Elephant Odyssey

Grace and I had the privilege of attending the preview of the new Elephant Odyssey exhibit at the San Diego Zoo!  A few years ago, Grace decided to make a donation to help with the building of the new elephant exhibit.  She has always loved elephants and wanted to be a part of making this exhibit become a reality.  She saved her money and asked other family members if they would like to contribute.  She ended up donating over a hundred dollars which earned her an invitation to the opening of the exhibit!  So, on May 23rd we headed to the Zoo at 7a.m. for the sneak peak!  It was really a neat experience for us both!  We even met the Director of Membership (by accident.  I happened to stop and ask her a question) and, when in the course of our conversation I mentioned that Grace was the one who made the donation to the exhibit, she not only commended her on  her contribution, but also, called over the Executive Director of the zoo and introduced Grace to him! 

 Here are a few pictures from our day.  Unfortunately, I don't have one with the Executive Director and Director of Membership because my camera batteries had died at that point.

Grace getting in line for the Skyfari!  We had a choice between a bus ride to the exhibit or a Skyfari ride.  We decided to ride over on the Skyfari and come back on the bus.

The exhibit coming into view from the Skyfari!

In front of the entrance.  They served us a continental breakfast as we made our way through the exhibit.

The elephant statues.

And finally, the real elephants!  They have a great, big pool and the male elephant was enjoying playing and splashing in it!

Here are two of the elephants out in front of one of the many "tree structures" that are in the exhibit.  The structures are really neat looking and provide lots of activity for the elephants.  

This cool sign helps you identify "who's who" among the elephants.  We did manage to identify them all before we left.  It helped that the Membership director explained to us that the elephants that had come from the Wild Animal Park were on the side with the pool, and the 3 females that were here at the Zoo were on the other side.  They are hoping to combine the herd eventually, but for now they are kept separate.

There is a neat play area at the other end of the exhibit.  We had fun playing around in it. 

 In addition there are several other animal exhibits around the elephants.  Some of them were still empty or covered while we were there, so we are looking forward to going back and seeing all the other animals in their new homes!

Check out this great, new exhibit!  You won't be disappointed.  And if you want to hear more about it, ask Grace, she really took quite an interest in everything we heard about the exhibit!  Yes, I am just a little bit proud! :)