São Paulo Aquarium

Thinking of visiting the Aquário São Paulo? Tips: Remember you are in the 3rd largest city in the world. Arrive early! Also, be prepared to spend a lot of money! 

The drive was a little over an hour and one monkey was not too happy to be up that early!

Current costs:
Parking: R$35,00
Entrance to the aquarium: R$85,00 for adults and R$50,00 for children.
Jurrasic Ride: R$15,00
Arctic Ride: R$15,00
7D Cinema: R$15,00
Food and Drink: R$6,00 - 10,00

We are so grateful that we woke early, made the hour drive, and arrived at the aquarium right when it opened. Not only did we get the 8th parking spot in the parking lot, but we avoided a long, long, line to get in! We walked straight up to the gate, got tickets and walked in. However, when leaving, we were greeted by these lines! 

When we pulled up our apprehension of driving in the big city immediately diminished and our excitement for the big aquarium took over. Upon entering, we were overwhelmed at the number of fish, snakes, lizards and frogs on display!

After about 20 minutes we came to a souvenir shop. 

Now, coming from the US, I have come to associate a souvenir shop with the end of the attraction. All of us looked at each other in shock! Could this be the end? We were quite disappointed thinking about what we had paid. As we walked through the souvenir shop we came to a snack bar area. It was then that we saw the continuation of the aquarium. PHEW! After a snack and drink, we continued on through the pirate section. 

After the pirate section there is a Jurassic ride. We could not say no to Zane when he asked. So we hopped in this 4 person car and were taken through a small 2-3 minute ride. It was all visual and sound effects. T-Rex came down to eat you up, Velociraptors teamed up and jumped out of the bushes at you, Triceratops and Brachiasaurs enjoyed eating from the trees and bushes. Worth the R$15,00 per person, not really. But making Zane happy, absolutely!

Our wonderful guides and friends Claudió and Joyce.

After another souvenir and snack stand we entered another area in which we were boarding a plane to head to different locations to see the animals that are native to that area! It was very interesting and interactive. 

First stop: Africa

Then Australia

  And then the Arctic!

 The sea lion was waving at us! Not really, he was scratching an itch when we looked under the water!

All of the animals were very active, but the Polar Bear was really active. They even had live cams shining on the Arctic looking walls showing what the bears were doing. 

 As you can see, we are all amazed and entranced by the polar bear!

This fuzzy couch!

And another souvenir stop!

We headed back and did the 7D cinema. Oh yes, Greg and I had a huge conversation about how it is possible to have 7 dimensions. 

 This was a movie and a ride all in one. The chairs moved as on the screen we were in a Jurrasic Park car, water and wind hit us, and the dinos came out to get us! Zane was so verbal about how many people were screaming because to him, it was not scary! 

Afterwards we went to lunch at the Tres Peixes restaurant and had the most delicious lunch!

We started the hour drive home and monkey number 2 was out within minutes. 

And then, about 10 minutes before arriving home...

 After a grocery store run, we ended our night with a run around the lake, seeing a mother goose on some eggs, watching Chewie try to get the chickens and playing at the park!