After you first encounter with the 'jungle', you turn and enter a cavernous corridor that gives you a below the river surface view of the huge 'river' aquarium that flows along the right side of the upper floor jungle conservatory. It provides a marvelous view of the fish, some impressively large.
The walls are lined with murals and images with information about contemporary life and culture. In typical Smithsonian fashion, there are even artifacts from its massive collections on display.
You also enter a gallery of aquariums where you can get up close and personal with some of the other wildlife native to the amazon basin. The lionshare of the exhibits feature eels and knife fish, but you will also find a Matamata turtle, a Goliath Bird-eating Spider and aquariums dedicated to some of the more common freshwater fish from the domestic aquarium trade. There's a lot to take in if you take the time to enjoy it.
There are interactive displays, some even a little shocking...
Matamata, Chelus fimbriata
One of the Tropical Fish aquariums.
A very curious, Goliath Bird-eating Spider, Theraphosa blondi
At one point a women stepped up to look, too. She made a face and said "ooyuuu" softly. I turned and made eye-contact and said, "I know. But the weird thing is, just a minute ago there were two of them in there..." She did not think my attempt at humor very funny.
Amazon Milk Frog, Trachycephalus resinifictrix, and brunch...
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