Land of Enchantment

This was a short trip, as I said before, so this is the day I fly back. I had the morning free, though. I visited the Aquarium and Zoo. First, the aqaurium. It's not very large, but was quite nice. The aquarium features sea animals found mostly in the Gulf of Mexico (they are almost right on the Rio Grande River, so just a short trip ;-) and you'd be in the Gulf at Brownsville).

Albuquerque Aquarium entrance
Gulf Coast re-creation

It's kind of odd to see a shrimp boat in New Mexico. I'm used to seeing them in Galveston.

This fish tank was quite colorful. It's too bad that the lighting wouldn't let me capture that color. Below is a picture from a tunnel through one of the fish tanks. This has become a very popular item at aquariums. Below to the right is a picture taken of Jellyfish that glow in the dark. My camera was able to catch this in its regular lighting. (Unfortunately it picked up some glare from a nearby display too.)

Fish tank in aquarium
Tunnel through fish tank
Jellyfish

Last, but not least, is the shark tank. On the right you'll see a shark with a bit of an overbite. I wouldn't want to meet him in the ocean.


Shark Tank
Shark with overbite

Here's the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque. (The "Zoo" part of the sign is like a weather vane, so it's turned into the wind.) This was a very nice zoo -- certainly for a city the size of Albuquerque. Below is a Red Ibis. Below to the right is a Bald Eagle.

Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque
Red Ibis
Bald Eagle
Polar Bears

One of my favorites to see are Polar Bears. This zoo has four of them. Below to the left is a shot from the underwater viewing area. Below is the Queen of the Beasts. She was growling about something and seemed pretty interested in something or someone to my left.

Polar Bear underwater
Lioness

There were many more animals, but the last two pictures I'll display here are of one of their Koala Bears and, to the right, feeding time for the Sea Lions and Seals.


Koala
Feeding time for the Sea Lions

Lunch was at Cervantes near the airport. Very nice food and a real pleasant atmosphere.