Victoria, BC: The Bug Zoo!

Daniel has a great love of bugs, something I’ve grown to be fond of as well in a broader scope. I have a big soft spot for butterflies and caterpillars,  but it wasn’t til we started hanging out more that I came to appreciate other types of bugs and insects. When you spend time with people who are passionate about something, I think it’s easier to appreciate that thing on a more personal level. The world is full of so many things I haven’t learned about.
One of the sights we wanted to see while in Victoria was their Bug Zoo, so while we waited for our room we took a walk over!
I think we went through a backway on accident, because we had to go through a few hallways and up a couple stairs. But because of that, we stumbled across a super pretty outdoor walkway. There was only the soft rustling of trees while the sunlight danced along the path — one of my favorite things. 
We bought our tickets, and immediately got to hold bugs!! This one is a Thorny Devil Stick insect. They grow up to 12 inches and, as their name implies, they’re great at camouflage in the forests for resembling sticks.
Here’s a mantis peeking out~
We also got to hold a Malaysian jungle nymph. They’re one of the heaviest insects in the world! Female Malaysian jungle nymphs can grow to a little under 10 inches, while males are much smaller and skinnier.
What I really liked about this zoo was that everyone, children and adults alike, quietly waited for their turn to hold the various insects in wonder. The tour guides created an atmosphere of positivity on a subject that most people are “creeped” out by, and it was nice watching everyone’s faces light up when they saw the insects up close.
It was so cute how it slowly climbed up on people’s hands
I was feeling a little lightheaded and warm from the humidity and temperature in the room (gotta keep them in the proper climate!), so I sat down for a few minutes and watched these sunburst diving beetles. You can see in this photo that they have a little air bubble — they use it to stay underwater for several minutes at a time, and when it’s all used up they swim back to the surface to grab another one. We watched them go up and down every so often (so cute). At first, they kinda looked like they were sleeping, with a little nose bubble haha.
After we were done, we saw a cute chihuahua named peanut at the register!! The staff told us that his mom had a chihuahua much smaller named Cassie, to which Daniel laughed and we had an awkward conversation about me having the same name as a chihuahua…
On our way back to our hotel, we stopped by for some ice cream at the soda shoppe!!
We got raspberry chips and espresso flakes~
We also walked through the Empress Hotel for a little bit~ it’d be so nice to come back and have high tea here. It looked so fun!
By then our hotel was ready, so we checked in and freshened up to head to Butchart Gardens!! Thanks for reading. ♡