The city of Palm Desert is situated in the Coachella Valley south-east of Los Angeles close to the Joshua Tree national park. The high mountain ranges on three sides and a south-sloping valley floor all contribute to the unique and year-round warm climate of Palm Desert, with the warmest winters in the western United States. The arid climate of Palm Desert delivers an average annual high temperature of 32°C, so, the 35°C and above during my visit was not exceptional.

In the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens both the addax and dromedary camel are housed on the same dull compound, separated by a wooden fence. The dromedary camel is not a very remarkable and exciting species on any zoo’s list of species. But still worth mentioning, as this species is well-known for its adaptation to arid areas while it seemed to suffer from the local heat as much as I did.