Sao Paulo Aquarium

R. Huet Bacelar, 407

Ipiranga

11-2273-5500

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Squeezed into a rectangular box with a blue glass facade is a small maze of tacky but entertaining walks through cave tunnels brimming with plastic foliage and moody, colored lights where you can observe the fishy contents from regions around Brazil, including rivers from the Pantanal and the Amazon. If that doesn't scare you, stand on a glass floor above rare spectacled albino caiman and shiver in fear at the sucuri, or anaconda. Then walk through the rusty remains of a sunken submarine where albino nurse sharks and stingrays swim above and in front of you in South America's largest saltwater tank. Later, bear witness to the almighty mechanical awe of plastic dinosaurs roaring to a soundtrack on a brief trek through the history of life as sea life made its way onto land, and then finish off with a visit to the small penguin pen. Avoid peak times and the wrath of the snapping turtle, which hates humans. Photos: Crispin R. Cairns