Nautilus Acuario

[Martin Hash]

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Lima, on the coast of Peru, is renown for its ceviche, raw fish in lime juice. I gained a taste for it the first time I was in Peru almost a decade ago, and though I've tried ceviche in other places around the world, Peru's is by far the best. This sparked my interest in visiting Nautilus Acuario, a fish exhibit in a rundown part of Lima. It's definitely a labor of love, everything hand-built made out of wood & concrete, meticulously clean, an aura of pride imbuing the place. I knew it was going to be good when we were greeted by a midget in a fish costume, and it was all uphill from there. The place was packed, small children running through the 100s of tanks, parents chasing after them, bus loads of school students in their uniforms & backpacks, attending the lectures & taking notes. For example, at 60 feet and 40,000 liters of salt water, it has the longest indoor reef in Latin America.

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The kids in our tour group were encouraged to touch a goldfish our guide netted into a cup. I noticed most of the adults also took the opportunity. In fact, Nautilus Acuario has fish pet stores throughout Lima where they sell the goldfish they raise. Of course, there were other bizarrely colored fish I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen before, one with a target on its side, others glowing magnificently under a black-light.
During the tour, the guide pointed out an unremarkable fish used to make ceviche, which I found very culturally appropriate. It was by itself in a solitary tank, kind of out of the way. Also, very appropriately, the place had a sea food restaurant serving ceviche, so we just had to eat some. It took a while to prepare, and it wasn't until we were halfway through eating the wonderful dish that I had half a notion to go check that tank.

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