2 Best Sights in Tucson, Arizona

The name "museum" is a bit misleading, since this delightful site is actually a zoo, aquarium, and botanical garden featuring the animals, plants, and even fish of the Sonoran Desert. Hummingbirds, coatis, rattlesnakes, scorpions, bighorn sheep, bobcats, and Mexican wolves all busy themselves in ingeniously designed habitats.

An Earth Sciences Center has an artificial limestone cave to climb through and an excellent mineral display. The coyote and javelina (a wild, piglike mammal with an oddly oversize head) exhibits have "invisible" fencing that separates humans from animals, and at the Raptor Free Flight show (October through April, daily at 10 and 2), you can see the powerful birds soar and dive, untethered, inches above your head.

The restaurants are above average, and the gift shop, which carries books, jewelry, and crafts, is outstanding.

June through August, the museum stays open until 10 pm every Saturday, which provides a great opportunity to see nocturnal critters.

This small but well-designed zoo won't tax your patience. There are plenty of shady places to sit, a well-stocked gift shop, and a snack bar to rev you up when your energy flags. You can feed carrots to the zoo's friendly giraffes each morning at 10 (9:30 June--Sept., $3). At the African elephants habitat, you might view a training session (look for posted times at the entrance). If you're visiting in summer, go early in the day when the animals are active.