Well after a few days of bargain hunting and general retail therapy, we decided the US economy was overheating so to slow it down we decided to check out a few touristy locations - namely the Denver Downtown Aquarium and the Denver Zoo. We actually went in with pretty low expectations - the Aquarium had previously gone bankrupt before re-opening as an aquarium/restaurant/corporate entertainment function house, and given it is winter here, I didn't think there would be much animal life at the zoo. So we were pleasantly suprised when we found both places really interesting!
The Denver Aquarium has the usual areas an aquarium should have - beautiful tropical Emperor Angelfish, ugly Stonefish, Giant Grouper, Grey Nurse Sharks, etc but the one thing that really took us by suprise were the 5 tigers?! Yup the last thing we expected to see was big cats in an aquarium? No sh1t! :-) Check it out!
It was actually done rather well - plenty of space for the tigers to run about, swim and just generally laze on the rocks (which seemed to be their favourite pastime). We ended up watching them for while - its just a pity we missed them feeding or swimming - isn't it always the way - we get there when they are doing nothing :-)
We checked out the Denver Zoo today and it was really enjoyable also. Hey if you go in with low expections, they are undoubtably exceeded ;-) Plus it was a bargain! $9 entry per person! Try paying that at Taronga Zoo and they will kick you onto the first ferry back to Circular Quay - actually they would probably make you swim and give you lead weights. Call us sadistic but the most fascinating thing was watching these boa constrictor snakes devouring their meal whole. We peered into their display about saw 3 snakes all swallowing a dead mouse each. You could actually see the bulge in their bodies from the mouse. Really freaky but it was like a train wreck - you shouldn't watch but you just had to. I didn't realise how wide a snake could open its mouth. Anyways, here's a pic of what we saw today...
Told you it was freaky!
We are off to Breckenridge tomorrow morning so will be saying a fond farewell to Denver - Also a HUGE thanks to our friends Dave, Tanya and Jeff (sorry girls, "hot" Jeff is off the market!) for letting us stay. We look forward to some snow time with you all in Breck! Hope all is well and another entry coming soon!
CLS
1 comment:
C'mon Cort! You can't compare the measly US zoos to Taronga Zoo... did you forget how much fun we had when we all went?! You obviously missed out on the oversized pigeon about to explode? Good to see you're loving US though... you HAVE TO go to New York over and over and over again! No amount of skiing can make up for the shopping in NY... think of all the rings you could purchase then?
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