We had a lesuirely start to the day & headed over to Memphis Zoo.

The main attraction for us was Ya Ya & Le Le, a pair of Giant Pandas. On arrival at the zoo we hot-footed straight to their enclosure, and arrived just in time for a Keeper Talk about the Pandas & their habits. The Pandas were absolutely 'entrancing' it was amazing to see them so chilled & relaxed and at such close-quaters. Having seen them first-hand, I can now understand what all the fuss is about - these are absolutely adorable - I could've stayed watching them for hours. The Zoo has a comprehensive research programme in order to contribute to the conservation programme, and are hoping to successfully breed with this pair, however their has been no signs of the patter of tiny paws in their 8 years of residence.

The Pandas are somewhat 'pampered' - with food (consisting of multiple varieties of bamboo) constantly delivered - all that has been established to date from the 8-year local reseach programme is that the Pandas eat, they sleep & they poop !! Now, I'm no qualified zoologist, but I reckon I could've established that in less than 8 years !

The other attractions included lions; tigers; bears (oh my !); Polar Bears; Wolves; Pumas; Cheetas; Meerkats; Red Pandas; Penguins; Hippos; Gibbons; Gorillas; Orang-utans; Sloths; Bats - you get the picture, it's a zoo !

The weather was fabulous - Memphis is experiencing record highs for this time of year - the sun is beating down, without a cloud in the sky. The Zoo seems really 'open' and none of the enclosures have fences / cages / physical barriers to prevent the animals from escaping. It leads to some excellent & up-close viewing of the animals, with an added "adrenaline hit" with fear that they could have you for lunch if they felt so inclined (I'm sure that the distances & clearance has been carefully calculated to ensure safety of the visitors ?).

We were treated to an inpromptu show while enjoying our coffee break in the cafe, with one of the monkeys playing hide & seek with one of the servers (their enclosure was adjacent to the restuarant, behind the windows) - the monkey went beserk, jumping up & down & waving his arms wildly with excitement when he spotted this particular server.

We headed back to Beale Street for the evening, eating our tea in the Hard Rock Cafe - the upstairs was almost entirely dedicated to Elvis (kinda understandable), and it was almost like an extension of the Graceland Tour the previous day. Fortunatley I had my photo-ID on my person, as the server refused to believe that I was any older than 23 !

We once again left Beale Street to the hard-core party-goers, the Clubs close at 5am & re-open at 7am - I was tucked up in my bed long before midnight ! There was a strong Police presence in the early evening, with a frisk-search being conducted on arrival in Beale Street .

On Saturday morning we conducted a guided City Tour, taking in Sun Studios; St Judes Childrens Hospital; Tommy Lee Park; Statues of The Kings; Millionaire's Row; Peabody Hotel; Lorraine Motel (site of assasination of Martin Luther King) plus numerous anecdotes of Elvis during his youth, including his original home & other places of interest.

The tour included a brief stop at the Peabody Hotel to witness the 'March of the Ducks' - after jockeying with the gathering crowds for a prime location (only for my camera battery to expire !), I listended to the "Duck-Master General" (I kid you not, that's his Official Title !) explain the tradition & history of the ducks, before witnessing the doors of the lift opening, for 4 ducks to waddle across a red carpet & swim around in the fountian ! I made my way back onto the tour-bus somewhat confused at how this was such an event, and aware that that's 15 minutes of my life I won't be getting back !

We returned one final time to our Hotel to collect our bags, jump a cab to the airport to make our way over to "our second home" in Orlando.