WILDLIFE LEARNING CENTER

This past Saturday, my step-aunt treated my sisters and I to an outing at the Wildlife Learning Center in Sylmar, which rescues wildlife and educates the public about the environment through onsite and outreach programs by hosting school assemblies, classroom visits, children’s parties, summer and winter camps, and more. It was about a two and a half hour drive and I practically slept the whole way there. I don't know why I was so tired! 

The Wildlife Center didn't open until 11am and we got there about ten minutes early, so to pass the time, we sat in our parked car on the side of the street in front of somebody's house (sorry guys!), and decided on where we were going to have lunch later. Since we were this far out, I really wanted to go to Le Pain Quotidien since it was on our way home, but we ended up settling on Rainforest Cafe just because we haven't been there in a couple of years. Plus it fits the theme of the day.

The Wildlife Learning Center is small and in a really odd place. It's tucked away in an old olive grove, and in a regular neighborhood surrounded by houses. It can easily be missed. We walked along a pathway and through a sliding gate to get inside the center. I was immediately greeted with a "hello!" from a parrot perched on a branch. He never left his branch and greeted everyone as they came in. Keep on going straight and you see the squirrel monkeys. They are literally so adorable! One of them kept observing his feet, just holding and looking at them, as if he just realized that he's had them. Behind the squirrel monkeys is a picnic area with two parrots sitting in a tree. In the two and a half hours that we were there, they never left their spot. I guess once a parrot gets settled, they're fine all day! Going on down the pathway were three fennec foxes which are so cute! Only one of them was awake and he was as lively as can be. He liked to run around in circles. I don't see how he could go around and around like that without getting dizzy. On the other side of the pathway were lynxes, bobcats, arctic foxes, porcupines, tawny owls and bald eagles. 

For an interactive experience, we scheduled a personal visit with one of the tawny owls. We first had to put a glove on our left hand so that we wouldn't get scratched. My sisters and I took turns holding the owl. Of course I have seen an owl before, but I have never gotten to hold one, so it was something truly exciting. I felt like Harry Potter with Hedwig perched on my gloved hand! The owl was so cute I couldn't get over it. He's the most photogenic thing ever! 

After holding the owl, we followed the pathway and saw the alligators, hedgehogs, and land turtles. We actually walked around the whole thing about four times to make sure we got the see all the animals in action. On our way out, there was a "trainer talk" going on where one of the biologists from the center brings out a different animal every hour to talk about. We got to touch and take a picture with Steve the Savannah Monitor. We left the wildlife center around 12:40pm, and off to Rainforest Cafe it was.

I Am Wearing:
Floral Bodysuit - Forever 21
Shorts - Wallflower
Shoulder bag that I got a couple years ago from the San Diego Safari Park
Light pink cloth sneakers - Similar here