We've just loved the things I have purchased on Groupon, but the Flashlight Tour at the Botanical Gardens beats them all. During the super hot summer months the Gardens stay open late at night to take advantage of the cooler (?) evenings. Each person brings a flashlight and as you roam the trails you come upon desert plants and wildlife you probably wouldn't see during the day.
It is really so awesome! We saw this desert tortoise eating under a bush and watched him for quite a while.
Most of the regular daytime trails are open but there is such a fun and unique atmosphere at night.
There was an arts and crafts station where the boys made a snake mobile and a bat mask with big bat ears.
And then, suddenly, there was a king snake just making its way through the Gardens, completely unaware of the stir it was causing. After that we were very careful to watch where we stepped!
Periodically along the trails were stations with volunteers that educated us about different desert plants and wildlife. Jacob had fun talking to the volunteer at the gecko/lizard station.
The boys each had a turn grinding mesquite pods into flour like the native Arizona indians did long ago.
And of course they were all fascinated by the scorpion station.
It seriously was just so beautiful and peaceful.
We learned that this type of cactus only blooms at night and that these blossoms would be gone by the next morning.
The entire time we were there we thought we were listening to a piped-in CD of beautiful native flute music. As we went to leave the Garden, we found this sweet volunteer playing a number of musical instruments made from native desert vegetation. She took the time to tell the boys about each different instrument and let them listen to the different sounds. Very neat. A highly recommended experience!
So Cool!
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