TRAVEL LOG

What's new, pussycat?

By Jane Engle and Laurie Berger
12:00 AM PDT, October 31, 2004

Visitors can go nose to nose with a six-member pride of South African lions, separated from zoo-goers only by see-through panels, at a new exhibit in San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park in Escondido.

Lion Camp: The Sylvia G. Straton Lion Savanna, which was to have opened Saturday, is a 33,000-square-foot habitat. At the observation station, lions lounge on a rock outcropping behind a 40-foot-long glass panel. The rocks are heated on cold days to lure the cats from their lair.

A pathway leads through African sumacs to a research outpost, a tented area divided by a 12-foot glass panel separating lions and visitors.

Lion Camp, which cost nearly $5 million, took nine months to build. It's part of a multimillion-dollar overhaul of the 1,800-acre park that includes a $25-million research center, which opened in early October, and a new bus system to be built next year to replace the electric-powered train that takes visitors around the grounds.

Admission is $26.50 for adults, $19.50 for children ages 3 to 11, and $23.85 for ages 60 and older. Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. (760) 747-8702, http://www.wild animalpark.org.

— Jane Engle

Earlier ski resort openings

Skiing before Halloween? Through a trick of nature, California resorts are treating skiers to record early openings.

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area in the Sierra opened Oct. 21 after storms left 5 feet of snow. It was the resort's earliest opening in 10 years, said spokeswoman Joani Lynch.

In the Lake Tahoe area, Kirkwood logged its earliest opening — Oct. 23 — since its founding in 1972, said spokeswoman Kirstin Cattell. Boreal Mountain Resort also opened early, and Squaw Valley, Sierra-at-Tahoe and Sugar Bowl were expected to open this weekend.

Many resorts were discounting lift tickets and planned to operate only on weekends through mid-November, then daily.

Call the resorts for details.

— Jane Engle

Getting close to a giant of Space Age

Starting Monday visitors can examine the space shuttle Enterprise up close — though not climb aboard — at a newly opened hangar at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

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