Blaise and I visited the Biodôme together two years ago and were thoroughly impressed so we insist Amber and Acadia join us this time. We try to go the day before but the crowds convince us to return the following day – earlier. It is a great strategy as we tour virtually alone for the first hour.
The Biôdome is a new indoor zoo for the city. It features four distinct ecosystems under a massive dome: rainforest, laurentian forest, sub-polar, and St. Laurence Seaway. There is also a temporary exhibit which features lots of couches for lounging as you wait for a sloth and her baby to wake up.
We slowly track through the dome and see the caimans, beavers, macaws, penguins, bats, poisonous frogs, lynx, sturgeon, urchins, puffins, razorbills, capybara, starfish, eels, raccoons, etc. We also enjoy a short multimedia presentation – a guy tells the story of a sloth who falls out of a tree in the rainforest with sounds, lights and audience participation.
Below the zoo is a room with a host of taxidermic animals, skeletons, diagrams, interactive learning and specimens. It’s marvellous! My favourite is the enormous ivory narwhal tooth.
Blaise and I do a quick walk through the zoo before leaving to see if any more animals pop up. It is painfully crowded and most of the animals are hiding or sleeping. I’m grateful we passed through earlier.
I think this pair would make a great children’s book story together: The Stingray and the Catfish.
I have a camera wielding protégée along too.
