On our vacations we try and work in trips to zoos since they can be so amazing and cool, though sometimes quite depressing. What are some of the good ones you've been to or have where you live?

My favorites are:

Seattle Zoo -- not gigantic, but just so fantastically done. I just loved the enclosures, big and natural looking. Didn't make you feel sorry for the animals for a change.

Living Desert, Palm Springs -- meerkats were hilarious and same thing with large open pens and happy seeming animals.

Sierra Safair Zoo, Reno -- not a great facility really, but very hands on, we got to play with the newborn lions and also got to see a liger, a huge half lion/half tiger. Weird.

Others:

San Diego Zoo is nice, but it was so hot when we were there that all the animals looked dead.

Berlin Zoo was the largest I've seen seen with beautiful gardens everywhere you look. The scrimped on the animal pens themselves though a bit. We mainly went to see the panda bears, but discovered they do not like to be looked at.

Sydney Zoo was also nice, but also it was so incredibly hot the animal were lethargic and roasting, as were we.

San Francisco Zoo is half renovated, which is half really gorgeous, but also serves to make the other half of the zoo look like a war zone and slum. Horrible. And all the elephants managed to die. I've never seen a zoo without elephants. Strange.

Puerta Vallarta animal sanctuary went out of business before we arrived, but we went anyway and got them to let us in somehow. The place was totally dilapidated and this teenage kid led us around and actually let us go into the cages with the moneys and feed them. I'm sure it was incredibly dangerous and it was in the middle of nowhere so I'm sure we'd have never been heard from again. He offered to let us go in with the panther too. "They are very tame and friendly." I'm crazy, but not that crazy! One of the coolest and oddest zoo experiences ever.

We are going to the Helsinki Zoo in June, in part just to be able to take the boat ride over to the island where they have it. Plus they should have some different sorts of animals more native to that area.