A Night at the Museum: 

Penguins, Pyjamas and Highjinks at the California Academy of Science 

Here it is.  The post you've all been waiting for.  Its a long one, so its going to be a multi-chapter affair....  Its bonkers to think that a week ago, I was running around the California Academy of Science in my Angry Birds pyjamas and Doctor Who t-shirt with an Angry Bird and Pig in each pocket and an illicit cocktail in hand, but there you have it.  And what an absolute blast it was.  As you can imagine, I took just one or two or three hundred pictures, so its taken me a little time to go through them and process them and whittle them down to the forty or so below.  My partners in crime for the evening were the Trinity of Trouble, Lori, Sarah and Chana so here's how it all went down...

Phase I:  Arrivals and Ostriches

Honest, guv' - just the one night....

So after weeks of anticipation, the day had finally arrived!  It was time to get our Penguin on!!  The event was due to start at 6pm for registration and arrivals, so - of course - we wanted to arrive nice and early to bag a good spot at the front of the queue and be able to have our first pick of where to set up camp later on that night.  Fortunately, Sarah and Lori were as keen as I was to get there early, so we all rendezvoused at my place around 4.15pm, and headed over en masse.  Traffic wasn't as bad as expected, so we arrived by about 4.45pm - over an hour ahead of the doors opening!  But - as you can see - we weren't the first to arrive!  There were two lines, so we plumped for Line 1 and the girl at the head of it (who'd come to the very first P&P last year) had actually been on line since 2pm that afternoon!  Reassuring there was at least one person more bonkers than us!  And - contrary to what the picture looks like - we really were only staying overnight but there is a lot of gear to lug, what with blow-up mattresses, pillows, Angry Birds, Wildlife Bingo, sleeping bags, slippers etc!  But it was fun to wait in line and people-watch - we were very curious to see what the rest of the crowd would be like - would it be a glorified version of the (in)famous Thursday evening Nightlife at the Academy parties which are a huge party/meat market and turn into a shagfest OR would it be full of assorted geeks, nerds and science-heads all eager to boffin out at all the exhibits?  I was delighted to report it was the latter.  And, though I did spot some brave chaps on line, it was predominantly women, though the gender ratio did seem to balance out later on in the evening.

The benefit of arriving early - yeah!!!

Anyway, it was very pleasant to stand outside in the early evening sun and strategize our strategies for where to sleep.  I'd had a FB message from a friend saying "Don't sleep in the aquarium - they cover the tanks at night and the pumps will keep you awake - sleep in Africa Hall or near the penguins instead".  So that got added to the critical questions list to interrogate the staff with.

After an hour of patiently waiting, it was finally time!!  The doors opened and we were in!  Checking in, there were 3 zones to choose from to sleep in - the aquarium, Africa Hall and the Swamp.  Obviously we chose the aquarium as Sarah was keen to sleep with the fishes, non-mob style!   The next step was to go and drop our bags off in a tented enclosure out the back of the Academy - this is where all our kit would get stored until it was time to set up our sleeping areas.  So, with eyes wide as we scampered through the museum collectively coo-ing about just how DAMN COOL this was, we headed over - and that's when we first saw the baby ostriches!  I can't emphasize enough how completely adorable and cute they were (and a bit stinky too, but lets cut them some slack here) - the pictures just don't really do them justice!!  As the lights were still on in their enclosure, only about half of them were asleep with their long necks stretched out in the sand as if the strain of holding their heads aloft all day was just too much.  The others were awake and hanging out and, as people started to gather round their enclosure, they got more interested in us, so came over to investigate and say hello.  

Periscopes Up!!

A ridiculously fluffy bundle of weird cuteness

So we oo-ed and aah-ed over them for a wee while, before heading out to explore the rest of the museum.  We'd been given a schedule of events from opening til about 2am and - chatting with Scott, one of the organizers, this year they didn't have quite so many things overlapping, so that people didn't have pick and choose over competing activities.  Sounded like a good plan to me.  We were curious how many people were going to be attending and Scott told us that they had deliberately limited the number of tickets to about 300, so as to keep the event small and manageable.  BONZA!!  300 people in that huge museum and exhibition space?  No wonder it felt as if we had the place to ourselves!!  'cos we pretty much did!!  It was brilliant!!  Being able to wander round and look at all the exhibits outside of the craziness and crowds that pack the space during regular opening hours (particularly at the weekends when there are soooooo many kids racing about) was a real privilege.

So, next up was the Tropical Rainforest or, as it became known (at least in my head...)

Phase II: The Taking of Butterfly Mountain

Here's the blurbage from the Academy's website explaining the rainforest exhibit and some of the animals, plants and wildlife contained within it:

The rainforest is contained within a spectacular 90-foot diameter glass dome. It's the largest spherical rainforest exhibit in the world. Follow a spiraling path up through the exhibit, experience what it's like to actually walk in a real rainforest. Temperatures are maintained at 82-85 degrees Fahrenheit, and humidity is maintained at 75% or above using a unique misting system.

The rainforest is teeming with 1,600 live animals - including 250 free-flying birds and butterflies, 100 exotic reptiles and amphibians. There's also 100,000 gallon "Flooded Forest" tank, where hundreds of tropical freshwater fish cruise overhead. Each level represents a different rainforest around the world - Borneo, Madagascar, Costa Rica and the Amazon. Each level represents a distinct rainforest habitat containing its own special zoological garden.

Eighty skylights in the roof, supplemented with metal halide lights, enable the growth of lush, tropical plants found in various rainforests around the world. Living plants include numerous trees - such as the Brazilian beautyleaf and West Indies mahogany, dozens of shrubs - including Theobrama cacao, the plant from which chocolate is made, and hundreds of flowering plants - from begonias and philodendrons to orchids and bromeliads.

Impressive, huh?  And even more so when you have pretty much the run of the place to yourself!!  I think when we first went into the rainforest, it was just me, Lori and Sarah (Chana had yet to arrive, being not quite as bonkers as we all were!) in the whole exhibit which was fantastic!!  The thing that you are struck with as soon as you enter into the rainforest (through a set of double doors, to prevent anything from inadvertently escaping) are all the butterflies.  BIG ones and lots of them!!  They were everywhere!!  And simply stunning.  Some of them were so huge, it was like a insectoid flying carpet.  I (obviously) took loads of pictures and as we curled up around the spiral path, we saw amazing birds, reptiles, snakes, fishes, crazy-assed plants, an ant farm (hmm...) as well as a myriad of butterflies of all sizes and hues.  It was really well done, especially with each level representing a different forest (which I didn't realize at the time - i was just too busy taking pictures of butterflies!).  The only downside was the tropical humidity which was causing my hair to have Houston-style flashbacks and start to puff out bigger than a pissed-off Lionfish.  So, in lieu of you being with me there in the rainforest, here are some of my favorite pics.  We came, we saw and we conquered Butterfly Mountain.

Big bugger of a butterfly 

Bird 

Wistful bird, gazing artfully into the distance

Hang on!!!!

Not a butterfly.  Sarah hopes to attract a few passing
 Lepidoptera with her choice of fashion 

This little guy could save you 15% or more on your car insurance

Wha' you lookin' at?

Mmm...spiky AND delicious.

The fabled Curly Tongue Butterfly

 Butterfly yoga. 

At the juice bar

Showing off...

Another bird with attitude... 

Australian Butterfly

The Urban Commuter Butterfly, waiting for the elevator

Fat knacker finch.
Obviously squatter fat is a cross-species phenomenon 

Spooky Halloween Butterflies congregating and plotting
world domination.  They'd better be quick... 

Arty farty shot.

And thus Butterfly Mountain was well and truly "done" and it was time to move on to our next adventure.  Phase III and its a fishy business....