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Showing posts with label San Diego. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Diego. Show all posts

Saturday 29 February 2020

Leaping Cats

A Serval At Safari NIagara.

Location: San Diego, California, USA
Address: 2920 Zoo Dr.
Date: Feb 2014
Website: www.sandiegozoo.org

    The year 2020 is a leap year.  This February 29th we celebrate one of the animal world's greatest leapers.  The serval is a cat that can jump over 9 feet into the air and over 11 feet distance horizontally.  This allows it to snatch a passing bird right out of the sly.

A Leaping Caracal At San Diego Zoo Safari Park

  We witnessed the serval's jumping skills first hand at the San Diego Zoo.  At the San Diego Zoo Safari Park another cat showed off its skills.  In the photo above a caracal launched itself and twisted upside down so it was parallel to the ground.  It did this to catch a little fuzzy toy that was spun around by a string.

A caracal at Toronto Zoo.

  A caracal (above) can also leap over 9 feet into the air. The caracal wins the beauty pageant and ties in the high jump but the serval is the better hunter.  Both cats are relatively small and weigh up to 18kg.

A Serval At San Diego Zoo Backstage Pass.

  The serval has the biggest ears of any cat and the best hearing.  It also has the longest legs in proportion to its body.  Not to mention that it has black stripes that resemble those of a tiger.  Its long legs let it snatch rodents down tunnels and its curved claws let it hook fish right out of the water.


   It is said that when a serval pounces at prey it makes a successful kill 50 percent of the time.  In the video above it looks like it grabbed the toy 2 out of 3 times.  A leap year success rate is 1 out of every 4.

Map of Our World
San Diego Zoo (Backstage Pass) , San Diego Zoo Safari Park (Cheetah Run)

Post # 279

Sunday 30 June 2019

Unconditional Surrender

Unconditional Surrender statue San Diego

Location: San Diego, California, USA
Address: 
Date: June 2019
Website: en.wikipedia.org

  As you walk past the USS Midway Museum in San Diego and head into Tuna Harbor Park you come across a couple locked in an embrace.  This is a sculpture by artist Seward Johnson and is based on a photograph taken in Times Square at the end of World War II.  It is called Embracing Peace.

USS Midway Museum
USS MIdway Museum Plane

  San Diego is a huge naval town and the USS Midway is an aircraft carrier with fighter jets parked on top.

Ready To Serve.

  Behind Embracing Peace out in the harbour are active naval ships that are ready for action as needed.

Kiss A Little Longer

  The 25 foot tall couple doesn't notice as passerby snap photos.  They reminded us of the couples in an old commercial for Big Red chewing gum.

Embracing Peace

  The original artwork was in Sarasota, Florida and then moved to San Diego.  The artist then made several versions of the statue available.   The original was foam filled and stayed in San Diego until 2012.  It was originally called Unconditional Surrender.

Bronze is Made To Last

    About a year later a bronze replacement arrived in San Diego.  This is the strongest version offered by the artist.  As the couple continues to stand in the habour, that is one strong kiss as well.

Embracing Peace.

Map of Our World
Unconditional Surrender

Post # 255

Monday 10 September 2018

Old Town San Diego

Welcome To Old Town.

Location: San Diego, California, USA
Address:  Old Town
Date: February 2014
Website:  www.parks.ca.gov

  Old Town San Diego is said to be the birthplace of California.  Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo discovered the area in 1542.  In 1602 Sebastian Vizcaino named it San Deigo de Alcala.  The area became a bustling hub, military post and religious mission.

American and California Flags

  In 1846 the first American flag was raised in Old Town's plaza.  In 1968 Old Town became a State Historic Park.  In 2014 we made a visit to take in the history, sights and food that Old Town had to offer.  We entered the Old Town area through the market.  We would come back here later for some souvenirs.

Two Churros Please.

  The first order of business was to get something to eat.  We had some churros from one of the food vendors.  After enjoying our deep fried treat we headed further into the town for some history.


Order In The Court!  I'd Like A Churro Please.  That's A Little Further Back Up The Road.

  San Diego's first courthouse was built in 1847.  It is also the first brick building built by the Mormons after the war with Mexico.  At one point it served as the mayor's office.

La Casa de Estudillo

  La Casa de Estudillo is an adobe mansion and was built in 1829.  Adobe means it was made from earth and other organic materials.   This building is located in the center of town and was the social and religious center during the Mexican Era.  The Mexican Era ended in 1846 when the United States declared war on Mexico.

La Casa de Estudillo Garden.

  In the center of La Casa de Estudillo is a garden with many interesting plants and flowers growing.

Tall Cactus Plant. Cactus and Catcus.

  Around Old Town there are also many plants, especially cactus.  There are also some resident cats.

La Casa de Machado y Silvas

  La Casa de Machado y Silvas was built in 1843 and used to be a restaurant.  This building is also said to be where the Silvas family hid the Mexican flag during the war in 1846.

Covered Wagon

  A covered wagon sits in the middle of the street.  This was the primary means of transportation for anyone who came to Old Town.

The Cosmopolitan Hotel.

  Across from the covered wagon was the Cosmopolitan Hotel.  Back in 1827 it used to be the home of Juan Bandini and later in 1869 a second floor was added and it opened as a hotel.  The hotel has undergone some renovations but still maintains some original features such as the floorboards.  We sat at a table over these floorboards as we enjoyed a meal in the hotel dining room.  A highlight was the deep fried brussel sprouts.

Fiesta de Reyes.

  After lunch we enjoyed a walk and some shade down by Fiesta de Reyes which housed some other vendors.  It had a nice pineapple topped fountain out front.

Next we shall play Enter Sandman.

  In the garden was a metal mariachi band.  Old Town plaza was a popular place for music, bullfights and other forms of entertainment.

Colorado Hotel.

  The Colorado Hotel is much smaller than the Cosmopolitan.  This is a reconstruction as we belive the original from 1851 was destroyed in a fire.

Cygnet Theatre

  As we headed out of Old Town we passed a theatre.  It wanted to be like The Swan theatre in England so it was named after a young swan.  The Cygnet Theatre runs performances throughout the year.

Immaculate Conception Church

  We headed back to our car and passed the Immaculate Conception Church.  This church was built in 1865 and was the first church in California built outside of the mission system.  Just outside of Old Town we purchased some souvenirs from one of the many shops.  There was so much on offer but we took a small vase as a memento.  The mixture of food, fun and history had made for a great day.


Map of Our World 
The Cosmopolitan Hotel (Old Town)
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park

Post # 226

Monday 5 October 2015

Secretary Birds

Good morning everyone! How was your weekend?

Location: San Diego, California, USA
Address: 2920 Zoo Dr.
Date: Feb 2014
Website: www.sandiegozoo.org

  Take a memo.  File these reports.  Cancel my 10 o'clock.  These birds have nothing to do with this kind of secretary.  In fact these days someone performing this type of work would be an administrative assistant.  Also, more and more, these tasks might be performed with a cellphone.  Anyway, having one of these almost four feet tall birds strutting around the office would probably freak people right out.
  We have seen secretary birds at the Toronto Zoo as well as at both the San Diego Zoo & San Diego Zoo Safari Park.  In the wild they can be found in the savannahs of Africa. If you see them up close they have some wonderful eyelashes and red and yellow around their eyes. 

Check out those lashes.

  You can tell from their beaks that they are a bird of prey.  You can also tell that they are very strong.    We enjoy watching them walk around on their extra long legs.  (See the video at the bottom of this post for a bit of walking, but mostly standing, by one of these impressive birds). In fact they prefer not to fly, but capture most of their food by stomping it to death.  Their food usually consists of small mammals and reptiles.  They appear on many stamps, flags and emblems across Africa and after seeing a few of them for ourselves we can understand why they are so admired. 

Yes, I know I'm beautiful.


Map of Our World
San Diego Zoo (Secretary Birds)

Post # 74