Big Cat In The Watutu

Have car, will travel. I knew that the Desert Riviera offers full concierge service, but I didn’t expect their associate, Anza car rental to deliver to my door a KIA hybrid car for $49/day. And they’ll pick it up from me at the resort when I’m done.

Can we say, exceptional customer service?

Another day, another canyon. After breakfast at Elmers down the street, (which if I closed my eyes would’ve had me thinking I was eating at a Denny’s), I drove to the nearby Indian Canyon, about 20 minutes from Desert Riviera.

At Indian Canyon there are 3 hiking canyons (Andreas, Palm and Murray and by extension, Tahquitz Canyon) with trails ranging from moderate to challenging. I chose the 1 mile Andreas Canyon trail, where hikers would gain an elevation of 200 ft and it’d take less than an hour to complete the loop.

Andreas Canyon offers a leisurely hike along a quiet stream, on ledges of rocks. Not only that, but there are magnificent fan palms on either side of the Andreas creek, shading you from the hot sun. Andreas Canyon is considered the world’s second largest California fan palm oasis. This lush oasis hardly felt like a desert. The trail itself passes unusual rock formations, bedrock mortars and metates used centuries ago for preparing food.

When you’re at the halfway point of the trail, the loop brings you around, returning along the upper stream terrace and back to the parking lot. Although unshaded, hikers are rewarded with spectacular views of sycamores, cottonwoods, willows and a birds eye view of the fan palms.

If I had more time in Palm Springs, I may have even hiked the Murray Canyon trail afterwards but nope, zoo animals were beckoning. Ordinarily I don’t hit up zoos when I travel, but The Living Zoo is one of the top rated things to do in Palm Springs. More than just a zoo, it’s also a nature preserve, protecting 1,080 acres of undisturbed Sonoran desert and nature trails.

But with only half an afternoon left in the day, I knew I wasn’t going to see all the aviaries, gardens and trails, so I went straight to see the animals in the African exhibit. First stop was the petting kraal where you can mingle with Sicilian dwarf donkeys, Jacob’s sheep and Nubian goats.

I got to see the baby giraffe that was born right before Halloween. It’s so teeny compared to its parents.

In the village Watutu, I waited in the alcove to see if the leopard would come up to the viewing glass. I think as I was the only one there at the time, the leopard felt more inclined to approach. I sat on the other side of the glass, eye to eye with this magnificent creature. He was so at ease that he even ended up licking his fur in front of me, like a little kitty. That is until more families came into the alcove and that’s when the leopard ran away.

Leopard sussing me out.

Coming to sit with me at the reinforced glass.

Here kitty, kitty.

I saw a striped hyena, addaxes, zebras, cheetah, cape rock hyrax, meerkats, bighorn sheep and a swift fox (who is really swift by the way)

I wish I had more time to enjoy The Living Zoo but as it is, the sun was setting and I had 5 minutes to make it back to the entrance. I didn’t get a chance to see the walk through aviary, the cactus garden, butterfly garden, hummingbird garden or any of the other gardens. Twenty in all. But I got to see animals that I would never see at the Greater Vancouver Zoo.

On the way home I hit up Target and Trader Joe’s in Cathedral City. To end the day, a night time float in the pool and a soak in the hot tub. All to myself again.

View more photos of my trip on my Flickr album.

Hours:
Daily: 9am-5pm (Oct 1-May 31) | Daily: 8am-130pm (June 1-Sep 30)

Address:
47900 Portola Avenue
Palm Desert, CA 92260
GPS coordinates: 33.6999833, -116.3766053