geekgasm: national aquarium

The original plan was to be at Baltimore by nine in the morning. But that plan went kaput when my designated driver for the day decided not to follow the GPS. Idiot. We spent about two hours driving around the interstate just because he refused to turn right when I said right. We ended up in Laurel, which is not really far from our destination, but being a natural that he is, he once again insisted on following his own direction as opposed to what the young man in the cafe told us. Thank goodness for the air-conditioning and my iPod for keeping me calm.


We reached Baltimore at around thirty past eleven, and the ticket line to the National Aquarium ran from here to eternity. But I waited. Patience pays. Unfortunately the ticket guy doesn't accept virtues. I had to shell out USD25 for the entrance plus the dolphin show. Oddly, we can only be admitted at 3:45 PM, and the dolphin show won't be until 5 PM.

"Late na yung dolphin show, punta pa ba tayo," driver asked.

"Ako pupunta. Nakabili na ako ng ticket. Ewan ko ikaw," I said as I scurried out of the booth and did some shots, of myself.

We still had a lot of time so we walked along the pier, had lunch and window-shopped. Stories that I will have to reserve for some other time as this should be about my fascination about all things science.

By three quarter we're already allowed to get in the facility and directed towards the first escalator. Upon reaching the second floor, cool green lights shower several glass columns filled with rushing, bubbly water. This effectively sets the mood for the entire visit. And a few steps after is a vast pool wherein big sharks, big hard-scaled fishes and big manta rays are freely swimming seemingly indifferent to one another. And I'm not exaggerating when I say that these creatures are big enough to ride onto.


Subsequent sections of the aquarium feature the main bodies of water in the world together with its respective inhabitants - on the Atlantic are the more common fishes and puffins (the aquarium's mascot), rivers in the tropics contain much smaller yet colorful fishes, and the really enormous and creepy looking fishes can be found in the Amazon basin. Moreover, reptiles and other amphibians are also thrown in to complete the ecosystem. Stranger creatures like the giant octopus and the chambered nautilus are also put on display in the darker part of the gallery. On top of the structure is a garden that acts as an aviary which houses birds, of course, and a few monkeys.



On the way back to the main gallery, the downward spiral gives a closer look to the life in the Atlantic Coral Reef, then to the sharks and then finally to the Wings in the Water display which is actually the bottom part of the pool one will see by the entrance.

It took us (me) quite some time to move from one exhibit to another as I was engrossed in looking at all the fishes. Of course this annoyed designated driver once again as he was in a hurry to get back home. We reached the dolphinarium ten minutes past five. Thankfully, the show has not yet. The place was already full so we settled for the available seats in the far right side. Designated driver seemed to have enjoyed the show as he was cheering, and wildly shrieking whenever the dolphins pulled a stunt. While I was sulking - a child in the front row was chosen to play with the dolphin while I'm stuck here, with Ursula.


On the way to the parking lot I asked designated driver if he's feeling alright. The effect of the dolphins seems to have faded as he was pouting, which doesn't make him any cuter. Not that he's cute to begin with.

"Yaan mo, kapag me nag-wang-wang sa atin sa highway ayun na yun," I said, giggling (hihihi?) as I strapped on my seatbelt. Earlier, designated driver, still dazed from his road misadventure, beat the red light in one of the main avenues in Baltimore. And he's been scared frantic on the idea of being reprimanded by the local police, thinking that it would mean bye bye to his visa. LOL.

He sighed as he started the car's engines. And as we headed out of the lot, he asked if we were to go left or right. I sighed thinking that this is going to be a long ride home.

Karma sucks sometimes.