How to Plan an International Trip: Travel Tales and Tips : The Big Apple, New York City: Report Day 1 Part 2 AMNH

Day 1, Mar 28, 2014, Friday:

AMNH [American Museum of Natural History], Central Park, Top of the Rock, M&M, Hershey Candy Stores

American Museum of Natural History:

We took the subway and arrived at the AMNH Subway station with appropriate tile mosaic work.

A friendly African elephant posing for a pic, woolly mammoth in background

ROAR....here we are in front of AMNH [American Museum of Natural History].

The largest natural history museum in the world is also one of the most impressive sights in New York. Four city blocks make up the American Museum of Natural History’s 45 exhibition halls, which hold more than 30 million artifacts from the land, sea, and outer space.

On the steps of AMNH.

Equestrian statue of Theodore Roosevelt—Gov of NY: 1899 to 1901 and 26th President of the United States — was an ardent naturalist and visionary conservationist. Teddy rides high on his triumphal horse and is flanked by representative figures of the oppressed: a black man and an American Indian. This alludes to Roosevelt’s efforts on behalf of such figures, of course, but it now seems condescending toward proud primitives.

Roosevelt is inscribed in AMNH DNA. His father was a founding trustee; it was at his home that the museum’s charter was signed in 1869. As a child Roosevelt donated specimens and his own taxidermy to the museum.

The museum’s ornithologist Frank Chapman found a willing listener in President Roosevelt, who, in 1903, created the nation’s first bird reservation on Pelican Island in Florida.

Carl Akeley, who conceived of the Hall of African Mammals, joined Roosevelt on his African expedition.

By the end of his Presidency Roosevelt had created 51 bird reservations, 18 national monuments, 5 national parks and 4 game preserves, and had enlarged or created 150 national forests.

Colorful murals on the wall in the entrance hall.

These three monumental canvases depicting milestones in Theodore Roosevelt’s public life, completed in 1935. They are some of the largest indoor murals in a New York City public building, covering an area of 5,200 square feet.

The west mural, which hangs above the entrance to the Akeley Hall of African Mammals, depicts Roosevelt’s African expeditions in 1909 and 1910.

The south mural illustrates the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905 to end the Russo-Japanese War; for his role in resolving the conflict, Roosevelt was the first American awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The north mural portrays the building of the Panama Canal. Roosevelt is shown conferring with Chief Engineer John F. Stevens; next to Stevens, an army medical officer is depicted holding a test tube, an emblem of scientific research. As yellow fever swept Panama, Roosevelt lent his support to then-controversial findings that the mosquito, and not poor sanitation, spread the disease, saving thousands of lives.

On the far right is a depiction of Roosevelt’s arduous expedition to map Brazil’s River of Doubt in 1914, on which he was accompanied by Museum naturalists.

This is the Great Habitat Dioramas at the Hall of African Mammals and the Hall of North American Mammals.

Many elements go to make this so realistic.

The background is painted on a canvas glued to a curved wall. Foreground is a three-dimensional re-creation of the habitat that mimics soil, rocks, water, snow, plants, and trees.

And the creation of the main heroes... All animals looking so real is meticulous.....

The taxidermy process begins with sculpting the clay mannequin form based on the animal's field measurements . A plaster mold is made from the original clay mannequin form. Then a papier-mache mannequin is made from that mold - a perfect, hollow, lightweight replica of the clay original. The tanned skin of the animal is glued/ pinned to, and stitched over the papier-mache mannequin.

With all this artistry in the creative process we feel we are right in the great jungles .

As the world's largest bird (ostriches can stand up to 8 feet tall and weigh 340 pounds), the ostrich is also one of the most adaptable. The ostrich lives in a variety of environments in southwest Africa and has developed a complex social structure while having shed the ability to fly.

An ostrich will attack only if threatened, and then it can kick hard enough to kill a lion.

To lure intruders from a nest, a male ostrich will perform a "distraction display" while the well-camouflaged chicks run for cover.

Gorillas may weigh as much as 450 pounds, and large males may measure nearly 6 feet tall when standing. Gorillas have never been observed drinking water in the wild.

They spend the day feeding on leaves, bark, stems, and fruit, getting the water they need from their moist food.

Legendary explorer Carl Akeley collected these gorilla specimens in 1921. Returning to Africa for additional research in 1926, Akeley died near this site and was buried on the side of Mount Mikeno, the third volcano on the right in the background painting.

Giraffes are the tallest animal, adults being 4.3 to 5.7 m tall [14 ft-18.7 ft]. newborn giraffe is 1.7–2 m (5.6–6.6 ft) tall. Within a few hours of birth, the calf can run around and is almost indistinguishable from a one-week-old

The great canoe here in Northwest Coast Hall.

At 63 feet long, 2200 lb weight, the seaworthy Great Canoe is one of the Museum's most popular artifacts. Carved in the 1870s from the trunk of a single cedar tree, the canoe features design elements from different Native American peoples of the Northwest Coast, notably Haida and Heiltsuk.

The magnificent killer whale depicted on either side of the prow of the Great Canoe was most likely painted by Charles Edenshaw (1839-1924), one of the most influential Haida artists of his time, known for his woodcarving, jewelry, and painting.

This is the Northwest Coast Hall, the Museum's oldest gallery. conceived to value indigenous cultures

These are masks worn in ceremonies.

This is the Gem and Minerals section. Saw minerals in their original form as well as the gems which are the cut/polished versions.

Molten gold emerging with hot lava and crystallizing in the veins of rocks.

Cut emeralds...

This is the Patricia Emerald, 632 carats, one of the best in the world.

Amethyst violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry.

It is one of several forms of quartz. Amethyst is a semiprecious stone and is the traditional birthstone for February. The name comes from the Ancient Greek ἀ a- ("not") and μέθυστος methustos ("intoxicated"), a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness. The ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethyst and made drinking vessels of it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication.