The Living Desert, Palm Springs

We visited the Living Desert in Palm Springs, a small zoo/garden featuring desert denizens from all over the world.

St. Helene waxbill.


One of the goats in the petting zoo.

Camel.

Two camels.

Ibex.

Tortoise.

The zoo only stayed open until 1:30pm because it's just too hot for the animals, but they knew how to beat the heat.

Ankole Cattle. My, what big horns you have! The huge horns have blood running through them to help cool the beasts on hot days.

Giraffe.

Two giraffes.

They had just been fed before we got there.

Ostrich.

Saguaro cactus.

Cactus garden.

Organ Pipe cactus.

Caracara.

Burrowing owl.

Raven. It could be a Baltimore raven but there wasn't anyone around to ask.

I was very glad to have the barrier between us. This mountain lion had some serious attitude!

But he got tired of all that and decided to take a nap. Now he looks (almost) cuddly.

Bobcat.

Badger.

The wolf was elusive but I managed to capture a couple of pics.

Porcupine.

Cheetah.

Zebras.

A lizard in the wild!

The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Palm Springs from the Aerial Tramway.

These Striker's Jays waited (im)patiently while we ate our picnic.

The massive wind farm at the entrance to the valley.

The towers that support the cables and cars.

Sunset on the mountain.

Moonrise over the mountain. (I think the moon was actually setting)

This is the rotating car we took up to the top of the mountain.

Fuzzy poses outside one of the old cars that were used in the past.