Vacation 12: Saguaro National Park

Our next destination was Saguaro National Park in Arizona. For many years I was keen to see these giant cactuses (or cacti - both versions are correct), so it was a great opportunity for me to see them. It was another very hot day, and we arrived late morning. In the park, there is a loop road open to the public, which leads through the extended cactus forest. While the Saguaros were the main attraction in the park, there were certainly a number of other cactuses, as well as various animals. Again, this park was so fascinating that it was difficult to put the camera down. I have just chosen "a few" of our photos. Let's just call them "Cactus Impressions"...

Cactus Pear

size comaprison

now, that one went all wild.
It is even easy to find on the next photo...

Lunch time. Thank god (or the parks management...) for the shelter!
We had hot dogs here - always good to have the kitchen travelling
with you all the time :)

This is a so-called cristate saguaro - a malformation (photo above of an interpretive panel at the park entrance). From the NPS website: While most saguaro cacti grow in a typical fashion, a few individuals will grow in an atypical form known as a cristate or crested saguaro. These bizarre looking forms often grow as a crest, but may also take other shapes such as balls or simply grotesque blobs. I read in the visitor center that about one in 50,000 saguaros show this "crowned" malformation, and of course we were keen on seeing one. And indeed, towards the end of the drive we found one:

And I also finally saw an inhabitant of the many holes in the cactuses!