London’s museums are free admission and pretty incredible places too. On this brief stay in this spectacular city we have managed to visit the National Gallery and the Natural History Museum.
Today we toured through earth’s history, learned about minerals, navigated school groups, learned about our bodies, compared different kinds of dinosaurs and, my favourite stop during our 4 hour meander through the colossal Natural History Museum, we had a visit with the Ant Eater lady.
Turns out that ant eaters have a tongue that is almost 1m long, and it is covered in a sticky substance so that the ants (or termites) don’t fall off. An adult ant eater has to eat about 30,000 ants a day to sustain itself. And it knows not to devour the entire ant hill (or termite mound) so that the food supply can regenerate for a future meal. They tear apart the earth with sharp claws on their feet to get at their prey and they have a long hairy tail that they wrap around themselves at night to stay warm. Fascinating stuff.
We had a great discussion as to the benefits of places like museums and zoos over natural settings even though we all agreed that we prefer seeing nature in natural settings far more than in museums.
Ruby and Arden with a meteorite that has been sliced in half so you can see hunks of shiny metal at its core. There was some suggestion that this might be what the earths core looks like inside.
A display, created in the late 1800s, displaying the variety of humming birds found throughout the commonwealth.
Feeling small under one of the dinosaur skeletons.
Feeling scared in front of a robo T-Rex.
Crazy hair on the cab ride. London cabs are amazing and talking to the cab driver was just as educational as visiting the museum!
3 Ginger Snaps 
You’re ending the trip w some fab events!!
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What an incredible adventure you have been on! These Ginger Snaps will have the most amazing memories and a richer life because of your travels! I applaud what you have done as a family and as parents Hilary and Drew.. So many times while reading your posts I have not had the words to respond because I was in awe.. and quite often in tears at how amazing that particular event must have been.. I have loved it all and been there with you all! So honoured to know such amazing people who have genuinely immersed their kids in the world… Incredible!! Sad your journey is over for now.. happy to have you back in Canada soon! Always .. Aimee
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Still sifting through some posts. Gonna miss hearing your awesome travels…..not that being back in southern Ontario for the summer is the pits.
30,000 ants a day?! And nighttime in anteater land is cold enough that a warm tongue needs to double as a jacket!? Thanks for the facts Drew!
When I was in London over 15 years ago I remember the deal with most museums was free after 4pm, or something like that. I like free all the time with donations.
Love the props to your cabbie, I have met some professors behind the wheel myself!
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