Megan’s Birthday

As an aspiring student of ecology, Megan chose to visit Biosphere 2 on her birthday, conveniently only about 20 minutes from our campsite near Tucson. Biosphere 2, a giant test-tube for the Earth’s many ecosystems, has been around for about 20 years, amidst much controversy. The early years saw people placed within its airtight seal, to live and grow all their own food, breathe oxygen, etc, completely separate and independent of Biosphere 1, AKA our planet. Needless to say, the early experiments were rife with the human drama that comes with 8 people locked up together, but they did come up with some useful scientific information as well! The Biosphere contains 5 distinct ecosystems including the largest man-made ocean in the world. Today, it’s owned by the University of Arizona and is no longer sealed off completely, but is the home of some interesting new experiments, albeit without the drama of in-house inhabitants...

Afterwards, in honour of our proximity to the Mexican border, we went for Mexican food and were even treated to some decent mariachi music. Mmmm chicken mole…. And the following day Dave baked Megan a chocolate cake in the outback oven.