I recently attended the International Convention in Denver, Colorado, where attendees were given various sightseeing opportunities.

I was assigned to “Walk on the Wild Side,” a tour of the city’s zoo and aquarium. As an animal lover, I was excited to see the range of ocean natives to furry friends! I do not regularly go to this type of place, so I am now sharing my opinion on the experience after the fact. If you are ever planning on visiting Denver, here is my honest opinion about the zoo and aquarium.

I personally thought that there were a lot of people in the group for the size of the aquarium, so I would recommend coming in smaller groups to see everything in detail.

My favorite aquarium sighting was the huge tunnel of fish that visitors can walk through. It creates the feeling of being in the ocean with the fish! Another cool thing you can do at the Denver Aquarium is swim with sharks. If you are adventurous and a fan of water life, this could be a great activity for you! The nurse sharks that I saw were small, almost pet-sized. I had never seen a shark on such a small scale, so this was interesting. I also saw stingrays, catfish, and sea otters. The catfish was huge! This came as a surprise to me because I thought that catfish were small, but they were the size of a person! Another highlight was the adorable small sea turtle.

Outside of the water, the aquarium had a beautiful parrot and a tiger! These felt like unusual animals for an aquarium, but they were definitely engaging to observe.

After visiting the aquarium, we took a bus ride to the Denver Zoo. It was cold weather for the zoo as IC is in February and took place in Colorado, but luckily there were a few indoor exhibits.

My favorite zoo animal was the llama. I love horses and am an equestrian, so I tend to have a soft spot for members of the equine family. The llama was not an exception. They were adorable, and I definitely recommend seeing one if you ever get the chance!

I also saw a hyena in an exhibit that looked like the grasslands of the African wild. Seeing a hyena in a set like this reminded me of my younger days because this looked exactly like a scene from The Lion King! This is a great sight for fans of the movie.

Finally, I observed a python. This was the biggest snake that I had ever seen. If it was not behind a glass window, I definitely would have been scared of it, but luckily I was able to safely look at it in a natural habitat! I even saw it swim, which was something I did not previously know was a talent of snakes.

Overall, this was a stimulating sightseeing activity even though the weather conditions were not the best for it. The Denver Zoo and Aquarium were very exciting to explore and a good location to come with friends during IC. I likely would not have visited these places on any other type of trip, but I am happy that I was able to see them as an addition to my amazing time at International Convention 2025! I hope to see you next year!