Last week we went on a "family field trip". We were able to get tickets through our charter school to Safari West, as well as a membership to the California Academy of Sciences. So we combined Safari West with an additional day in San Francisco. The kids and I have been studying California history all year, and SF is at the center of a lot of our state's history.
Here we are at Safari West!
Safari West is like a zoo that you drive through in a jeep. Such a neat way to see the animals up close.
We started with about 30 minutes of a guided walking tour. First stop: flamingos.
And this guy. I think he was some sort of antelope?
One of the giraffes started running (galloping?) really quickly, which I had never seen before!
We all got turns on top of the jeep. SO much fun up there!
Ostrich egg!
A favorite for most of us. A mama rhino with her new baby!
The ride up on top got a little crazy at times. We went down some pretty steep roads.
A pregnant zebra.
Another mama and baby....something?
We said goodbye to the animals and drove to San Rafael to our hotel.
I thought the inside was really neat!
We pretty much just got dinner (chipotle from a mall across the street) and then relaxed in our room. In the morning the kids were happy about the unlimited bacon at the free breakfast buffet.
We packed up and drove to San Francisco. We recently learned about how the Golden Gate bridge was built, so it was extra special to drive over it. (Andrew later told me his favorite part of the trip was driving home over the Bay Bridge because it was so long)
First stop: California Academy of Sciences. A very cool museum!
We started down in the aquarium.
These huge bees were in the room called "venom"
These guys were too cute not to photograph.
We went inside this 4-story rainforest. It was so humid inside that I felt sick by the time we got to the top.
A giant wall of otter skulls!
Our favorite part of the museum was the "Shake House", where we got to stand and experience the 1906 and 1989 CA earthquakes. It was especially fun because the big kids just read books about the 1906 SF earthquake.
After a couple hours we left and drove to Lombard Street. Eeeek!
We ended our SF tour at Pier 39, where we spent most of the afternoon.
The weather was overcast but not too cold.
We rode the carousel, watched a magician, and bought souvenirs.
And of course visited the seals and sea lions! (second one is a video)
We ate a late lunch at......any guesses?
Bubba Gump's Restaurant - with a view of Alcatraz.
This has been our unofficial "year of field trips" and it was really fun to end the school year doing an educational trip as a whole family. If you're anywhere near Santa Rosa we would definitely recommend visiting Safari West!
