Recently, my WCBFF (West Coast BFF), Ally, got to visit an amazing place just outside of LA for her big 30th birthday!! She told me all about it and sent some amazing photos and since many of our readers/followers are from the West Coast and others often travel there, I wanted Ally to share this hidden gem on the blog and she happily agreed! Enjoy!
xo,
Ash
PS. Leave her some “happy birthday” comments below. The big day is FRIDAY!! <3
Everyone knows that Ash is in love with the West Coast (best coast!), and I’m the gal responsible for that! My name is Ally. I’ll be introducing you all to some great places I’ve found being an Orange County native my entire life!
My boyfriend took me to the Wildlife Learning Center this past weekend. It’s about 30 minutes outside of LA in a town called Sylmar. It was incredible! We signed up for a private tour, although you have the option to do a self-guided tour also. We got hands-on experiences with porcupines, servals, a fennec fox (WHY did I not know how perfect these were before?!), crocodiles, an adorable armadillo…and a sloth. Ashley introduced me to a sloth named Valentino on my last trip to Pittsburgh at the Aviary also, which brings my grand total of sloth encounters up to five. Yes, I’m aware I have a problem.
Valentino. Pittsburgh Aviary 2016.
The Wildlife Learning Center was absolutely wonderful! It’s a nonprofit rescue organization that saves animals unfit to live in the wild. They were either injured, kept as pets, or abandoned. They are all kept in enclosures perfect for their species and loved on by trainers with great experience. When we walked with our trainer, Mickey, all the animals were literally climbing on their cages to see him. Whether it be out of love for HIM or a love of the treats he was bringing is unknown, but a love does exist. One of my favorite parts was getting to meet and hold Zeus. Zeus is a blind owl with eyes that look like a celestial scene. He is believed to only have about 10% of his vision; Zeus is very cute and lovable and was rescued by the WLC in 2012.
Ally is wearing Lauren Akin’s (Thomas Rhett’s wife’s) Ella Black Ice Blue from her sunglasses line at Diff Eyewear.
You are up close and personal to all the animals you see. It’s unlike any zoo I’ve ever experienced! You’re at most a foot or so away from any of the animals, including a set of bald eagles, lynx, or a giraffe! You can also sign up for an experience with any of your favorite animals at a very reasonable price to feed them, take photos, and even hold them if it’s possible!
The best part of this, other than the sloth of course, is knowing they are saving animals that otherwise wouldn’t have survived. I had a blast and I hope you have a chance to check it out when you’re near LA!!
Xo,
Ally
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