Colima Ecoparc

We weren't expecting much, but the Ecoparc (zoo) in Colima was fantastic! Large, well kept, and such a variety of animals. We had two hours before we'd planned to be at the paragliding launch site and thought that would be more than enough time. We actually could have used more time at the zoo.

I went a bit crazy taking photos (250+) so there's lots of photos in this post and not much writing because 1) I can't remember what every one of these animals are and 2) some of them are fairly self explanatory. Enjoy!

I like the combination of color and shade and, unfortunately, captivity, in this photo. 

Interesting yellow ring around the eye.

These two seemed like good buddies. 

Photo is a bit hazy due to the bars between me and him.

This is actually more than we usually see of hippos!

Look up . . .  look waaaay up! 

The elusive domesticated house cat.

Now those are some impressive horns!

G'day mate!

Ouch!

Nature in the City

The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens is a bit different than those elsewhere. To start with . . . it's free!!

There are several large aviaries, lots of different kinds of primates (gorillas, orangutangs, various types of monkeys and ring-tailed and ruffed lemurs) and a few turtles both very big and very small. A few of the monkeys were very active so we sat for a while, watched and laughed at their antics. It was great to see that they all have quite large areas to move around in.

I didn't take many photos as the aviaries were not ones you could go into and of course the monkey enclosures were cages so both were not ideal for photographs. And I leave most of the flower photography to Andrew for obvious reasons. (Obvious to those who have seen his photos compared to mine!)

In the afternoon we took the Star Ferry over to Kowloon and headed to Kowloon Park. It was extremely busy so definitely wasn't a highlight. We later learned that October 1 is Chinese National Day so everyone was enjoying the holiday.

Starr Ferry, from Kowloon looking back toward Central Hong Kong

Today we took the metro (two different lines) and a taxi out to the Mai Po Marsh Nature Reserve in the New Territories. The Reserve is now a protected area and is managed by the World Wildlife Federation. It was great to get out of the city for a day!

Our guidebook indicated there were several 3-hour English guided tours a day but in actual fact there was a Cantonese tour in the morning and an English one in the afternoon. Since you can only go into the protected area with a guide and we didn't want to wait several hours, we went on the Cantonese tour. Luckily the guide was kind enough to give us a very abbreviated English version at each stop and answer several questions. 

These water lilies were  gorgeous and plentiful! 

The area is extremely diverse with several different wetland habitats including freshwater ponds, mudflats, reedbeds and mangroves. 

Birds we saw included herons (Great Blue and Chinese), black kites, grebes, Chinese bulbuls, cormorants, egrets, ibis and doves.

Between the sweltering hot and humid days and all the walking we're doing, I am sleeping very well at night!!! 

Train Trip 2013 - Salinas to Los Angeles

From Salinas, our next stop was Santa Barbara. We really wanted to avoid the more crowded and hectic pace of Los Angeles and this was a good choice.

We stayed at Hotel Indigo which is right beside the train station and only a few blocks from the ocean. The "theme" of the hotel is contemporary art -- it has a small art library in one area, several artistic displays and prints used throughout the hotel as wall murals and room signs.

Anchor Woodfire Kitchen & Bar (within the hotel) opened only 6 weeks ago and we ended up eating there two nights in a row, partly due to convenience and partly because of how good it was!

Door number plaque to our room.

Mural on wall in our room.

In making some comparisons to Saskatoon, it was interesting to see an article in the local weekly newspaper about a homeless count that had just been done and the efforts being made to house the homeless. Homelessness and panhandling was VERY obvious -- much more so than in Saskatoon but some of the underlying issues are certainly the same. Santa Barbara is making progress with their Housing Placement Working Group. Although the final numbers of this count weren't in yet, a count in 2011 showed there were 932 homeless. Since then, 117 have been moved into housing; only 3 of those did not keep housing; 4 passed away after receiving housing; and 16 died while waiting for housing.

The Santa Barbara Zoo is known as "one the best small zoos in America".  It was great to see the zoo staff doing feedings and to be able to talk with them without big crowds of people around. Lucky the Penguin was my favourite -- he was born with a defect in his foot and the footwear company Teva worked with the zoo to develop a shoe that allows Lucky to walk & swim just like any other penguin. Teva has committed to providing Lucky with free shoes for his lifetime. It's a heartwarming story!

Seeing the young kids enjoy the animals really made me think of Karsten (my great nephew, 18 months old) and I really hope to get to the Saskatoon Forestry Farm with him this spring/summer. Andrew got some very humorous photos of the giraffes!

The Sea Center, the Old Mission and lovely photographic display of owls and woodpeckers by Paul Bannick at the Natural History Museum were also very worthwhile stops.

Old Mission Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara Train Station

The Amtrak Station in Santa Barbara was built in 1902 in Spanish architectural style. Latest renovations took place in 2000 and it is a really nice looking building. A huge old fig tree sits about 50 meters away.

The train ride to Los Angeles was very scenic and had a bit of everything -- ocean, backyard views of magnificent houses along the ocean, agricultural land, and mountains off in the distance.

Huge fig tree near train station