Mexico 2026 - Guadalajara - The Aquarium

 The Guadalajara zoo is considered the best in Latin America. I had visited it on my first trip to the city. On my second trip the owner of the guest house where I was staying suggested visiting the aquarium. As it is a low key activity, and indoors, it was remarkably hot during our stay, I suggested it to my Travel Buddy for our final day in the city. 

Using GPS, which became invaluable on this trip, we walked the mile and a half from our hotel stopping en route at the breakfast restaurant we had enjoyed so much 2 days earlier, again marveling at the machine like operation. The aquarium is not expansive. Nor is it small. As in the story of Goldilocks, it is just right. Signs in English and Spanish provided details of the different species on display. There is one section where a collection, of mostly larger fish, surround you as the tank forms a tunnel visitors walk through. Manta rays are in a shallow tank with clear sections making for great photo ops. We happened to be there as they were being fed, their mouths snapping open in anticipation of their midday meal. 

Outside, in the rear of the aquarium building, is a collection of flamingos, guinea pigs, goats, even a capybara, the world's largest rodent. An aviary contains small parakeets and canaries, perched in a line near the top of the cage, multiple parrots and a lone iguana. 

Returning to the historic center of the city I tripped over my Travel Buddy's feet and went down, hard, tearing new inexpensive jeans I had just purchased a couple weeks earlier and scraping my knee pretty badly. It was my first fall of the trip, but more about that later. We got back to the hotel and patched me up. Before dinner that night we went shopping for shorts. I had brought only a couple of pairs and we realized I'd need more, as the last thing I'd need was jeans chafing the knee. 

Originally I thought I would turn the torn jeans into cutoffs but after getting home and laundering them I kind of liked the distressed look. They probably would have cost more if they had come like that new. 




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