Day 43 – The Last Day In Vegas



Monday, October 4, 2010
Miles To Date: 
5 846

Our last full day in Vegas began with us treating ourselves to a buffet breakfast at one of the hotels. We chose the Mirage since we wanted to see the famous Siegfried and Roy ‘Secret Garden’ animal park there after. The park was opened by the famous illusionists to conserve the rare white lions and tigers featured in their acts. It also features some alpacas (basically smaller, hairier llamas), and two large dolphin pools.

The Secret Garden is for conservational and educational purposes rather than pure entertainment, so we were told the dolphins do not 'perform' for audiences. Instead, we were lucky enough to see the dolphins playing with instructors during feeding time. We had a good look around and even got to see two three-month-old Siberian tiger cubs. They were completely tame and very playful – reminding us of kittens. There were several white lions and tigers and even a snow leopard, making it an interesting visit and something a bit different from a normal zoo.

Next we returned to the Venetian, and went to the Grand Canal ‘shoppes’. Its the famous shopping mall which is decorated like a Venetian canal, complete with gondolas and a mini St Mark’s Square. We had a walk through but most of the shops are very high end and were therefore out of our price range!

The rest of the afternoon was spent up in the pool area of the hotel. We started with a really good lunch at the restaurant by the pool, where I had possibly the best burger of the trip. We then went to the pool but within about 10 minutes it had started raining. Disappointed at the sudden change in the weather we retreated to our room briefly until it stopped. However, by the time we got back it was colder and windy so we ended up without any good luxury sunbathing.

This evening we started at the last major unvisited hotel – the Parisian. It was really well done, and comes complete with an Eiffel Tower and Arc De Triumph. We then crossed the road to see the Bellagio fountains properly. They were quite amazing and impeccably choreographed to some classic songs. Later we returned to the Venetian and we bought some souvenirs and spent a couple of dollars on the slots. Tomorrow we leave Vegas early to see Death Valley – its the hottest place in the USA so hopefully we have more luck with the weather!

Photo(s) of the day: a friendly dolphin and the fountains outside the Bellagio.