Manaus, Brazil

Manaus is the capital of the state of Amazonas and is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimoes rivers.  It is the largest metropolitan area in Northern Brazil and the twelfth in all of Brazil, with 2,006,870 inhabitants, making it the 8^th most populous city in Brazil. It represents 50% of the population of the Amazon.

Manaus was at the centre of the Amazon region’s rubber boom during the 19^th century and was labelled “one of the most gaudiest cities in the world”. The decadence of the city extended to the grand opera house which cost $10,000,000 to construct. After the collapse of the rubber industry in Brazil, the opera house went through years of neglect, but has been fully restored and is fully operational.

We had an overnight stay in Manaus which gave many of the crew members a chance to go ashore. The city is very large and quite spread out. A beautiful new bridge has been constructed over the river and has been dubbed the “bridge to nowhere”. There is one highway out of Manaus and it extends north to Venezuela.

We did a tour of the city and really enjoyed it. Our driver made certain to take us all over the city to show us the different levels of housing and types of shopping. Near the harbour was the market where the people on the riverboats buy and sell their wares. Downtown are many elite shops, hotels and restaurants.  We toured the opera house, which is a magnificent building. They were preparing for a huge Christmas concert which was going to be broadcast outside, so the seats on the main floor were covered to make a stage. We have many beautiful photos of the opera house.

 The Opera House

Next we toured an Indian museum, operated by nuns. It was interesting to experience the culture of three different tribes.  Afterwards we toured the zoo, operated by the Army and saw lots of wonderful animals and birds.  It was a long tour and it was very warm, but we enjoyed it.

In the evening, Eric went “caiman spotting”. He found it interesting, but not well organized.  The next day was the tour to see the “meeting of the rivers” where the black and white rivers meet and flow side by side.  Both the meeting of the rivers and the caiman spotting at listed in “1,000 things to do before you die”.

Caiman Spotting

Meeting of the Waters

It was interesting to watch the activity on the dock while we were docked. Outside our balcony there was a commotion below us. It turned out to be a small fishing boat which 2 crew members had rented. They had caught 2, 35 kg fish and had them in the small boat. We watched as they tried to lift the fish out of the boat, on to the ship. It was tough, but they made it.

The slum area of Manaus on the waterfront

Our ship at night

The bridge to nowhere

Manaus was our last port before returning down the Amazon river and we travelled a total of three time zones.  As we left Manaus, we realized that our cruise was half over.

Christmas tree at the stern of the ship at sunset