Sonora Desert Museum

When I got up on Tuesday, January 15, my main goal was to visit the Sonora Desert Museum, which I had heard a lot about. I highly recommend it. It is unique compared to anything else I have seen, essentially a zoo, museum, botanical garden, and nature preserve rolled into one:

http://www.desertmuseum.org/

I drove back through Saguaro National Park, taking another short hike in the very chilly early morning air. I snapped one final photo of some “forested” hills in the park as I drove out of it:


The museum is everything I had heard about it. Even though I wanted to save some time to do other things, there was just too much to see and explore there. I spent 4 hours touring the various exhibits, and could have spent an entire day there. There were animal exhibits, like these javelina roaming in a half acre, very natural looking habitat:


and this cougar, kept in a separate pen, fortunately for the javelinas:

and this rare Mexican wolf, also kept separately for the benefit of any potential prey:

There were many cactus displays such as these organ pipe cacti:

these prickly pear:

and this barrel cactus:


There were wide open desert spaces and vistas:


There were also many exhibits of desert habitats, educational displays, a simulated cave to explore, American Indian exhibits, and a very interesting exhibit on agave – tequila, anyone? If you are ever near Tucson, definitely pay this great facility a visit. It is well worth it.