10/5/22

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium

Good morning, my friends. Are you ready to spend a few days at the zoo? That's how many pictures I took, despite my attempt to reign in my shutter finger. Once again, I took so many pictures it isn't even funny. Rather than show them all in one post, I'll show them to you a few at a time over the next several days even as we move on to new pastures. 

Let's just start with a map of the zoo. I took a picture with my phone as we walked by, and it helped us find our way around. It was a long day of walking and standing. My Fitbit logged nearly 10,000 steps by the time we left.


For today's batch of pictures, I'm going to show you the things we saw in the butterfly exhibit and the aquarium. The butterflies were magical, flitting all around. It was important to watch where we stepped, and we couldn't leave the exhibit without first checking all over ourselves for hitchhikers. There were full-length mirrors set up at the exit for this purpose. 

So let's take a look, shall we? I won't be identifying most things I'm going to show you because, frankly, I can't remember all of it.






This next image shows what the blue guys above look like when they close their wings.



Back outside, having rid ourselves of hitchhikers, we admired their beautiful gardens. Everything both inside and outside the exhibits was beautifully landscaped. The roses below were very fragrant.




There was much to see inside the aquarium as well. I wondered what a land-locked state would show us in their aquarium. It was like the rest of the zoo...divided up into regions of the world with appropriate species to see. We love these full-wall exhibits that can make you feel as if you're under water.


This little duck seemed interested in whatever Mike had to say.


This Emperor Penguin looks as if he's about to lead his friends on a march. This was an interesting exhibit, all glassed in, and apparently very cold inside. There were two areas where snow was falling and piling up, and the penguins were standing in the shower, enjoying themselves.


The rest are fish we might see diving in the Caribbean, and indeed, we have seen a lot of these fish on our scuba diving adventures.




They also had a wonderful jellyfish exhibit. Here's a video of one of the enclosures. I'll show more over the next couple of days. (If you can't see the video, click on the title of this post to be taken to the actual blog. You'll find the video there.)


Okay, so that's all I have for you today. I'll keep posting day by day until I get through them. We were particularly interested in the Lied Jungle (pronounced "leed"), and I'll show you those pictures in tomorrow's post. 

To finish off today's post, I was finally able to wash the Sticky Fabri-Solvy out of the fifth block for the Stitchin' Wisdom quilt. These are so much fun to stitch for the message they convey and also for the variety of stitches.


Today we have a short day ahead, although we'll be stopping in Lincoln for the International Quilt Museum about an hour down the road. I'm not sure what their policy is about photography, but look for my shutter finger to get another workout if it is allowed. If not, I'll tell you what I can. After the museum, we'll drive about another hour down the road, hoping to find a campsite. There are lots of options, but none of them accept reservations. It's all first come, first serve, and so we're hoping we'll be the first to arrive.

And that means their no time to waste getting under way this morning. The museum is open at 10:00 a.m., and we're hoping to be among the first through the doors.

9 comments:

Barbara said...

Butterflies can't see their wings. They can't see how truly beautiful they are, but everyone else can. People are like that as well. ~ Unknown

piecefulwendy said...

You'll be able to take photos at the museum. They'll give instructions on that. It won't take you too long to go through, I don't think - and there's a nice open area where Mike can chill if he's tired of looking at quilts. Enjoy!

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Those flutter-bye's are amazing, especially that blue one. We went to a flutter-bye place when the boys were young and it was such fun to have them landing on us. I remember one kid was totally freaked out by them landing on her...the stuff that nightmares are made of I suspect.

Janarama said...

The beautiful colors of butterflys, fish and of course birds always amaze me. The jellyfish I could sit and watch all day as they waltz around in the water.

Lee said...

Beautiful pictures! Have some more fun!

Christine said...

Loving those butterflies. The Parc Zoologique in Paris has large tanks like those, they are sooo amazing!

SJSM said...

Your butterfly pictures brought up a good memory. We went to a botanical garden in Vienna that had a butterfly exhibit. Our 3 year old daughter was enchanted. The highlight for me was watching an army of leaf cutter ants carrying their spoils back to the nest. It was fascinating watching the trail in single line. One heading for the harvesting area. The other taking the cut leaf back. Amazing how they held the blade upright on their backs and not losing step to stay up with the imaginary beat of the drum.

Rita Anne Hope-Haverman said...

So glad you had a great time at our HD zoo. I can't wait to see the rest of your pictures. The quilt museum is awesome too. My small quilt group has actually done a sew day there. I'm happy your trip brought you to Omaha, Lincoln and Nebraska beyond.

Kim said...

Those butterflies are gorgeous and I really like the embroidery. I may have to get that one to do. Thanks for sharing.