Fish Museum Aquarium - Carthage
Yesterday, we thought we'd go check out the Aquarium in Carthage, the Fish Museum as they call it, or "Dar El Hout" (Fish House) as it's called in Arabic.
It's located in Carthage near the old Punic Ports.
A number of people told me about the place before, and I was expecting a really cool aquarium, but I was somewhat let down, as it turned out to be pretty mediocre.
The "Fish Museum" is divided into three parts; a Historic one giving insight into the maritime/marine history of Tunisia, Fresh water fish and salt water fish.
There aren't really that many unique species of fish to see, just the usual ones from the Mediterranean region; the same ones you'd see at the nearest Tunisian fish market, if not less.
It's a shame that establishments such as this one and the zoo in Belvédère aren't getting the proper care and investments needed; I personally think they're very important and educative for our children.
Entrance fee is only 1 Dinar for adults and half that for kids.
The skeleton in front of the museum is that of a whale that washed up to one of the northern shores of Tunisia at Cap Negro some years ago.
Viva Carthago - Les Naufragés de Carthage Jazz à Carthage 2006 Les Cendres De Carthage (Abdelaziz Belkhodja) Fish And Seafood Population On The Brink Of Extinction Fish Shawarma in JordanObviously, this situation is due to a lack of financial resources. I went to this place, as well as to the Museum of Carthage, and I was sad to see how much our Rich tunisian culture is neglected. At the same time, tunisians can not afford entrance fees higher than the actual ones. I beleive the role of government is to subsidize such institutions.And since the government is able to finance the huge project of the new cultural city in Med V Avenue, I guess they could find enough ressources to maintain the existent cultural institutions.
Posted by: Selim at September 3, 2007 10:22 PMI think such institutions are already subsidized by the government, they couldn't really depend on the low entrance fees to operate.
The problem is that the way they are, they're just there for the sake of being there, they're operating at a minimum level and not offering much added value.
I'm not sure if the government is giving all it can give to these cultural institutions or if it can still give more, but maybe other options should be explored as well, such as seeking sponsorships, grants, patronage or whatever other form of financial backing by wealthy culture-oriented organizations or funds.
I also think that the ticket prices should go up just a bit, to play a bigger role in supporting the operations of these institutions; it's great that our museums have nominal fees to make them more accessible to people, but it's obvious that when you pay a dinar, you only get your dinar's worth, which is not much, and doesn't make it a pretty worthwhile experience.
Posted by: MMM at September 4, 2007 10:59 AM