1,000 Miles up the Amazon: Manaus
December 31, 2019, Manaus, Brazil — Our final out-bound destination for this cruise. The Portuguese built a fort here in 1669 as protection against the Dutch, who had settled in Suriname, to the northeast. The fort of Barra de São José do Rio Negro’s name was changed in 1832 to Manaus, the tribal name of the original Amerindian inhabitants.
There are 1,110 tributaries that feed into the Amazon. Located where the dark and relatively clear Rio Negro meets the light brown Rio Solimões to form the mighty Amazon — a sometimes clumpy union —
Manaus is a city built on rubber. When the boom ended, it became a free port and brought in modern industries. Exports include rubber, rosewood oil, juices and Brazil nuts. Its industries include Korean and Chinese tech companies (e.g., Samsung), a motorcycle manufacturer, and tourism, among others.
During the rubber boom (1850-1915), this was the wealthiest city in Latin America. The rubber barons’ wealth was so great, the city built elegant buildings, gracious avenues and colorful homes, giving Manaus the nicknames ‘the Paris of the Amazon’ and ‘the Paris of the Tropics.’
You can see how elegant it must have been, once upon a time...
When the FIFA World Cup held matches here in 2014, the city built new sidewalks — and a new airport.
But today, Manaus’ good-looking buildings are overshadowed by its industrial buildings, factories and what we would call ‘low income housing.’
And it is so dangerous — theft and murder — that ship’s officers at the gangway stopped a male friend from going ashore alone in the middle of the day. (One website, worldlists.com, says that of the 50 most dangerous places in the world, 14 of them are in Brazil.)
Add to this the Amazon’s unpredictability. In 2012, the river flooded the city. Cars were useless — only buses were tall enough to part the waters. This is why houses along the waterfront are built on stilts.
On a bus tour through this ‘hub of cosmopolitanism’ (Viking’s terminology), we saw the famous Teatro Amazonas, aka the Manaus Opera House, which opened in 1896. Originally costing the equivalent of $10 million (American), its materials came from Scotland, France and Italy. Now a major concert venue, it hosts operas, plays, the philharmonic — and entrance is free.
Adjacent to the opera, this statue representing 4 continents — America, Asia, Africa and ‘Europa’ — commemorates Brazil’s 400th anniversary.
These nice houses are right across the street from the Opera...
The Customs House parts were built in England and shipped here to be assembled. Manaus’ modern buildings (I hesitate using the word architecture) leave a lot to be desired.
Palácio Rio Negro, originally the home of a turn-of-the-century German rubber baron, is now a cultural center.
The Mercado Municipal’s ironwork was manufactured in Gustave Eiffel’s factory in France.
‘This is the banana market,’ said our guide, ’only today they’re selling watermelons.’ It also sells fish, other produce, and medicinal herbs.
On the way back to the ship, we drove through well-worn waterfront streets... note all that’s left is this façade.
We had begun this bus tour with a stop at the Brazilian Army Zoo. Yup. Its official name is the Brazilian Army Training Camp & Family Zoo. The Army uses the premises for jungle warfare exercises — hopefully away from where the wild things are. Viking’s write-up says this is a ‘sanctuary for endangered species’ such as jaguars, monkeys, sloths, birds and fish, and we were told they rehabilitate injured animals and release them back into the wild. It is the saddest zoo I have ever seen. I will spare you the pictures, though I would love to show you the beautiful little ocelot, except he/she was out of focus.
Next stop will be Belém, but first I’ll take you to an indigenous tribal village and a rubber plantation. #
