Visitors travel along a re-created tributary of the river to explore a lowland rain forest. The rainy season, which lasts from January through June, transforms the woodlands into a strange watery world. It isn't inhabited by the usual forest creatures. Another portion of the exhibit re-creates the lowland forest in the dry season. You'll be glad it's behind glass.
Visitors see speckled forest vipers and poison dart frogs.
There are orb weaver spiders, whose webs are strong enough to snare birds. A large, red-rumped tarantula lives in a hollow log that houses a catfish when the rains come. All of the plants and animals are adapted to the cycle. Many of the fish need to get into the forest to feed on fruits and nuts. Step aboard an escalator that rises through the mist, and you can continue your adventure from the Amazon River Forest to the aquarium's rooftop Tropical Rain Forest exhibit.