San Diego Zoo Safari Park - Wild Holidays

Yesterday we ventured to the "second door" of the world famous San Diego Zoo. This is their sister park in Escondido, California, developed in the early 1970's to breed zoo animals in a more open, natural environment, and now, 52 years later, a major attraction of its own. To us, it will always be the Wild Animal Park, but was renamed to Safari Park in 2010. The park is 1,800 acres, though the majority has been left undeveloped, in its natural chaparel state. (Thanks to my official guidebook of the park, I learned that San Diego County has the most biodiverse ecosystem in the continental U.S., so happy to see so much is being preserved.) With your ticket, you get a tram ride around the African Plains and can pretend you are on safari, without the plane trip to Africa. But as the wait time for that was 75 minutes, we elected to walk around. We ended up walking about 6 miles, if our Fitbits are correct.

This included a little back tracking and some Lion Camp stairs. I feel all those miles today. Along the way we saw almost all the animals featured in my official guidebook: African Lions, Sumatran Tigers, California Condors, Gibbons, Okapi (cousins to the giraffe), Southern Gerenuk from Somalia (giraffe-necked deer that stand up on their hind legs like people to reach the best food in trees), Hornbills, Kangaroos, (one) Wallaby (the albino Wallaby doesn't come out into the sun), Spoonbills, Giraffes (from a distance), Flying Foxes (fruit bats from an island off of India), one crazy Cockatiel, and one lone African Elephant.

The elephants are getting a bigger enclosure, so are behind a construction fence. We were lucky to catch a glimpse of one of these pachyderms while walking down a trail.

But the most interesting animal for me was the platypus. According to my official guidebook, these are the only platypus outside of Australia. As platypus are active only at night, the park has conveniently switched night and day to the benefit of us human visitors. After a long line, you enter the habitat that has darkened to dusk. The platypus are smaller than expected, perhaps a foot long, swimming behind a glass wall. Imagine a mammal that is a cross between a duck and a beaver and lays eggs, and you have the playtpus. Oh, and the male is venomous. Too dark to take a picture, so I provide a photo from the park's information page: https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/platypus.

As for the plants, there are some very unusual ones. My favorite was the boojum tree, which is actually a succulent that can gro 50-60 feet and live 250 years. Can you guess which one it is?

As we worked our way back to the entrance, the holiday lights for Wild Holidays came on, and holiday music began playing. We exited under blue and purple lights. Another satisfying trip to Safari Park.

Salvation Mountain, and Slab City, CA

A few miles from the Salton Sea and the small town of Niland, is Salvation Mountain, the vision of folk artist and humble evangelist Leonard Knight (1931-2014), who built and rebuilt a mountain in the desert, first with metal scaffolding, then with adobe and thousands of gallons of paint.

This is both a pilgrimage site for the faithful and for those that enjoy weird California. With Leonard Knight's death, the site is run by volunteers of Salvation Mountain, Inc. One such volunteer warmly greeted us and asked us to stay on the flat parts and the "yellow brick road." Q codes allow you to donate via your phone, but visiting is free and all our welcome. The overall theme is "God is Love," with Bible quotes and flowers decorating the entire edifice. The site was busy on Christmas day, and we heard several languages as we followed the yellow brick road to the top. Mr. Knight has created a bone fide tourist attraction.

Nearby is the equally fascinating though less colorfol squatter commune of Slab City. You can park your RV here for free, and there is no formal government. Thousands of Snowbirds who like a little freedom live here during the comfortable winter months, and then the population dwindles to about 50-150 during the hellish summer heat. Here the "Slabbies" hold swap meets, have a lending library, and have an artist colony, among other activities. Nearby East Jesus has a folk artist installation as well. Most residents are retirees, but anarchists and a few drug addicts also hang out here.

Salton Sea, Imperial County, CA

The Salton Sea is a man-made monstrosity of 318 square miles sitting in the desert of Imperial and Riverside County, California. It was formed in 1905 when part of the Colorado River was diverted for irrigation. Landlocked, it has remained a sea to the present due to contaminated agricultural runoff and water from surrounding rivers. But it is an ecological disaster. Scientists in the 1970s warned of impending disaster, but in the 1950s and 1960s it was a thriving resort area, with the likes of the Beach Boys and Frank Sinatra performing at night clubs, birdwatching, and fisherman catching tilapia and other sports fish in the well stocked sea. Then in the 1980s, the sea began to shrink, getting saltier and exposing toxic dust in dry beds. A hazardous haze floated over the valley, and fish and birds died in droves, their carcasses littering the beaches. And an odor, like rotten eggs, hung in the air. Understandably, the resort crowds fled. The resorts are now ghost towns, themselves a curiousity for "weird California" tourists. Meanwhile, millions have been spent to study the disaster and provide some small remediation, but the state has not fixed the problem. Easier to turn a blind eye and let unfold what may.

The day we visited there was a slight odor, mostly of salt. But the sea itself has a lovely blue color from a distance, with dark mountains framing it.

Up close, you see how murky it is, with algal blooms from agricultural fertilizers and the crust of dried salt.

In fact, the Salton Sea is saltier than the ocean, and just getting saltier. It is not yet as salty as the Dead Sea, but it's moving in that direction. If it does get there, perhaps it will be a new tourist destination as tourists float in the brine. Fish in the sea have been reduced 97% and the only fish that seem to survive the salt is the desert pupfish. A few birds still bob in the water.

We chose to off road to an abandoned naval military base. It was used during WWII as a training and practice area. Float planes landed on the Salton Sea, and you can still see what looks like the scaffolding of a target in the water. Getting to the base requires traveling over a sand dune, a reminder that you are solidly in a desert.

All that is left of the base are pylons, the skeleton of a dry dock, a bomb shelter, a control tower, and maybe some unexploded ordnances. (Don't worry, none exploded during our visit.) The base has now reverted to state control, with some bone dry evaporation ponds and chain link fences.

Samuel flew his drone over the sea, but it is so vast (15 by 35 miles at its widest and longest), that the drone battery ran low before it could cross to the other side. Still enough battery however to take a shot of the family before heading east to Salvation Mountain.

Anza Borrego off-roading

The Chesslers are all together in San Diego for the holidays, so at the last minute we decided to go the desert for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Anza Borrego and Borrego Springs are about an hour forty from San Diego, with a pass through Julian, the mountain town known for its pie (of which we did not indulge).

We checked into the historic hotel La Casa Del Zorro (highly recommend), decorated with Santas and elves amidst the cacti, and then did some offroading in Samuel's SUV.

We started with a visit to an old Kumeeyay Indian camp, which still has the rocks used for grinding down native plants. Here you see Samuel investigating the grinding holes.

Then it was off to Palm Spring. Note the singular of that name. Palm Spring was an oasis stop for travelers for over a hundred years. Now it's mostly a historical plaque. The verdant oasis of years ago seems long gone, just a few green shrubs and three dying palms. I refer you to Palm Springs plural for more verdant gardens. But keep in my mind we are in state park, untroubled by artificial irrigation.

After a lunch break somewhat sheltered from the wind, we then ventured further to a long canyon surrounded by large mud hills, with just a few brave mesquite trees and shrubs to break up the brown. This is an offroad fun festival, if you drive slowly and avoid the hidden rocks! We exited the canyon just as the sun set.

After a delish Christmas Eve dinner at La Casa Del Zorro, Samuel set up his fancy new telescope outside our of our casita. The Anza Borrego desert is well known by astronomers for its dark skies. You can imagine what it was like for ancient humans looking up to the firmament. A hotel employee saw our telescope and arranged for more lights to be shut off so we could really stargaze.