A Saturday trip to California Academy of Sciences

On a dull foggy Saturday morning, we set out on a drive towards San Francisco downtown. Our agenda had a few things, but we had decided to see as much as we can, and would not rush ourselves. The first place to visit was the California Academy of Sciences. We got there at about 12.00 noon and ended up spending the whole day there.

It was crowded, but not as much as it could be on some days.. As we entered, we were welcomed by a large dinosaur skeleton, as you would expect in any scientific place :).

There was an area where interactive programs were going on... 'The Mad science show' was on when we entered and we skipped it. Later we watched the show about reptiles and were thrilled that they brought in live snakes, including a python to show us. Srihari (my almost 3 yr old son), was absolutely excited and he was imitating the snakes by moving his tongue in and out.

Our first stop was the aquarium area. There were a few exhibits that we could see from above, unlike the regular through the glass view. We saw large bat rays and many other colourful fishes.

Then, we visited the regular aquarium area. It was pretty, but nothing special after seeing so many aquariums in the US. Colourful tropical fishes, jelly fishes, sea horses, varieties of sea dragons, sea anemones and other interesting sea/ water creatures adorned the water behind the glass walls. We got to see a pretty big octopus which was moving a lot, unlike the still ones I have seen before. No photography of the octopus though!!! There was also a touch pool and the staff patiently explained about all the sea creatures in there.

Then we got into the planetarium to see the show 'Life: A Cosmic story', about the beginning of life on earth. I loved the 90 foot diameter dome screen and their projection technology, but did not enjoy the story-line of this show as much. They kind of touched upon everything and did not explain anything... May be that was all the time they had. They could have chosen a topic that was smaller and easier to explain.  I felt, I have seen better planetarium stories - the ones in Brila planetarium, that I saw as a kid in Chennai were far more interesting. Also, the dome theater at San Jose Tech Museum is larger and better. Read our experience here.

After having lunch at the extremely priced (as expected) academy cafe, we went to the rain forest area. This was a multi-tire building, each tire focusing on a particular part of the world. They had free flying birds and butterflies which were very pretty, still looked artificial in the steel and glass building. They had altered the temperature and humidity to suit the rain forest environment. It was hot and humid here!!!

 

The different kinds of pitcher plants that they had on display, transported me back to the school days, when we learnt about these amazing carnivorous plants :)

They also had colourful geckos, lizards, snakes and frogs in their exhibits. The rain forest experience was something different and I have never seen anything like this in any of the museums / science centers I have visited till now.

The living roof

 'The living roof' is like a roof garden... There is little to see, yet a lot to learn. They had boards explaining the advantage of the living roof and how it can help keep the planet green.

They had a few exhibits on 'green energy'. The one that grabbed my attention was the solar powered stoves used in a village in Rajastan, India. It is an initiative of an Indian scientist

Solar powered stoves being used in Rajastan villages in India

The young explorer's cove is meant for kids under 5 years and has books, puppets, play area and a boat!! Our little one could run around and play as we relaxed and watched him.

They also had a naturalist lab, which we did not visit. Outside, they had a raindeer exhibit with a couple of reindeers (probably, a holiday attraction) and thoughtful people who were really interested in answering questions.

It was closing time and it fogged up again, bringing out beautiful colours of sunset.

 

Overall, the experience was good. There is a vast diversity and many things to see. One can easily spend an afternoon here, without getting bored. The entrance fee of $30 per person seemed a bit expensive.