This post was done in a rush. Now that it is friday night and it is just me and the laptop and a movie choice gone bad, there is scope to describe this day trip in pictures!
First, a view of the "Rainforest dome" from the outside. You walk on a ramp around the dome (inside the dome) and you have display cases with flora/fauna that is seen around certain heights within the forest, starting with creatures like ants, toads, etc. that are at ground level, then you go up a little further and see tree frogs and snakes, birds and lizards, go futher up and see butterfliers. It is just plain amazing, the way they set up this dome.
The pitcher plant, which eats insects! Reminded me of 8th grade biology class where we heard about this the first time...
30 feet up?
Blue and red tree frogs, the size of quarters!
Fruits that were new..
Aquariums around the bend (which did not fit the altitude logic) but were nicely displayed. They had flora and fauna from Costa Rica and Madagascar.
This snake was creepy. It's head looked like a leaf. The camouflage was amazing.
There were colorful tropical birds living in the trees inside the dome! The only irritating thing was the change you go through. Outside the CAS, San Francisco temperatures were in the low 50's. Inside this dome, it was at least in the mid 80's. The end result, you get to carry the camera and three or four fluffy jackets as you make your way through the dome. They should have a coat rack just outside the dome!
Some of the lizards and geckos we saw were really amazing. Have never seen these in your typical zoo's!
More butterflies, big ones!
Yes, you do see human heads below the water and that is a big fish!
You get out of the rainforest through the bottom, where there is a giant tank of water above your head with 6 foot fish swimming over head. Then you get a taste of aquatic life, not as impressive as the Monterey bay aquarium, but a very diverse selection.
The piranah move fast, what can I say!
This display was really eye catching! They made little waves inside the display.
There are two other impressive sections of the CAS. One is the displays as you enter the place which is a museum with a focus on stuffed animals, birds, eco friendliness, recycling etc. This part is like a mini Smithsonian!
Yeah.. it is pretty lame taking pictures of stuffed birds through glass cages.. maybe someday after retirement, there will be a chance to take pictures of these in the wild?!
You come out of this section and go to the last part (which we saw.. there is also a Planetarium in this place which was filled up, and we missed that!) Out of Africa!
The idea was to take a picture with my head using the skulls on the wall as reference. We did not expect Homowildus Sapiens aka the Little One to crash the photo op. She almost ripped the board out and tried to push me out. Must have been due to the presence of all the other wild creatures around her!
The way they did the displays was amazing. The plants were real. The environs to keep these weird and rare plants live were real! Hats off to these folk for coming up with such displays!
More stuffed animals, birds (once again resembles the Smithsonian) with the exception of a live Penguin exhibit and they fed the penguins to show everyone how wildlife conservation works. It was also a nice sales pitch for the CAS.
You take a little bit of the Smithsonian, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Reptile House at the Philadelphia Zoo, pieces of the San Diego zoo and what you have is the CAS.
The kids loved it but more than that, if you want to spend a day indoors, learn new things, and be entertained, this is a perfect place.
ps. Yes, we know there is Flickr, etc. for posting 30 pictures. The kids love to read travelogs of their day trips during dinner time. We show the kids to the penguins during feeding time in the CAS and the penguins to the kids during feeding time at home. It all works out!
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Saturday, January 3, 2009 at 7:33PM 
