Up Bright And Early,

for a visit to a local attraction, 

that for some reason many tourists do not visit, 

the Monster Aquarium, 

it is just outside of Pattaya,

by the railway tracks,

300 baht entrance fee, at today's rate £7.05 or $9.32, there is a large entrance hall, 

the first animal I saw, a jungle cat, 

as a cat lover he was just so nice, 

next to him a few different owls, 

several of the same species, 

this one,

 

suddenly saw something in the distance move which interested him,

on one side of the main hall,

a few dinosaurs, 

not greatly detailed, but nice enough, if only they had a few live ones!

along the sides a few pens and pools, 

look straight ahead, 

look behind,

look at me, 

meanwhile a few pelicans were preening themselves, 

there is a pathway that leads you round the creatures, 

enclosure you can look down on in the middle of some sections and higher enclosed ones on the walls, 

and there he was, 

a serval cat, 

Diana and myself nearly bought one when we were living in Thailand, but the requirements of the animal far outstripped our 3 bedroom bungalow! although it would have had much more room than it has here!

another cat we considered, a Caracal, we discounted them for the same reason, instead opting for 2 Bengals and one Savanah, Cable, Houge, and Mariana,

these we defiantly gave a miss to as well,

crocodiles and lizards,

 

appealing though many others may find them, 

one of the many avenues of enclosures, 

with all manner,

of lizards,

inside of them,

I wish I knew the names of them, now one of the many things that the aquarium named after, Monster, but the monsters here are not large, 

just curiosities, 

like these, 

two headed, 

or bodied terrapins, 

bizarre!

another avenue, 

with snakes, 

he saw me,

and a few more lizards, 

this one looked, well sort of so relaxed, 

so much so he yawned!

whose a pretty boy then?

a few more, 

I am guessing from all of the major continents except Antarctica,

 

for some reason,

this attraction barely outside of Pattaya,

 

does not seem to be mentioned in many of the local travel agents and tour guide shops,

which is a shame as there really is a lot to see here,

make sure you leave plenty of time,

to wait for the chameleon to make his move!

this avenue with wall to wall aquariums, 

all of the favorites here, Black Pacu, (Colossoma macropomum),

 White-spotted freshwater stingray (Potamotrygon leopoldi),

in the center a Asian Snakehead, (Channa micropeltes),

all housed in huge aquariums, 

a few amphibians, 

this frog always looks to me like it is going to explode!

back to the fish, another freshwater ray, this one I believe is a Albino Pearl Stingray, (Potamotrygon jabuti), but I could be incorrect, it looks a tad bigger than Pearls are known to grow to,

another avenue of aquariums,

with some open so you can lean over then photograph the fish, 

its eyes are there, somewhere!

and here a avenue with a huge difference, it is all one huge aquarium, both side connected by the water going overhead!

another large aquarium containing arapaima's, 

the 'Monster' in the aquariums title meaning these truly are monsters in the freshwater fish world,

they can grow to over 10 feet long in some cases reaching up to 440 lb (200 kg)

and now for something totally different, Mississippi Paddlefish, (Polyodon spathula),

the aquarium here hosing a number of small specimens, 

and now 'Monsters' of a different category, like the two headed/bodied terrapins, these are fish with deformities.

catfish with deformed spines, 

grotesques indeed!

all albinos, 

this not a deformity, the tail of this fish, 

the Flagtail Characin, (Semaprochilodus insignis), not only has a distinctive tail, but as they mature grow large fleshy lips, one of our customers in the shop had two of them, Mr. & Mrs. Hot Lips!

the facility is so large, another avenue of delights

open ponds,

to look down on, 

a birds eye view, 

as well as aquariums,

with unusual occupants like this snapper turtle, 

a last look,

before the bird section,

I should have mentioned you can go fishing here!, with no hooks, the fish just pull the bait tied on the end of the line, 

bird cages galore,

but these are the stars of this section, 

flamingos, 

about 6 or so of them here,

a few posing, 

some preening, 

another section, 

with tortoises, 

cassowary, a large flightless bird native to the tropical forests of New Guinea and northeastern Australia,

and a few deer, 

I was now nearing the end of the walkways, 

passing a few more dinosaurs,

this one with a little more detail that the other one,

a few attractions, 

in case the kids got bored,

there is also a foot spa here, 

I was back into the main hall, what a lovely way to spend more than a few hours, the time literally flew past, so if you ever visit Pattaya and you have some spare time put this venue on your 'to go to' list,

on the way back I called into Lotus for a snack in MK, for some of their delicious roasted duck, before heading back to my hotel,