MIAMI -- A new exhibit at the Miami Metrozoo will give South Floridians a taste of what it is like to visit the Amazon.

Miami Metrozoo representatives called the "Amazon and Beyond" exhibit the zoo's most ambitious project to date. The zoo spent $50 million to create the 27-acre project, which features about 600 animals.

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"Now you come around and you complete the full circle. So you walk out, it's this one fluid trip throughout the zoo. It's a huge, huge accomplishment for us," said Ron Magill of the Metrozoo.

Visitors can step off the streets of Miami and come face to face with giant snakes, crocodiles, lightning-fast predators and powerful birds of prey. Zoo representatives said they want visitors to the exhibit to become participants instead of just observers.

"As you walk through here, you'll hear the music. You'll be transformed. You see a lot of tactile things. You have a lot of buttons that you press," Magill said.

The exhibit officially opens on Saturday.