Free Things to Do in San Francisco

Until today, the San Francisco Zoo’s three-month old baby gorilla, who became famous around the world after being neglected by his mother, did not have a name.

The zoo held a naming contest. Five thousand people from 40 different countries entered. A panel of human judges chose five names, and today they took five color-coded cantaloupes, each representing a name, and gave them to the baby gorilla’s father, Oscar Jonsey, to make the final selection.

Oscar Jonsey selected the green cantaloupe, which meant he chose the name “Hasani” for his son. Hasani, which means “handsome” in Swahili, was entered in the contest by Amanda VerPloeg of Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Hasani’s surrogate mother is still being trained, and the baby is not yet on public display. But you can watch him on a “Nursery Cam” at the zoo from noon to 2:00 pm, and you can see lots of pictures and videos on the zoo’s website.

The Zoo is free, for San Francisco residents only, on the first Wednesday of every month.

Picture (c) San Francisco Zoo

There are many things that are free in San Francisco on the first week of every month. Here’s the schedule for March, 2009:

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Free admission to the de Young Museum, Legion of Honor, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Museum of Modern Art, Cartoon Art Museum (pay what you wish), Museum of Craft and Folk Art, and the Conservatory of Flowers.

More information: Free first Tuesdays

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The San Francisco Zoo (SF residents only), and the Exploratorium.

More information: Free first Wednesdays

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Bird-watching walk in Golden Gate Park botanical gardens.

More information: First Saturday bird watching walk.

Bank of America Free Museum weekend (B of A account or credit card required). Free admission to the de Young Museum, Legion of Honor, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the Museum of the African Diaspora.

More information: Bank of America free first weekend.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Bank of America Free Museum weekend (continued)

Picture of the Museum of Modern Art (SF MoMA) by WolfmanSF, via Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.

In the Chinese zodiac, people born in the Year of the Ox are said to be kind and caring, and born leaders.

To celebrate the Year of the Ox (the Lunar New Year) on January 25, the SF Zoo will be full of special festivities: lion dancers, folk dancers, acrobats, tai chi, crafts, and food.

And admission will be free for anyone who was born in the Year of the Ox: 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, and even those very tiny people who were born in 2009.

When:

Sunday, January 25, 10 am to 4 pm

Where:

San Francisco Zoo, Sloat Boulevard and 47th Avenue.

More information:

Zoo event information

Phone: 415-753-7080

This is huge. The Academy of Sciences, the Zoo, the Exploratorium, Zeum, and all the major art museums — the de Young, Legion of Honor, Asian Art, MOMA, CJM, MoAD, Yerba Buena, Cartoon Art — and Golden Gate Park attractions — the Conservatory, the Japanese Tea Garden, even the Carousel — plus the USS Pampitino (on Pier 45), tours of AT&T Park, and lots more things are all free for San Francisco familes.

There are three conditions:

1. Adults MUST be accompanied by at least one child 18 or younger, and
2. At least one adult in your group must be a resident of San Francisco, with proof (driver’s license, ID, utility bill, etc.), and
3. Children must be with adults, except for high school students with San Francisco school ID.

Logistics:

• The Academy of Sciences, which is always crowded anyway, is expecting especially big crowds on Sunday, and they are advising people to take public transit and to come early. They are also advising out-of-towners and members to come on a different day.
• MUNI, including the Culture Bus, will be free for kids who are with a fare-paying adult. Transfers will be good all day.
• Hours of the different attractions vary.

For more information, including a complete list of attractions, addresses, and hours:

• See the Family Appreciation Day website, or
• Look in the Friday, January 9 Examiner, or
• Pick up an event guide, on Sunday, at any of the attractions.

Two of the best things to do for kids — and for adults, too! — are free on the first Wednesday of every month.

San Francisco Zoo: Wednesday 10 to 5. Note: The free day is ONLY for San Francisco residents — bring proof with you (driver’s license, ID, or local bill). The Zoo is on Sloat Boulevard and 47th Avenue (near Ocean Beach) in the Sunset. The Muni Metro L Taraval goes right there. More info: Zoo website. Phone: (415) 753-7080

Exploratorium: Wednesday 10 to 5. Hundreds of interactive exhibits to play with. Lots of fun! Last year, out of the 600,000 people who visited the Exploratorium, 44,500 came on free first Wednesdays. Located in the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina. More info: (1) visitors page, and (2) fact sheet. Phone: (415) 561-0360

In honor of the San Francisco Zoo’s baby gorilla, I’d like to point you to a blog I found, while surfing around, that posts pictures of baby animals from zoos around the world:

Zoo borns

Awww!

Who do you think is cuter — our own (still unnamed) baby gorilla or baby gorilla Dayo from the Artis Zoo in Amsterdam?

Remember, admission to the San Francisco Zoo is free, for city residents, on the first Wednesday of every month.

Also, coming up on Sunday, January 11, the zoo will be free for San Francisco families (adults must be accompanied by a child or children under 18). This is part of something called Family Appreciation Day, sponsored by the Mayor. It’s a huge event with free admission to 32 attractions, which I’ll be posting about in more detail later.

If you’ve been reading or watching the news, you’ve heard about the baby gorilla at the S.F. zoo who had to find a surrogate mother. Here he is …. with a stuffed toy gorilla. Awwww. That picture is from the zoo, and they have lots more of him drinking from his bottle, and cuddling with his toy and with his human friends.

I don’t know if the baby gorilla will be anyplace where the public can see him soon, but there are plenty of other things to do at the zoo. And in keeping with the theme of this blog, yes, there is a way to get into the zoo for free — at least for San Francisco residents, who get free admission on the first Wednesday of every month.

Where and When: The zoo is on Sloat Boulevard by the Great Highway (right near the beach). You can take the L Taraval Muni Metro, or if you drive, park in their lot ($8/day) or for free on the street. Free admission days for S.F. residents are the first Wednesday of every month, 10 to 5. Bring proof of residency (driver’s license, ID card, or local bill sent to your house) for the free days or for a resident’s discount on all other days. The zoo has tradtionally been open every day of the year, but this year it will be closed on Christmas (presumably because of the memory of the, um, unpleasantness last Christmas).

Speaking of which, just this week, one of the Dhaliwal brothers who had been attacked by the tiger pleaded guilty to public intoxication and resisting arrest, and was setenced to 10 days in jail. The other brother had already been sentenced to 16 months in prison for his misdeeds. The brothers’ lawsuit against the Zoo is still pending, and the parents of Carlos Sousa Jr, the boy who was killed, plan to sue the City this month.

Zoo visitors today don’t have to worry, because the tiger cage has been massively reinforced. Not that it’s possible to ever completely stop idiots from trying to tempt fate — as was demonstrated a few days ago, when someone actually climbed into the rhino cage!

For more info on visiting the zoo: See their website.