San Diego Zoo, California

One of the worlds best zoo. Thats what San Diego zoo is all about. I am tired of seeing zoos in different parts of the world. Most of them look similar. In my homeland India, some of the zoos are well maintained and some is running short of money and you could find starving animals within the cage.

The San Diego Zoo gives a different experience all together. Although I went with a prejudice that Zoos are a kind of prison for animals, San Diego Zoo is not even near to my assumption. The arrangements are made with the convinence of animals as well as tourists. A sprawling campus which is in the middle of the city is something eye catchy, more than that its almost like walking thru a planned thick green jungle.

You could see animals in a real life scenarios .Some of the attractions are Pandas , Polar Bear, Gorillas , Koala's ,Antelopes , lizards , snakes etc. Most of the variety of animals you could see are maintained in there natural environment. Sufficient and necessary facilities like rest rooms, restuarants are located conviniently. There is a sky safari over the park and it gives a good view of the greenary down. There is a bus safari which covers almost 75% of the zoo.

The exibhits include Monkey Trails, Panda Research Station, Absolutely Apes, Polar Bear Plunge, Ituri Forest, Gorilla Tropics/Scripps Aviary, Children's Zoo, Owens Rain Forest Aviary, Tiger River, Sun Bear Forest, Flamingo Lagoon, Reptile Mesa, Wings of Australasia and Kopje.

Universal Studios , Hollywood , Los Angeles

We planned a two day visit to Universal Studios. We took a rented cab from San Diego and drove to Los Angeles each day. Universal Studios is nearby downtown Los Angeles and boasts as the Entertainment Capital of LA. The amusement center occupies a sprawling campus and is a two tier park. The entrance to the park is called City Walk and consists of expensive fashion stores, momento shops, gift center etc. Variety of food chains are available. You can also experience skydiving in an artificial skydiving podium. At the end of city walk you will see the famus "Universal Studio Rotating Globe" which is straight at the entrance to the park.

In the first tier there are several interesting rides and shows. But mostly first tier is having shows. But there are one or two rides, of which the Simpsons Ride at Krustyland is the most exciting simulated ride. I would say the best pick from theentire theme park lot !!! The entire park is so big that you need to have atleast two days to cover the whole shows and rides. At first we went for Sherk-4D theatre, and its an amazing experience to have a theater show like that. Adjacent to that is the "house of horrors" , which can be exciting to children and light-hearted people.
There is a show which is a 3D experience of the film Terminator 2 by Cyberdyne systems. Besides that there are several other shows like Waterworld , Adventures of curious george etc. There are some dining outlets too.

Its always good to go to the 2-tier first finish of the rides there and come to the top. Since most of the crowd will be in the 1st tier in the morning time and then they will come down by evening. You need to take some extra cloths because there is possiblity of getting wet in some of the rides, but you have the option to buy water proof gears in the theme park itself. Another good thing is that they have a child switch facility for most of the rides. So people coming with Babies can take turns without wasting time standing in the queue again.

Some of the must do rides in the second tier is "The revenge of the Mummy Ride" and the "Jurassic park" ride which can be really a scintalating experience to your senses. "The Backdraft" is a show where you will get a real life experience of the Hollywood blockbuster movie, but it seems this show is going to be closed for ever.

Besides this you will get a chance of getting photographed with famous hollywood characters. There is a studio tour which will give you more information about hollywood movie sets as well as regarding the theme park. The two floors of the park is connected thru a long elevator , the view of LA from the elevator is really scenic.

There are a lot of ticketing options available. Check out for the univerasl studio website for better deals. But remember One needs to have atleast a two day ticket to have a glimpse of the whole park.

The whole park is planned well and its a pleasent experience to be there. Everything is arranged well with enough parking lots, restrooms and other facilities.

At Phoenix Airport , Arizona, US

Phoenix Airport (PHX), the sixth-busiest airport in the USA, is the principal gateway for Phoenix, capital of Arizona. Located surprisingly close to the city center, the airport gives easy access to the wealth of first-rate hotels and resorts that flourish in Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun.

At Charlotte Airport , North Carolina, US

The airport is crowded one and there are long corridors connected by circles where they are having counters of airline companies. Relatively I could find less number of shops in the airport. The display terminals are on old fashioned CRT terminals which looks rather clumsy. US Airways the low cost airline is operating from charlotte and its one of the hubs used by them.

At Raleigh , North Carolina, US

I got a chance to visit Raliegh for a week or so. Although my travel was related to official purpose I could get a glimpse of the place. From San Diego I took a flight to Charlotte and then from there to Raliegh. I reached Raliegh at around midnight. It was freezing cold outside and it was something that I expected but the intensity was a bit higher than I expected. I catched a hotel bus from the airport, my stay was arranged at Sheraton.

I visited a SouthGate mall. Its a huge mall with lot of eating and dining places surronded by all huge chains. The Raliegh airport seemed to be congested. But still it doesnt affect my travel and didnt result in a delay. In Raliegh I could see roads surronded by huge plots of unused land and with lots of woods surronding the roads something we find it difficult to see in California.

San Diego Wild Animal Park

San Diego wild park is situated little away from the Downtown San Diego. Its a open park and not like a zoo. Plenty of open space is provided and there are open rides into the places where animals are kept. You need to pay extra for these rides. There is African Safari, where you can see plenty of animals like giraffe , rhino etc. You will be taken on open vans and you can feed the animals and take snaps with the animals. Hot air baloon is available but it will not go beyond some height as its tied to the ground with a cable. There is a ground where Elephants are kept and Baby elephants are pretty. You could see plenty off other animals which are rare , or say which you cant see in other zoos. Gorillas are kept in there natural habitats , like other animals like tigers , ducks etc. Carousels are available for kids where they can play