Location: Tucson, Arizona, USA
Summary: A hot but fascinating day exploring the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and the historic Mission San Xavier del Bac, with plenty of wildlife, history, and stunning desert scenery.
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
We visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and I really wished we had more time there. It is the kind of place you could easily spend a whole day exploring. I would love to return one day, stay in nearby Tombstone, and wander through the museum at a slower pace. If it ever opens late, I imagine walking around at night would be a fantastic experience.
The museum first opened in 1952 and has grown into a mix of zoo, botanical garden, natural history museum, and research centre. After watching an interesting film about its history, I visited the hummingbird exhibit and walked through the aviary. I spent a while trying to photograph a hummingbird in flight, but my camera skills were not good enough to capture them properly. Watching them hover and even appear to fly backwards was amazing.
After the aviary, we walked through the cactus gardens and other outdoor areas. Because of the heat, most of the desert animals were hiding in the shade, unlike me, who was slowly cooking in the sun. Before heading back to the coach, I visited the reptile, amphibian, and invertebrate house. If you are ever in this part of Arizona, I highly recommend a visit. It is fascinating, and I would love to return.
Photos from Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
Fun Fact
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is so immersive that only about ten percent of it is indoors. Most of the exhibits are outdoors in the desert itself, making it one of the few museums where you can see hummingbirds, coyotes and javelinas in their natural environment while you walk.
Mission San Xavier del Bac
Our next stop was the San Xavier del Bac Mission, which I enjoyed walking around. Even though it was a very hot day, I climbed the small hill next to the Mission to get a better panoramic view of the building and the surrounding area. The gardens outside were full of desert plants, and many animals were hiding in the shade. Inside, the Mission was beautifully decorated and very ornate.
Mission San Xavier del Bac is a historic Spanish Catholic mission located about ten miles south of downtown Tucson, on the Tohono O'odham San Xavier Indian Reservation. It was founded in 1692 by Padre Eusebio Kino and named after Francis Xavier, a pioneering Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. A church built in 1700 served the community until it was destroyed by Apaches in 1770.
The current Mission was built between 1783 and 1797 and is the oldest European structure in Arizona. It is widely considered one of the finest examples of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States and receives around 200,000 visitors each year. The site was once known as the place where the water appears, due to natural springs that used to flow nearby. The Santa Cruz River, which now runs only part of the year, is also close to the Mission. It stands in the centre of a centuries-old Tohono O’odham settlement along the river.
Photos from Mission San Xavier del Bac.
Fun Fact
Mission San Xavier del Bac is often called the White Dove of the Desert because of its bright white exterior, which stands out dramatically against the surrounding landscape. The colour comes from a traditional lime-based plaster that has to be reapplied by hand, a restoration method that has been used for centuries.
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