Albuquerque Aquarium And The Botanic Gardens

Albuquerque Aquarium And The Botanic Gardens

It was a lovely sunny, warm day so we headed for the Aquarium and the Botanic Gardens. We loved the aquarium and took some photos and some little movies with the new camera. So much to see and such a wonderful facility. We actually turned around and went through it all over again, before we exited the building. Great exhibits!

We then headed over to the Botanic Gardens, again the city has outdone itself with the well placed statues/sculptures, we took lots of photos again. The first area we came to was actually the childrens fantasy garden and was wonderful. There was a large dragon at the entrance which looked like a couple of castle turrets. Once you entered it was made to seem that you were under the ground of the garden. You were in a playground area with the carrots, potatoes, radish bottoms. You then went on into many other areas, we skipped the maze. Large, lifelike ants inhabited the area with us and there were some chunks taken out of some of the oversized veggies. In another area we walked into the inside of a pumpkin, the floor was made out of a soft, flexible material and seeds and slimy looking threads hung from the top of the pumpkin. It was a wonderful place for inquisitive children. We continued onto the butterfly house and along the way was a small gauge railroad with all the buildings, a river with a water mill which was actually working, and everything else that you would see along a real railroad. There was one train carrying a circus and all of its animals and another sightseeing train, all in miniature. Arriving at the butterfly house, we enjoyed looking at all the colorful inhabitants. We went onto the building housing Desert and Mediterrean landscapes and recognised lots of the vegetation from home. Onto the Heritage Farm, the Rose Garden and another garden where weddings, meetings, etc. could be held. One building had some large sculptures from Korea and Japan from the 14th and 15th Centuries. Our legs were getting tired so we returned to the entrance and took the train around the park. It is a large park with Tingley Lake and the Zoo among other things. They are in the process of building a Japanese Garden and in an other area have some special bamboo planted in hopes of eventually getting a Panda Bear. The other side of the road from where the train travelled is a State Park right within the city, it runs along the Rio Grande and is referred to as the Bosque Area. I hope that I have this correct. It is a beautiful area with huge, old cottonwood trees (the train man told us that some of them are 75 years old).
Before heading home we stopped and picked up some groceries and called it a day.