Back in 2012 we did a fairly long USA trip and our first stop was Atlanta, in the state of Georgia. Our first purpose was to visit family living there but also to get to know a different side of the country. During one of our incursions into downtown Atlanta, we went to one of the most visited attraction of the city – the Georgia Aquarium. Lovely place!
Small shark
For the whole time we were there, Hugo’s cousin was our guide (thanks, Carlos!), which made our lives easier as we didn’t need to worry about transportation or researching what to do and where to go.
Back to the Aquarium. It is big. When it opened in 2005 it was the world’s largest aquarium. Today it has more than 100 thousand animals, over 500 species and a volume of 10 million US gallons. Impressive, hun?
One of the many fish
Plenty more pictures after the break.
The animals at Georgia Aquarium
There are loads of animals on display, both on the smaller and the HUGE tank. Here are some examples of the smaller fish.
On a more exotic side, the jellyfish are always a favourite with the colours and soft movement.
Penguins! Yes, in this case, African penguins.
The favourite and most rare one (we hadn’t seen one before) is the Beluga whale. What an incredible creature. If you have the funds you can actually play with them, as you can see from the hand in the first picture.
There is a big panoramic viewing room with seating, where we could spot one the few whale sharks, among others. Massive. Really nice place just to seat and enjoy the animals going around.
Some more, including a turtle and a very cute eye-popping shellfish.
To finish let’s see some of the amphibians. Georgia Aquarium holds a collection of such animals like frogs or toads, including some very venomous ones. Mind the colours.
We also went to a dolphin show, with all the usual acrobatics and music. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures.
This was our visit to Georgia Aquarium. Hope you liked reading about it! Overall we think this is the place to go in Atlanta. The displays are amazing and the Beluga whales are just too nice!
Practical information
When we visited Atlanta we bought a City Pass, which includes Georgia Aquarium and is the best option if you are going to more attractions in the area. Otherwise it is quite expensive, at 35$ (+ tax) per adult. City pass can be bought online or at one the attractions.
Visit the official site for more and up to date information: www.georgiaaquarium.org.
