8th day of our vacation - 12-23-15

December 23rd, 2015

8.23 a.m. and we are still in our hotel room.  We will be going out soon and the Honolulu Zoo is where we are heading.  

2.50 p.m. we are back at the hotel.  It is nice to be near to a lot of the sights, as it means we can take a short break in our room when we need to.  It is less than 15 minutes to the zoo by car, about half an hour if you walk.

After our time at the zoo it certainly felt good to relax and put our feet up.  We would probably have stayed a lot longer but it seemed hotter than usual, and there were no refreshing sprinkles of rain.  We have had a few of those over the last few days and have truly welcomed them.  

I have tried to identify what I could, and took photos of ID and information markers for some, which I will put below each photo. We saw interesting birds, one a Red-vented Bulbul who had popped in for a visit.

The others were in the aviary.  I thought the Toco Toucan was a really neat bird.  He was about to dig into his papaya.  You can click on this website for more info. 

This is a Java Sparrow, and you can find more information here.

I think this is a Superb Starling but he was in the shade and it was hard to tell.  When the sun is on him his feathers are glorious.

Here he is again shown with more sunshine.  There is a great video of him here, and you can also hear his call.

A Hooded Vulture, information here.

A sleepy and cute little Fennec Fox...

There are a few reptiles in outdoor exhibits - several exhibits were being overhauled.  

This is a Green Iguana

This is a Crocodile Monitor Lizard.

African Yellow-throated plated lizard, you can go here if you want more info.

We saw a pretty cat.  This is Felix, a Serval.

You can read about Felix and his kind below if you enlarge the sign. There was another sign

telling visitors not to worry if they saw Felix limping.  It was an age thing as he was getting on in years, but the zoo's vets and staff were taking very good care of him. We wouldn't have known as Felix was having a snooze at the time. 

 The Galapagos Tortoises were impressive.

The Honolulu Zoo was the first to breed Galapagos Turtles in an American zoo, back in 1954, 1967-71.

They are endearing, they always seem to be smiling.

We saw an African dog that was running around his enclosure but it moved too fast for a photo.  We watched two Black Rhinos for awhile nuzzling their faces in a big pool of mud.  They looked like they were enjoying themselves and set down for a snooze.  All this snoozing was making me feel tired.

I always enjoy looking at the flamingos.

They were with a few other birds....

which included a Mandarin Duck and another I wasn't sure about.

Also a Nene Goose.  I found it very interesting as I have only seen them in photos and they are native to Hawaii, are or were on the endangered list but are now recovering.  The Nene is Hawaii's State Bird.

A Cattle Egret enjoying the shade, as was I.

A Helmeted Guinea Fowl with information nearby.

You can enlarge the photo if you want to read about it.

I am still trying to identify this one.

Time to take that break but the last thing we did was to pop into the gift shop for some souvenirs for family and friends, and I treated myself to a tee shirt in a bright green color.  Not a color I usually choose but this was a very pretty shade, and it had a sea turtle design. I bought a cap to match with Honolulu Zoo printed just above the brim.

We have been down to the Barefoot Bar for our nightly cocktail and enjoyed listening to some music while watching the sun go down.

It was another spectacular sunset. 

We walked along the sand for a while.  On our way back another young couple asked me to take their photo.  Honeymooners perhaps but I couldn't bring myself to ask.  A very sweet couple from Italy.  I did ask that.

Flames from the torches lit our way as we headed back to our room, with the sound of the surf and now drums from the hotel's luau in the background.  

I kept thinking of this line from South Pacific, "some enchanted evening".  It seemed to fit the moment somehow and yes, I am such a cornball.

(but I did buy a DVD of the movie and played it when I got home.  With all this snow around I am going to be playing it again).

If you missed the previous posts and would like to read them, you can click on the links below.

Part 1

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Part 7

I am linking with the following memes as they become available, with my thanks to their hosts.  Please click on them to visit other participants.

SkyWatch Friday
Saturday's Critters
Camera Critters
Bird D'Pot
Nature Notes
Wild Bird Wednesday