Bonny's Pages:

A few days ago we were in Vancouver on the mainland. There were lots of meetings and discussions and decisions to be made about future research projects. Rob was kept quite busy with all of that. After several trips accompanying Rob to these meetings I have become well acquainted with the different people involved in these discussions. One of the delegates had been telling me how much his wife and I would like each other. Finally, life and schedules smiled on Tina and she was able to make the trip and so I got to meet her at last!

We met each morning for breakfast, chatted and made plans for our day. We had one really nice sunny day which we enjoyed even if it was quite cool. Other days we had to plan indoor activities. We still managed to do and see quite a lot!! We visited the Vancouver Art Gallery and had a leisurely walk and exploration of Granville Island. Those are always fun places to see and enjoy new exhibits and creativity. Shopping at the many artisan studios and the market on Granville Island is always fun! There is so much to see and our senses were overloaded with colour and sound and scents.

Our final day in Vancouver was really gloomy and rainy. So to make the best of it we decided to see the Vancouver Aquarium. Stanley Park is usually a nice place to visit and walk around, but while we were there it was noticeably colder than in town a few blocks away. There were still piles of snow that refused to melt! We stopped briefly to look at the porpoises and Beluga whales and otters, but it didn't take much to lure us indoors. Inside was a whole new world!

Of course there were several underwater environments to explore and learn about. Everything from exotic plants, animals, fish and amphibians. One of my favourites was this Giant Clam. These images show some of the wonderful things we saw from under the sea.

A newer addition to the Aquarium is a rain forest habitat. We were surprised at first because one doesn't usually think of this kind of ecosystem as belonging in an Aquarium. It is all part of the endangered species exhibits. I really liked going through here. It was a nice change from looking at creatures through glass and seeing more of them in the open. There were animlas like this cheeky Pygmy Marmoset. One of the prettiest creatures was this gorgeous Scarlet Ibex.