johnsunter.com >> adventures - uk >> stapeley water gardens
A trip to the Palms at Stapeley Water Gardens.
Wandering around Garden centers on a Sunday morning, is the Antithesis of everything that this website stands for. So what was I doing there.
Well, its actually Stapeley Water Gardens, which features the Palms, a mixture of Zoo and Botanical gardens that I wanted to see, and since its only half an hours drive from my house, I set off.
Things started of badly, with the coffee machine being broken, and members of staff not seeming particularly interested in our plight.
We moved on, and paid our £4.50 entrance fee, which seemed pretty reasonable.
The centerpiece of the attraction, is this pool, which has comfortable seats around it.
It looked like a superb place to relax, but we weren't there to sit down, we were there to explore.
The fish inside the central pool.
Orinoco the Crocodile and the Terrapin (who didn't appear to have a name) relax in their pool.
This sign next to him, indicated that he wasn't keen about having coins thrown at him.
What I liked was the sensitive way that this note was written, which I thought would appeal to youngsters, rather than some "legalese" nonsense that everyone would ignore.
There was a strong ethical message to the Palms, here a selection of items made from Ivory and Crocodile skin, are on display.
Striped bird eating spider.
Mention green from, from life on earth.
Assassin bugs.
They get there name for the speed that they kill there prey.
They have the most painful bite of any insect and it is theorized that Charles Darwin was killed by them.
This poster, outlined many of the conservation projects that had been achieved with the help of donations from the visitors to the center.
One of my favorite animals, after Elephants and the Lar Gibbon, the Chameleon.
This one if from the Yemen.
Three bearded Lizards.
An entire section was devoted to environmental matters.
I found this section particularly interesting, about how long different things take to biodegrade.
A plastic bag will take 100 years. The one that astounded me, was fishing lane, which can take up to 600 years to degrade.
A parrot.
A tank full of tiny colored fish.
Some of the happy Terrapins playing in the pool.
The Archer fish.
One of the most fascinating things, I have ever seen.
It sprays water at insects above, knocks them off there perch, and then eats them.
A Pork fish swims serenely around its tank.
...
Adding to the conservation theme, this shows a pile of dead Coral.
Black tip reef shark and Leopard Shark.
Their tank was quite small, which enabled me to get this picture of them swimming side by side.
Piranha's.
The tank was quite dark, and I have had to enhance this photo.
They were being fed meat, and it was quite shocking to see how they ripped it apart.
The educational exhibit, showed events over the last 3 years, and where they would have occurred, in the grain of this Oak Tree.
Various forms of Rocks and Minerals.
It was possible to turn of the light, and see which ones were luminous.
The thing I most wanted to see, the Tropical house, a kind of indoor jungle.
It was very peaceful and relaxing in here, I enjoyed it a lot (and unlike a real jungle, I could leave with relative ease, whenever I wanted).
Nearest the camera, a Papyrus tree, of Egyptian fame.
Behind it the Agave plant, used to make Tequilas.
My friend Steve standing next to a Banana Tree.
A spectacular walkway, rose high above the jungle bellow.
I had seen loads of pictures of it, and standing on the walkway would be the highlight of the trip.
Unfortunately, it was closed due to maintenance (although I couldn't see anyone working on it).
There were loads of problems like this. Lots of things just didn't work, and none of the staff seemed concerned about it at all.
Finally, we wander around the Italian garden outside.
I imagine it is quite beautiful in the summer, but on this day, it was pouring with rain.
