Insectarium

We have been through New Orleans in the past, we shipped a car from there to Alaska years ago, but we have never spent any time in the city. On Saturday we (Johan and I, along with my mom and the boys) took the short 1 and 1/2 hour drive west to New Orleans. I was surprised to see that five years after the city was hit by the massive flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina how much of the devastation is still very apparent. As soon as we crossed the bridge that spans Lake Pontchartrain we saw entire neighborhoods that remain in ruins. Miles of what were likely formerly flourishing suburbs were abandoned, huge box stores were merely shells.

Our destination was downtown, The Audubon Society's Insectarium. We were extremely disappointed with the city itself. On Saturday afternoon the traffic inside the city was horrendous. The city felt dirty and generally run down. Johan and I were both quickly reminded of why we really do not like big cities.

The Insectarium is located in a beautiful old building. I believe that it was at some point a U.S. Customs building. The facility itself is grand and the exhibits are stunning. We, especially the boys, enjoyed the museum immensely, but overall I found it over-priced and quite limited. As an "insectarium," they really didn't have a massive collection of insects. There were the great displays, but for the most part the insects weren't much more than you find as part of larger collections in zoos, aquariums, or science centers.

Here is K posed in front of a giant picture of a tarantula.

We are very amused right now, because no matter how many times we correct him, he still pronounces it "TRY-ran-TU-la." Of course Johan and I both pointed to the large bug and asked K, "What is that one?" We just wanted to hear him say it. You wouldn't think that tarantula would be a frequently used word, but at our house right now it really is, especially because the boys have a card game called Top Trumps. The game is played much like the card game "War," but in this game the cards are all different insects with different values assigned to their various traits (mobility, life span, gross out, danger, etc. ). The person who won the last hand gets to choose which trait is to be considered for the next hand. In this game the tarantula is the equivalent of an ace when it comes to life-span, so it is a valuable card and has been the topic of more than a few conversations.

Here is a shot of the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. Kind of standard fare at places like this. C and K jumped at the opportunity to "pet" one.

There was one major attraction that we have not have the privilege of seeing anywhere else, and both boys took full advantage of it. We learned that entomophagy (insect eating) is practiced all over the world. The Insectarium had a "cooking class." Here visitors were given the opportunity to sample foods prepared with--insects. In many places, bugs are eaten as a good and readily available source of protein, minerals, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins. C and K were absolutely delighted with the idea of eating bugs. C was brave, but withheld praise. While he found them tolerable, C did not appreciate the aftertaste of many of the insects. Remarkably, K, typically the most picky eater, dove right into the chocolate covered crickets. K can spot a tomato buried in just about any dish from a distance of 10 yards. Having spotted said tomato he will request that I remove it from his plate with my fork so as to avoid contaminating his own. Offer him a sample of meal-worm salsa, or cinnamon and sugar coated wax-worms and he won't even flinch. In fact he will go back for seconds with a smile on his face. Remarkable!

Here is a shot of C and K considering their first taste of chocolate covered grasshopper.


This is a delightful smorgasbord that included; "Six-Legged Salsa," "Hoppin' Herb Dip," "Cinnamon-Bug Crunch," and "Southwestern Wax Worms."

K kept on popping the chocolate covered grasshoppers. As we chatted, he kept turning around and grabbing another one.

Crispy Cajun Crickets anyone?

Here the boys are posed in front of a display of chrysalis (is it chrysalises or chrysali???).

These are all in different stages of development, and if we had been there about 5 minutes earlier we would have seen a butterfly emerge. We did get to see the brand new wet wings drying. From the chrysalis we walked through a huge butterfly habitat with quite a few varieties of butterflies.

After the Insectarium we wandered around looking for an authentic Louisianan place for lunch. No luck, we were too hot and hungry to search for long. We ended up on the boardwalk at a sports bar that caters to tourists.

Here are a few shots of the boys on the boardwalk in front of a fountain.