The parking lot was at the end of a narrow road up the side of a hill. Notice how the cars parked in the distance look piled one on top of the others.

The zoo entrance was a sign that said, appropriately enough, "Oakland Zoo." Animal heads bracketed the sign.

The ticket booths were at the bottom of a short flight of stairs. Unseen to the right was a ramp for wheelchairs and strollers.

A sign on the wall of the main entrance read:

Jambo!
Enjoy your stay in our
wonderful clean town
Take a rest under the
shade of a mango tree
and have a fresh coconut

Two advisory signs were sandwich boarded just inside the entrance. One listed the "Public Animal Feeding Times." The other said, "Quiet Coyote. Please speak softly; loud voices may scare the animals."

For some reason most zoos display flamingo as the first animal display just inside the entrance. Here there were both flamingos and two African spoonbills.

Partway into the zoo was a large lawn with mature trees for shade and a few picnic tables. A good place to pause on your way through the zoo.

The sign next to these plants said, "Dinosaurs, crocodiles, alligators, and turtles lived in the Cretaceous Period, from 140 million to 65 million years ago. These plants were found in great abundance during this period, before the rapid evolution of flowering plants."

The Hayward fault ran through the zoo. Here it caused a fissure in a rock next to the foot path.

Crowds of people lined the long fence that ran alongside the elephant enclosure.