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ow! this is a saguaro cactus. the G actually is pronounced like an H though. anyway, this wasn't even the tallest one we saw. more info about these cacti are here

yep, that's a bird's nest in there.

put up yer dukes!!

this section of the gardens shows how indigenous people to the desert used to grow things. this shows how they used to grow cotton. the indians in the area still grow cotton, only using modern technology.

check out the fence -- it's made of live cactus. since you can stick a broken off piece of cactus into the ground and it will grow into a full plant, the native people of the desert used to make living, prickly fences out of it

of course you know this doesn't do it justice. it was beautiful!