In last Friday's Time Travel post, we visited the Forest area of the Amazon Spheres. This week we're going to be taking a look around the other three floors of the Spheres, as well as at the Living Wall.
On the map below you can see the four levels and how they're laid out.
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| Map of the Amazon Spheres |
There are a number of aquariums with plants and fish that make up the area of the Spheres known as the Paludarium -- basically combination aquarium/terrariums that attempt to recreate the environment of certain areas of the world.
As you turn away from the Paludarium area, you come face to face with the Living Wall. It's visible from all four floors, and at each floor you can see different sets of plants, set into the wall in large swaths. It's impossible to stand in any one spot and get a picture that encompasses the entire wall.
On each floor there are also raised beds containing a myriad of plants.
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| Lycopodium squarrosum, a clubmoss from Southeast Asia |
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| The canopy walk, where you can walk out and look down onto the Forest area. |
The floor slats in the canopy walk move disconcertingly, a bit like a suspension bridge. I walked about 10 feet out onto it before I quite realized that, and immediately turned around and came back. A floor that moves under me is not for me. I contented myself with taking photos down into the Forest area from the solid floor.
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| The canopy walk also takes you out to the Bird Nest |
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| A central area of the Spheres is dedicated to an employee lounge space |
On the top, fourth level is a smaller version of the Living Wall designed to be used as a selfie wall.
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| The Spheres selfie wall |
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| Misters for humidity are built into the wall and go off at intervals |
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| From the fourth level you can also look down into the Bird Nest |
OK, that's enough about how the space is laid out. I'm sure you want to see more plants. There are lots of Begonias and ferns. Some had labels that I remembered to photograph, but I still may not have the names right, because this visit was two seasons ago, so be patient if there are any errors.
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| Begonia chloroneura |
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| Begonia burkillii |
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| Drimiopsis maculata/African false Hosta |
Exotic flowers....
And a wide variety of Sarracenia/pitcher plants
And that concludes my posts about the Amazon Spheres.
