San Francisco Zoo

San Francisco Zoo was a favorite attraction in my childhood and the layout has not changed much since then. The famous Monkey Island is gone, and the elephants outgrew their space, but you can still see some of the greatest animals on the planet.

Snow leopard, lions, tigers, grizzly bear, giraffe, penguins, rhinoceros, and gorillas. My favorite exhibitions are the orangutan, the gorilla, and the giraffe. At one time we could feed the giraffe. The penguins are a lot of fun to watch also.

Unlike the Fort Worth Zoo, which is a linear one-way path, the San Francisco Zoo is spread out, so you need a map to navigate all the animal exhibits. For several years my daughter, Laura, taught summer camps at the zoo. We spent an hour each day driving back and forth and talking about wildlife.

The summer camps were called “Talk on the Wild Side”. Laura taught animal habitat, how they have adapted, their skeletal structure, ecosystems, and their parenting variations. She knows which big cats can swim and which can climb. I was taught that the Giraffe has the exact same number of neck vertebrae as a human, who would have thought? (seven). $25-$18 depending on age. Parking is around $13. Give yourself about 4 hours to tour the San Francisco Zoo. The zoo is also a short drive to Golden Gate Park.