Los Angeles Zoo and the Griffith Observatory
Today we visited Los Angeles Zoo and the Griffith Park Observatory. Both are in Griffith Park – the largest urban park in the U.S. with wilderness areas. The LA zoo really made me appreciate the zoos we have in Ohio. The Cincinnati Zoo and the Columbus Zoo both blow the LA zoo out of the water. You’ll find the LA zoo right next to Hollywood and just around the corner from Beverly Hills. We were disappointed to find The the zoo was in overall pretty bad shape. The animals were essentially in a zoo ghetto. There were more wire cages for the animals than I think I’ve ever seen at a “modern” zoo – the animals were pretty much prisoners. Yeah, I was really disappointed in the quality of the exhibits. What was really surprising was how many people were there. I’d think that with that many visitors on a Monday in December they must have some money to fix the place up. To be fair, the gorilla exhibit was really pretty nice and they are working on a new elephant exhibit and I’m sure it’ll be better than what they have now but there’s a lot more to do.
After the zoo we went to the other side of Griffith Park and visited the Griffith Park Observatory. The Observatory was in great shape. Apparently within the last few years the observatory was remodeled and was looking great. The Observatory has been the location for several movies. Unfortunately, Monday the inside activities are closed. Still we got to walk around the outside and see the LA lights. It was really pretty amazing and the pictures don’t do justice. I created a panorama of almost 180 degrees to show the expanse of the lights and it give you the feeling but it’s small and really doesn’t give you the full effect. You’ll just have to visit for yourself.
Tomorrow we’re putting on our tourist hats and going for the LA tour – celebrity homes and famous sites. Should have some good pics.
Here are some pics from the zoo and observatory.
Click for larger version.
