Not Your Typical Day at the Park

Located north of 22nd street, Reed Park is much more than a place to ride bikes, grill some burgers, or play Frisbee with the dog.
The site is also home to the Reed Park Zoo and a plethora of the globe's furriest,scaliest, and straight up amazing creatures.

The zoo was "unofficially" started by Parks and Rec. Director Gene Reed in 1965. By 1967, the zoo was put under the control of the City of Tucson.
Today, the city supports and maintains the site with the help of a non-profit corporation, the Tucson Zoological Society.

It takes about two hours to wander the various paths through the park's many exhibits, which includes everything from typical desert animals to Asian Elephants, Africa Lions, and pythons from South America.

My personal favorite was the polar bear. While it might seem strange to keep a polar bear in the desert, he seemed very comfortable, staying cool and floating lazily in an icy chilled pool.

If you're looking for a specific type of animal, the following map shows the different exhibits where each species can be found.

One of the coolest (albeit, riskiest) attractions at the zoo, the atrium allows visitors the chance to wander in an enclosed setting with beautifully colored tropical birds and have them poop on you.
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The one on the right is the one that got me... watch out for him.

Other animals like peacocks and squirrels wander freely about the park, and for the "hands on" types, zoo employees and volunteers host special "touch stations." There, visitors can pet and play with the animals while experts inform you about their diet, their native regions and their behaviors. You can even "adopt" one of your favorite animals, with the "adoption fee" going toward programs in wildlife conservation and management.

Currently, the zoo is planning the expansion of the "African Loop" infrastructure just south of the existing zoo facilities. The new site will provide a more comfortable home for the zoo's two elephants.

For those with a real taste for adventure, traveling events and opportunities are occasionally co-ordinated at the zoo as well. In the past, these events have included things like a two week trip to India with Zoo Administrator Susan Basford to explore its parks and native reserves.

The zoo is open from 9 to 4 except on major holidays and costs $6 for adults and $2 for children. The animals are most likely to be active early in the morning and late in the afternoon, so visitors are encouraged to plan their trips accordingly.

Going down under, way under.

About this time of year, 33 years ago, cave explorers Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts made one of the most influential decisions of their lives.

While hiking in Benson, Arizona, on the desert property of James and Lois Kartchner, the friends came across a limestone sinkhole. Exploring it further, they discovered a large crack that ran for some distance, working its way into the mountain.

Through the narrow channel of cracks and crevices, sometimes on their hands and knees, they pushed on until they broke into a large honeycomb system of pristine and impressive caverns.

Keeping the cave a secret for several years, they eventually decided to inform the Kartchners of their discovery. In 1988, the park was purchased by the government and opened to the public under the name of Kartchner Caverns State Park.

While claustrophobic like myself may laugh at the notion of going deep underground to explore dark caves, have no fear. The park offers guided tours, with lights, sidwalks, and plenty of room to stretch out. The scariest part of the tour is passing through the enormous airtight steel doors which preserve the moisture level in the cave and prevent damage/vandalism to the mineral growths..

These guided tours consist of two paths. One which leads to the Rotunda/Throne room where visitors are told about the cave's formation, and treated to a laser light show at the site of a massive underground column. It's sounds corny, but when the lights are bouncing off the millions of shiny stalagmites and stalactites, it's actually pretty impressive.

The other, more popular "big room" tour, leads tourists along the path Tenen and Tufts followed as they explored the cave. This tour is only open from October to April because in the summer months the cave is a breeding ground for myotis bats. Without a doubt, one the the most impressive facets of the big room tour is seeing Tenon and Tufts prints (where they they crawled on hands and knees through the deep silty mud), still undisturbed for all this time. This tour also includes a more lengthy, in depth explanation of the cave's formation.


The caves themselves were formed from Escabrosa limestone deposited on the seabed millions of years ago. Through normal geological processes, these sedimentary basin sunk and shifted, forming the tilting rock faces of the cavern, all angled 15 to 35 degrees toward the southwest.

The caverns within the cave were expanded and enlarged through a complicated process of water erosion and wear from sediments. For a more complete scientific explanation, check out part the following video "Discovering Hydrology at Kartchner Caverns State Park."

The cave are still the focus of much paleontological study, according to the website. Throughout the caves lie the remains of thousands of years of cave dwellers, including the skeletal remains of an ancient sloth (86,000 years old) and horse (34,000 years old).

Not only is the park famous for its underground attractions but it's beautiful topside scenery as well. Numerous trails run throughout the park and camping permits can be purchased on site for $22. The tours through the caverns themselves cost around $20 for adults (14 and up) and around $10 for children.

If you haven't already, take the time to explore one of Arizona's most impressive subterranean wonders. For information or reservations call, (520) 586-CAVE (2283)

Old Tucson Studios Presents "Nightfall"

It's that time of the year again, when stage actors turn in their pistols for faux bloody limbs and broomsticks. When crowds of families, youngsters, and bored teenagers fill the darks streets of one of Tucson's largest Halloween oriented events, Old Tombstone Studio's "Nightfall."



Forget the haunted house concept, "Nightfall" is a full blown haunted town, with shows, rides, food and entertainment of all kinds. Starting the first week of October and running through the Halloween night, the event is open from six to ten weekdays and six to twelve weekends.

The premise for the event, according to the website,
is that the town has been taken over by the evil creations of a mad scientist (the pitifully named Dr. Hyde). Yet what the event lacks in creative storyline, it makes up for in a creative and unique presentation.

From the skeleton mariachi who play atop of the hotel to the miniature "ghost train" that runs throughout the premise, the event manages to capture the excitement of live Tombstone shows, but with a decidedly macabre Halloween twist.

Granted the main downfall of the event has always been the rather tame nature of it's events compared to more intense (and bloody) haunted houses, but this is after all a family oriented event.

While some of the people I went with seemed rather unimpressed with the special effects... the same people screamed their guts out in the haunted house when brushed with spider webs. It's the simple stuff that gets you...

Each event, show, or ride is labeled with a rating of one to three skulls so parents can keep little ones out of the more intense areas. New shows this year include the "darkness rising stunt spectacular" and "gross anatomy"(comedy, stunt, and pyrotechnic shows) as well as as haunted houses like "cannibal house" and "caverns of despair."

By far, highlight of the event was the trash talking "Transylvania Twins" show. Two gargoyles perched high above the audience, who fling insults at each other and the few unlucky spectators who happen to catch their attention.

The bottom line... don't go expecting death and mutilation on the scale of one of the "Saw" movies. Instead, keep and open mind and enjoy the fun, friendly atmosphere the event has to offer.

Admission prices for adults (ages 12 and over) is $21.95 and $18.95 for children.

Reviving the Music of Indigenous Mexico

When someone says "Mexican music," what kind of things pop into your mind? No doubt that for most people the image would look something like this. The conventional flamenco guitarist with their Guitarras and Guitarrons or maybe a mariachi band with violins, trumpets, and perhaps even an accordion, all underscored by a thumping baseline.

Familiar as these images are, many of the instruments used in modern Mexican music did not originate in Mexico but were transfered here from other cultures. Now, when it comes to pre-colonization, indigenous Indian instruments, most of us wouldn't know a Huehuetl (a drum made from a hollowed trunk) if it hit us in the face.

Accroding to Henrietta Yurcheno's Survival of Pre-Hispanic Music in New Mexico the indigenous music of the native peoples was outlawed during the Inquisition as a method of exterminating native ways of life. Thankfully, the knowledge of how to make and play these ancient instruments was preserved in secret and passed down from generation to generation, as a way to protect the musical heartbeat of the "true" indigenous culture.

Here's is a quick overview of some of the most popular indigenous Mexican instruments still in use today, as featured on the site yxayotl.com

For example, the Yaqui Indians adopted and modified a traditional Mayan instrument called the Bubaleks. These hollowed out gourds were played while floating in water to produce a eerily hollow, percussive sound. Another popular percussive instrument was the Ayotl, drums made from hollowed out turtle shells and played rhythmically with bone antlers.

The flute or "Tlapitzalli" in the native Nahuatl tongue, was incredible important to the native peoples and came in various shapes, sizes and materials. Some of the most impressive were the multi branched double or triple barrel flutes, an indigenous design that is still utilized in modern flute making today. Check out this video to see the modern day variation of the ancient instrument.

The only indigenous example of native stringed instruments are found outside Mexico, with the "Berimbao" of the Amazon region and the "Gualambao" of Paraguay. These instruments aside, string instrument were unknown to the indigenous populations until colonization.

Here is a video showcasing a variety of indigenous instruments, courtesy of Marco Antonio Sanchez.

Today, many of these instruments have found revived popularity, becoming symbols for the pro-indian, anti-colonization grassroots movements that have formed throughout Mexico in recent years.

Six Feet Under (Tucson's Buried Past)

There are many downsides to having your car break down. One, waiting under the hot sun for hours until a towntruck arrives. Two, the ridiculous fees that said tow truck will charge. In fact, just about the only upside to a breakdown is that it gives you a chance to explore surrounding areas that you never would have set foot in before.

I'd driven past Tuscon's Evergreen Cemetery many times in the past, but never went inside. No one I knew was buried there and graveyards tend to, in general, creep me out. If it weren't for my auto troubles and my subsequent free time, I may never have gotten the chance to explore what might be one of Tucson's most underrated historical sites.

Evergreen Cemetery was opened in 1906 as a general burial site outside of city limits. Many earlier burials from Ft. Lowell Cemetery and the surrounding areas were relocated here, explaining the existence of the many pre-1906 graves.
The site has been owned by the Addison Family since 1960.

One of the first things that strikes you is the wide diversity of people buried there. Judging by the headstones, no one could say that the southwest isn't a true melting pot of culture. Immigrants from all nations and cultures seems to be well represented.

One of the most interesting aspects is the high number of graves identified only by Chinese lettering.


Most of these dates occur on either side of the 1882-1943 legislation called the "Chinese Exclusion Laws." This ban on Chinese immigrants, according to the PBS website substantially reduced the Asian populations in the west by nearly half. The evidence of the act's effect can be clearly seen in the dispersion of Chinese burials during that time period.

Other historical aspects of the site include the graves and rumored graves for many of old Tucson's movers and shakers,according to the site findagrave.com

Among those rumored to be buried at the site is the famous John Harris Behan. Behan was the Cochise county sheriff, an enemy of Doc Holiday and Wyatt Earp, and a supporter of the cowboys during the famous shootout at the O.K. corral. Also buried there is Dan Gravey, Arizona Governor from 1948 to 1951, acclaimed Banjo player Eddie Peabody, and Morgan Earp's assassin Frank Stilwell.

The cemeteries military burial ground is also very impressive and moving, with rows and rows of white marble tombstones. There are fallen soldiers buried here from every major American battle, from the Spanish American wars all the way through to the ongoing Iraq conflict.

Even if you share my aversion for all things dead and creepy, the history of the site is alive and well and merits a little exploration.
If your interested in learning about these historical figures and the many more buried at the site, a free centennial re-dedication ceremony with historic tours is set to take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 7.