Zoofest 2009

Last Friday night we went to Zoofest 2009 at the San Francisco Zoo. We were invited to go by some friends/neighbors that own and operate one of the tastiest Indian restaurants in SF. These, I might add, are great people to know! They, of course, were sponsoring one of the best food booths at the fest, so irrespective of what else the fest has to offer, I was taking my boys there. Just a little advice: When Roti is offering free food get thee to the table. You will not be disappointed.


In the end, the Roti food was fabulous, and over all it was a first-rate event. I mean, where else can you go to eat a wide variety of sumptuous victuals, get complimentary hoola hoops, witness your kids inhale enough cotton candy to sugar-hype even the most sugar resistant kid AND actually pet the cutest darn little hedge hog you ever did see?? All for the low low cost of ... Nothing.

The zoo was empty for the most part, so it was especially nice letting the boys run around (and between the three families we had 6 boys under 13 and one lone, but very capable girl!) without having to worry about running in to people or getting lost.

(A blog Aside: For those of you who have read my blog from the beginning, you may recall that I have a "thing" about people who take pictures of animals at the zoo. I would like to stake out a little exemption here. A little zoo-photography-exception-to-the-rule if you will....

Zoo Photography Deviation: Should you, or any member of your family be in the composed photo, especially if they are feeding said animal, this photo is acceptable. Also, should the animal in the zoo get close enough to your own face that you are able to determine either the number of hairs on his nose or make an informed decision that maybe some minty chewy biscuits are in order - you may take the photo. End of Blog Aside.)

Having carved out this special dispensation, I feel satisfied that I can move forward showing these photos. As you can see - - not only did we eat and imbibe. Not only did we pet exotic animals and get free rides on the carousel - - we got to feed giraffes.

There is even a photo of me feeding the giraffe. Yup, I am a sucker for handing over bits of greenery to VERY TALL creatures. There is something almost awe-inspiring about getting that close to a wild animal of that enormity. Of course, it is likely (probable) that this beast has never seen the exterior of a zoo enclosure, but still it is fun to imagine his life out there on the real Serengeti. Loping about doing mundane giraffe kind of things.

And finally, just da giraffe. Right up close -- she's got a super ginormous head! I wasn't meaning to take this photo, but I turned around to see where the boys were and there this was staring right at me. A little alarming, but luckily, I snapped the photo instead of screaming. I don't think the keepers would have taken kindly to me starting a little giraffe stampede. It would have been most disastrous if they had headed towards the food tent. Not much of a fest when wild animals are loose and the food has been trampled. Top notch of me to keep my cool, don't ya think?