# Secret Spots At The Wild Animal Park No Longer So Secret
2022-02-21
* Baja Garden
* Bonsai Garden
> Note: As part of the re-branding efforts that began around
> 2011, the San Diego Wild Animal Park is now officially
> known as the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Apparently, the
> Zoo was concerned that a lot of people didn't know that
> the Wild Animal Park was part of the San Diego Zoo.
## Bonsai Garden
If you turn left after entering the Wild Animal Park, cross
the bridge, and head all the way to the other side of the
new Australian Outback exhibit, you'll come to a little
food-cart or food-truck or something selling Australian
food. Right across the street is the Bonsai Garden.
It's a nice tranquil little garden that used to get
virtually no foot traffic before the Australian Outback
exhibit starting bringing people nearby. That's because it
used to be tucked behind a very unexciting looking conifer
forest beyond which, few ventured.
Now, the secret is out and I'm conflicted. On the one hand,
it's nice that more people are enjoying the Bonsai Garden,
but on the other hand, there goes my little secret oasis.
## Baja Garden
It's a similar story with the Baja Garden, which was a strip
of California native plants that lay beyond the Bonsai
Garden and somewhat between it and Condor Ridge.
If, against all odds, you wandered past the
un-promising-looking conifers and into the Bonsai Garden,
then there's a good change the bare, dirt-paths and lack of
signs in the Baja Garden would cause you to head back
towards civilization.
The Baja Garden used to give off a real "this isn't a place
for pedestrians; there's nothing for you here" kind of vibe.
But if you like native plants, as I do, then it's a nice
place to visit. There's also a picnic bench covered by a
palapa that make a great place to eat the lunch you brought
in to avoid paying an arm and a leg for food in the park.
Now, a good fifty-percent or so of the trails in the Baja
Garden are paved, and the entrance is right next to the exit
form the Australian Outback exhibit. It looks much more
inviting now. I used to be able to eat lunch at the palapa
and hardly see another person, but now there's a steady
stream walking past.
> Tip: Neither the San Diego Zoo, nor the Wild Animal Park
> prohibit outside food. They don't even check the content
> of your bags as part of the post-911 "security theater"
> that so many places engage in. When I worked at Seaworld
> in the 1990s, they allowed outside food too, but I'm not
> sure if they still do.
## Australian Outback
The Australian Outback is a really nice exhibit. Typically,
the Wild Animal Park has been all about the African and
Asian animals that they breed there. Parts of Australia have
a Mediterranean climate similar to San Diego, so an
Australian exhibit is a good fit for us.
> Side Note: The Australian Gum Tree, or "Eucalyptus", as we
> call it here, is found all over San Diego County and
> Southern California in general. Many species are well
> adapted to the same sort of Mediterranean climate that we
> have in San Diego. Without the native parasites of
> Australia, the trees grow very quickly here. The story
> that gets told over and over is that the railroad industry
> planted tons of Eucalyptus hoping to harvest it for
> railroad ties, but the parasite-free wood proved to be too
> soft. I don't know if that's true or not, but I do know
> that during high winds, Eucalyptus trees occasionally fall
> over and cause a lot of damage.
### A Rare Sight
There's a duck-billed platypus exhibit there, and you may
not realize how rare that is. The platypus is extremely
difficult to care for and transport. They don't do well when
they know they're on display either.
In the early 20th century, most platypuses bound for
America, died in transit. It turns out they eat a lot more
that you would expect from an animal their size. You also
have to give them a den with a narrow opening so that it
squeezes water out of their fur when they pass through it.
The first platypus to make it to America alive was on
display for about an hour before it died. More details are
available in the book, "A Zoo Man's Notebook".
