The Desert Museum & The Biosphere 2

Tucson, AZ
Dustin's Diamond J RV Park


We finally were able to go to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and it was very well done.  It's a combination zoo, natural history museum, botanical garden and art gallery which reflects the plants and animals of the Sonoran Desert.

 Lots of very happy Prairie Dogs playing in their habitat.

 Many birds to see.  Great Blue Heron Above.  Not sure what type of bird that is below but look at that wingspan!

  A restful spot with a great view.

 The coyotes were very active and howling for us.

 The Javelina's were also out and about. 

 The Raptor Show was pretty good too.  First the Raven flew all around.  There was a Great Horned Owl and Redtail Hawk that flew all around us as well with their trainers nearby.  

 The otters were playfully swimming and showing off.

 I've not seen a Black-Bellied Whistling Duck before.

  I think I liked the cactus, plants and flowers the most.  The shapes, colors, textures.

 

       

  

 

 

The Totem Pole cactus is my favorite.

Some early blooms.

A Crested Suguaro

  

We had lunch at one of the café's.  The drinks were good, especially the Prickly Pear Margarita.  The food was so promising, but it didn't have much flavor.

  The Big Horn Sheep were hanging out soaking up the sunshine.

 It was nap time for the wolves.

The bear was hiding inside his shelter so we didn't see him, but this squirrel was happily munching away on his lunch.

 Just these large paws were visible on the Mountain Lion who was also napping away.

 There were small reptile and salt water exhibits too. 

 Garden Eels swaying in the current. 

My and my brother, Steve.

 Afterward we took a short drive up to The Gates Pass Overlook.

 Beautiful view of the desert below.

On Sunday the storms came in and it was very rainy and windy.  We thought an indoor day at the Biosphere 2 would be a great way to stay dry. The Biosphere 2 facility serves as a laboratory for controlled scientific studies.  There are several types of tours, we too the general tour for $20.  Since we had the Tucson Passport which gave us 1/2 off admission here as well as many other Tucson attractions.  RV friend, Cori, told us about this great savings.

Just inside the door was this huge crystal display. Pretty awesome.  It was over 3 feet tall.

 

So what is the history of the Biosphere 2:

It opened in 1986 to research and develop self-sustaining space-colonization technology. There were two missions, between 1991 and 1994, where Biospherians were sealed inside the glass enclosure to measure survivability for two years.  Behind this highly public exercise was useful research that helped further ecological understanding.  The property is now run by the University of Arizona. I had heard all about this as a young kid and it fascinated me.  I was thrilled to be able to visit it.  It's a fascinating place.

 This is the ocean area that opens up to a transitional Savannah.

 The warm and humid Rainforest.

 They are running some experiments about Aquaponics in the desert. 

 After the Marsh is the Desert environment you see above. 

There is a huge agriculture area where crops were grown as well as the Lung Habitat that does all the "breathing" for the facility.  Truly an amazing thing to see.   Our first week in Tucson has been busy.