Travel Biography Photo Extravaganza - Part 38.

 Visiting the Environs of San Diego City.

Last week's photo album began with Downtown, along with its harbour and Balboa Park. I then concluded the album with some snapshots of the San Diego Zoo, focusing on the botanical gardens surrounding the enclosures.

The Zoological Gardens in San Diego have the loveliest natural settings I have ever seen, making London Zoo look more like a dump by comparison. This was due to the subtropical climate enjoyed by southern Californians, allowing vegetation such as Palm Trees, Traveller's Palms, and Cacti to thrive where they would struggle to survive in the UK. Indeed, I have seen a species of Traveller's Palms growing in Penzance, western Cornwall, along with a hardy species of Palm trees in Bournemouth, but these were the exceptions rather than the rule. And all these Mediterranean and subtropical trees were cultivated rather than part of the wildlife. Most remarkable about the zoo was that it was traversed by a canyon. One side had an outdoor restaurant overlooking the valley. On the other side was the aviary. While I was visiting the zoo, I dined at the restaurant as it offered splendid views across the canyon.

The animals at the zoo seemed happy, well looked after, despite my feeling of reservation about having animals from a wildlife environment kept in captivity. The natural instinct to hunt, as the lions would have hunted in the wild, is neutralised by their confinement. The same could be said of the crocodile and any other carnivore. However, there was one of a kind I didn't see, and that was the primates. Indeed, I might have missed them as I walked around, an easy mistake to make, or else the zoo didn't feel it was appropriate to keep the primate in captivity. However, after many years, I was finally able to tell the difference between the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus. The rhino was a land animal. It was the hippo, which spent much of its life underwater, and I had the privilege to watch a pair of hippos rendezvous in a tank shared with small fish.

Majestic at the Zoo, the Elephant.

One area worth revisiting was the Old Town, the original settlement, four miles north of the city. A bus ride took me there, but I walked back to the hostel. The town is set in a theme park, with traffic-free streets forming the traditional symmetrical grid, the pattern borrowed from the Roman Empire by the early Americans. The bazaar was very much the same as it was two years earlier, stalls selling garden equipment, especially portable fountains, and other bric-a-brac. The other exhibits were how the early settlement looked during the 18th and 19th Centuries. 

I also hired a bicycle from the hostel and managed to ride to La Jolla, a town around 12.5 miles (20 km) north of the city. Part of the journey passes through Mission Beach, which features some of the finest Spanish architecture to grace the coastline. And all this makes California a distinctly different country from that of Australia, despite speaking the same language. This state was once part of Mexico, a Spanish colony, until 1848, during the Mexican-American War. California became a State of the USA in September 1850. Hence, while the Australian coastline has place names after famous British colonialists, such as Cairns, Byron Bay, Hervey Bay, Brisbane, Coffs Harbour, and Sydney. In turn, California has retained its Spanish names - Los Angeles, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Monica - all originating from the Catholic Church and its missionaries.

My arrival in La Jolla (pronounced La Hoya) is featured here. There will be more pics of La Jolla next week. Other than an afternoon spent at the basement swimming pool and spa in the YMCA building, the only other location where I got wet was at La Jolla Cove, where a little bay was suitable for a sea swim during my visit there.

The combined footpath, skate path, cycleway and running track, all on one lane running along the coast and separating the beach from the residential estate, was perhaps the best example of a non-motorised road I have experienced in using. It was very popular with joggers and cyclists, while walkers enjoyed the sea breeze blowing in from the Pacific Ocean. Like any road used by motorised traffic, a lane line ran along the middle, and I noticed how disciplined everyone who used it was. In the USA, unlike the UK and Australia, everyone drives on the right. And it was apparent that on this lane, the same code was followed. Yet, while I was riding the bicycle, I had little or no problems with pedestrians. They were in a minority, and I was able to stay behind faster joggers until it was convenient enough to overtake.

The only other location where I used an identical cycleway was at Santa Monica. Here, a cycleway linked Venice Beach, a district south of the resort, towards Malibu, several miles north of Santa Monica. However, since Malibu lies outside the Los Angeles administrative area, the cycleway ended at its boundary, and the rest of the ride was on the main Pacific Highway.

Click here for the Index to the main Biography covering Weeks 97-100.

Photos of San Diego Zoo and other Environs.

Looking down into the Polar Bear enclosure.

The outdoor restaurant where I dined.

The deer pen.

Another view of the Deer.

The Rhinoceros.

Two Elephants.

The Lion's den.

Alerted, the Lions wake up.

Two Hippos rendezvous.

The Crocodile sleeps on, totally unaware.

A plane lands, Balboa Park from the cable car.

This is the Old Town. San Diego Avenue.

At the Bazaar Market.

Bazaar Detail.

Palms and Traveller's Palms.

San Diego Avenue, Old Town.

More exotic trees.

I hire a bike for the ride to La Jolla.

This is Mission Beach, en route to La Jolla.

Spanish architecture, Mission Beach.

From the opposite side.

The cycleway at Mission Beach.

Further along, Mission Beach Pier.

A disabled angler.

White Horses gallop to the Californian beach.

Pierhead view of the coast.

Facing north towards La Jolla.

An athlete jogs, and the walker stays on the right side.

Approaching La Jolla.

Looking back at the rocky beach.

Cove Bay, La Jolla, is a good swimming spot.

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Next Week, the Sea Cave, which takes the form of a human head. On to Santa Barbara.