places, heavily Australian. There were plenty of Eucalypts, including enormously high stringy-barks, wattles in flower - including a Cootamundra, and something that looked like an Illawarra Flame tree. In fact, there are Eucalypts over many parts of Silicon Valley. Apologies, too, for my lack of recognition of our primate relatives!


AS