The desert garden at San Diego Zoo Safari Park

There really is no shortage of beautiful places in Southern California, especially in San Diego. While years ago, when we moved here I had a hard time adjusting to the desert-y landscape and the lack of the lush greenery that was surrounding us in upstate New York, years later I have come to love the multitude of succulents and other native plants.

There is something very attractive about all the different shapes and sizes of the succulents around here, and I enjoy discovering desert gardens whenever we come across them. I was shocked at first to find succulents that are as big as the trees and just as strong to withstand winds and whatever else comes their way.

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Recently we went to the San Diego Safari Park, which is one of my favorite places around here. I know a lot of people don't like zoos, but we choose to support the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park for their dedication to ending extinction that's threatening so many animals these days. Not to be overlooked is also how the work zoos do, serves as inspiration for keeping your pets in tip-top shape. For those reasons, we go there as often as we can.

The San Diego Safari Park is actually located in Escondido, about a 40-minute drive from downtown San Diego. While it tends to get busy, it still gives me that feeling of being away from the city, especially since it's close to farms and wineries.
The park is about 1800 acres big, so there's plenty to do and see. Whenever we are there, I HAVE to visit my favorites: the tigers, the meerkats, and the gorillas.

Like I said above, the place can get very busy, so we avoid the crowds by venturing to the other side, where several gardens are located - those usually, aren't as popular. One of them is the Nativescapes Garden, which, as the name says, houses plants native to SoCal.

I always thought that desert gardens are "depressing" since, well, they're not that colorful. I was wrong. When we got there, several plants were in bloom which helped create a gorgeous picture right in front of our eyes. We leisurely strolled admiring the plants, the vultures or hawks - I have a hard time distinguishing them - flying above us, and the views of the African plains and the Balloon Safari that was just taking off. See some of the views in the photos below.