Museums & Sciences II

blog-2009-sanfrancisco-DSC_9658-californiaacademyofsciences The second museum we checked out on Tuesday 24 March was the California Academy of Sciences. This was a really slick and modern museum; they’d apparently moved into their home at the Golden Gate Park just last year, and that building was impressively large, imposing, great use of lighting, glass and all the amenities of a modern attraction.

Interestingly, the Academy isn’t just a museum. It houses in fact their own in-house scientists and researchers, and parts of the museum hold a collection of 20 million species.

The exhibits mostly aren’t interactive like the Exploratorium, but still really impressive. There was a large section on the African Savannahs and jungles with realistic and life-sized models of animals. The basement comprises the world’s largest living coral reef display, with huge tanks and many smaller tanks all showcasing marine life.

The place though was incredibly crowded, the more unusual since this was a weekday afternoon. There were so many people queuing up to enter the Planetarium and Rainforest dome that I took one look and gave up.

Very well worth a visit, but if I ever return here a second time, I’m gonna have to figure out a time where it isn’t nearly so crowded.

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The rest of the photos here.:)