The Living Desert: Palm Desert, California
by Tamara Rice of The Rice Paper
Butterfly at the Living Desert
Spring in Southern California is the perfect time to visit the Living Desert in Palm Desert, just a stone’s throw from Palm Springs. However, if I’ve learned anything at all from my frequent trips to this outdoor garden and zoo, it’s that if you can’t lug around a bottle of water with you, you probably shouldn’t bother with this one. Even when it’s not hot, it’s still dry.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great place to visit. If you love desert plants, birds and animals, you’ll like what the Living Desert has to offer–including a large model train, run by a friendly group of retirees in old-fashioned conductor uniforms. (What model trains climbing the Swiss Alps have to do with the desert, I’ll never know, but it works and kids love it.)
An Elusive Giraffe at the Living Desert
Admission is never more than $12 per person (depending on your age and the time of year that you go), and kids under 3 can go for free, which makes it a fairly good deal.
My only complaint is that the park’s greatest attraction is also its most elusive attraction: the beautiful giraffes. I have made my kids stand quietly for fifteen minutes at a time (a long time when you are 7 years old) and still we’ve barely had more than a peek at them over the years. These shy creatures tend to stay on the other side of their massive hill, much to my children’s chagrin.
Still, it’s less expensive than most other Southern California zoos, and for younger kids (and grown ups) still fascinated by trains, lizards, cacti and rabbits, it is just as much fun.
Photos courtesy of MrPhancy and Rockin Robin (Flickr.com)
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2 Responses
I live near this one, and we have had annual passes a couple of years. When my kids were much younger, it was very nice. I know my friend’s children enjoyed the trains quite a bit. And on field trips with our school, the playground is a big hit with the kids.
The only time I’ve really gotten a lot of time with the giraffes is when you go at feeding time. I have gotten to feed the giraffes a couple of times. It happened to be on the field trips, but I think they do publish schedules of when the feeding times are.
The butterfly exhibit is quite nice, but costs extra to non-members. (Maybe one dollar?)
I haven’t been for at least a year, so things may have changed a little since then.
Julianas last blog post..No joke: 3 items for 99 cents each!
You’re right, Juliana. The playground is nice. I have personally always wanted to see the animal hospital when they actually have an animal in there, instead of just the stuffed tiger. lol I’ve always found that tour kind of strange. Have you ever seen a real animal in their animal hospital? I think they must keep the actual sick animals and vets somewhere out of sight!