Something Fishy.....

Welcome...

When I found out Mumbai had a Sea Life centre, I already knew it was going to be crap, but that made me want to go even more! Paul wasn’t so keen after reading the minus one rating it received on Trip Advisor, but being the quick thinker I am, I pulled the “I moved to India for you” card, and before I knew it Ramesh was outside and we were on our way.  When we arrived, there was a queue of at least 50 Indians waiting to get in, women on the left, men on the right, ‘promising’ we thought, maybe the minus rating on Trip Advisor was not to be believed after all! I joined my queue and Paul joined his, within 30 seconds we were ushered to the front where we paid our 15 rupees each (around 20p) by a very friendly man who was making necklaces out of broken shells (ouch). We got the sneaking suspicion that they didn’t get many white people visiting the aquarium as all of the staff wanted to shake our hand before we walked in, If they treat the fish as well as they are treating us this is going to be great! I thought...They don’t…. 
A cross between a dentist waiting room and a crack house, Paul’s first reaction was ‘We are going!’ I couldn’t let him go, we had just shaken hands with around 20 members of staff, paid our combined 40p entry and people had just started to take pictures of me! ‘Give it a chance’ I pleaded!! ‘Taraporewala Aquarium’ roughly translated to ‘Where fish and other marine life come to die’ I think is one of the top 10 places people should go before they die, to realise how lucky they are not to be a fish and potentially end up in a place like this. I particularly felt sorry for the usually graceful, elegant Green Turtle which had been reduced to a quivering wreck in the corner of its tank. As for the rest of the place, not a bad collection of fish actually but unfortunately I had forgotten my x-ray vision glasses so couldn’t really see them though the murky waters and grime stained glass. Away from the cruelty ‘the pièce de résistance’ was the museum (I use the term loosely), like most museums  it contained items of historical importance such as a broken dead crab, a shell with some sort of horn on it and a Spanish style figurine made entirely out of shells. Total time required to enjoy  visit the aquarium? 15 minutes. Maximum.So there it is, the fish version of Auschwitz, but don’t take my word for it! Check out the pics:

Women on the left, Men on the right

Tickets Please

Just like the one in Birmingham- nooooot!

I can't explain this

'Let me go'

If you look close enough you might see some terripins

There is fish in there

There is nothing in there

Nice use of bathroom tiles

Maybe its work in progress

WTF?

Important artifacts no doubt

very creative

They were actually taking photos of me!

I'm a rebel!

Taraporewala Aquarium, Marine Lines, Mumbai