The city was
founded in 1693-94 as the Fort of São José do Rio Negro. It was elevated to a town in 1832 with the name of
"Manaus", and legally transformed into a city on October 24, 1848, with the name of Cidade
da Barra do Rio Negro, Portuguese for "The City
of the Margins of Black River". Only on September 4, 1856, did it revert
to its current name.
Manaus is located
in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, access to the city is basically by boat or airplane. This isolation
helped preserve both the nature as well as the
culture of the city. The culture of Manaus, more than in any other urban area
of Brazil, preserves the habits of Native Brazilian tribes. The city is the main entrance to visit
the fauna and flora of the Brazilian Amazon. Few places in the World afford such a variety of plants, trees, birds, insects, fishes, etc.
It was known at the
beginning of the century, as "Heart of the Amazon" and "City
of the Forest". Currently its main economic engine is the Industrial
Pool of Manaus, the famous Free Economic Zone. The city has a free port and an international
airport.
Its manufactures include electronics, chemical products, and soap; there are distilling and ship
construction industries. Manaus also exports Brazil nuts, rubber, jute, and
rosewood oil. It has a cathedral, opera house, zoological and botanical gardens, an ecopark, and regional and
native peoples museums.
The city's
population is 1.5 million people in 2013, is the most populous in the Brazilian Amazon area and the 7th most populous in the country. Located on the north bank
of the Negro River, 11 miles (18 km) above the meeting of the Rivers where the
Negro merges with the Solimões, Manaus is 900 miles (1,450 km) inland from the Atlantic Ocean. It's the hub of
tourism for the rivers, the jungle lodges and the river cruises.
Solimões and Negro
rivers meet in Manaus and join together to form the Amazon River. Rubber made it
the richest city in South America during the late
1800s. Rubber also helped Manaus earn its nickname, the "Paris of the
Tropics". Many wealthy European families settled
in Manaus and brought their love of sophisticated European art, architecture, and culture with them. Manaus
is also a duty free zone, which has
encouraged needed development in the region.
[source: Wikipedia]
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Approaching Manaus, we came to the
confluence of the Amazon and the Rio Negro.
The boat (on the left) that would take us
to the EcoPark was tied up across the pier making the transfer quick and easy.
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TOUR:
Amazon Ecopark
Description
Day 1: Amazon Ecopark Jungle Lodge is a scientific
and educational property that also welcomes visitors. It was created by a
private initiative in 1991, opening its doors to the public as an Ecotourism
Lodge in 1995. Several streams of clear water run through the area and more
than six miles of jungle trails including uncatalogued species, natural
savannahs and creeks enable you to explore the jungle and observe orchids and
giant trees. A well-trained multilingual staff will make you feel at home in
the heart of the Amazon jungle. Three meals are served daily. The food consists
mainly of local products prepared by the chef on location. Meats, fish and
vegetables offer something for every taste. Plenty of tasty tropical fruits are
served. You will transfer 1½ hours
by boat to the lodge. Then, after lunch, you will visit the home of some local
residents to learn about the traditions
of jungle life. Return to the lodge for a rest before dinner. Tonight,
you’ll go alligator spotting—searching
for these scary and beautiful reptiles. This is an exercise in horrified
fascination, and you will love it!
Day 2: After breakfast, learn more about jungle life
and lore as you interact with your surroundings. A jungle recognition tour offers a brief introduction to jungle survival techniques and
Amazonian flora and fauna. You will also head to the Monkey Jungle—a rehabilitation center for primates confiscated
from illegal sales and exports. At this location, primates are initially kept
in quarantine to be evaluated and treated by veterinarians and biologists
before they are reintroduced to the jungle. During the years that this project
has been in action, a twice-a-day food
program was developed to feed the primates. During the feeding process,
this area is opened to visitors under the supervision of guides and specialized
staff. Observe and photograph the animals in a totally safe environment. Return
to the lodge for lunch; then
transfer back to Manaus by boat.
[source:
MAASDAM cruise website]
Experience
We proceeded the Rio Negro, passing under
the first bridge we have encountered since entering the Amazon about 800 miles
downriver.
Along the shore was all sorts on industry
associated with building boats and barges and moving things by water. There were also some impressive private
homes. Note the boat ramp in the picture
below. It extended all the way up to the house. A tractor (small red object at bows of boat) was needed to haul the boat up it.
Turning into one of the tributaries of the
Negro, we found a stretch of shoreline adorned with some rather impressive
private yachts.
For lesser yachts and all sorts of work
boats plying these waters, once again we saw floating gas docks, or more
accurately convenience stores.
A turn to port (left) and in a few minutes all
this civilization disappeared as we entered the EcoPark. We docked and disembarked.
Arriving at Reception, we quickly
discovered an amusing sign…and the reason for it.
During our time at the lodge this parrot
showed up in various places around the property. I even saw one of the cleaning staff chase him
out of a restroom. On another occasion, I
found the parrot talking with Flat Stanley.
We picked up our room key and walked down a
series of paths to cabin.
Our room in a little 3-unit cabin was small
and sparsely furnished, but had a bed, private bathroom and air
conditioning. Our expectations having
been well controlled by the tour leaders, it was a bit more than we expected.
There was a window with a screen but no glass.
It was shuttered shut. Since
opening the shutters would compromise the air conditioner’s struggle to combat
the temperature and heavy humidity, it remained shut. This was probably just as well given the noise
level from the creatures of the night.
Settled in and fed, the 38 members of our
happy band rallied for our first outing.
We boarded several long, narrow boats and headed out.
Our destination was the home of an
“indigenous” which is how one of our guides described herself and other natives
of the Amazon jungle. Once at this
home (which was in fact more of a living museum), we learned about how
people along the river live. It was
characterized as a “simple but difficult life”. Much of what is eaten much be caught or
gathered that day. There is no
refrigeration and the ground in extremely poor for growing crops other than in
a small box garden.
We saw an exhibit where tapioca that is a
stable of the “indigenous” population was being dried in a metal dish with a
fire under it. The starch had to be
moved constantly to avoid burning it.
We moved on to a demonstration of
converting the liquid latex gotten from rubber trees into a ball of natural
rubber. This was a “how it used to be
done” exhibit since the time, effort and health hazards are high and the demand
for such natural rubber virtually non-existent.
Returning to our boats via a display of native crafts that
fortuitously happened to be for sale should a discerning buyer be so inclined,
we returned to the lodge for dinner and to await the arrival of night so we
could go alligator (“cayman” in the Amazon) hunting.
For this expedition we needed to dress in
long pants and long-sleeved shirt after lathering ourselves with a high-octane
DEET bug repellant. Sweating and stinky,
we headed out into the night.
"Horrified fascination" (in the
last sentence of the description’s first paragraph) would be a stretch in
describing our experience. In fact it
would be a gross exaggeration. Aboard
our small boats we cruised along the shoreline.
Our spotter shown his light about looking for pairs of beady red eyes
looking at us. No sightings, although we did
find an old bottle that gave off an interesting reflection. At the end of the expedition a couple of
1-2 foot long alligators had been found (in a pen somewhere?) and brought to the dock for us to
see.
If you want to kiss and alligator, and “Why?”
would be an appropriate question about doing so, it is best if the alligator’s
jaws are facing the opposite direction.
Returning to our cabin it was not long
before Pam & I had the lights out, the excitement of the hunt having left
us drained. To be specific, when I say
“drained”, I am referring to perspiration, not adrenalin, but it was a fun
evening.
The air conditioner having lost the fight with the humidity, we got a less than comfortable night's sleep on a bed that felt more like board than mattress.
The air conditioner having lost the fight with the humidity, we got a less than comfortable night's sleep on a bed that felt more like board than mattress.
After breakfast the next morning, we were off into the
jungle, one again decked out in long pants, long-sleeved shirt and DEET. This was a walking tour. Our guide showed us a number of interesting
things – how to send signals using a tree trunk, how to make rope from tree
bark, a ground plant that when burned is an effective insect repellant, how to
tap a rubber tree and more. Overarching
all of this was the jungle itself. It was
vast, dense and enveloping. It was an
ecosystem that has evolved of hundreds of centuries. Everything in it had adapted to become
incredibly efficient at whatever it did.
Everything in it had a role that played into a harmonious whole. To be inefficient, to not have a role and to
fail to adapt was to die.
After 45 minutes of hiking into a jungle so
thick you had no sense of direction and a tree cover so dense a GPS could not get
an adequate signal, when your guide dons a wig of berries amusement at the sight
and dread that he may have just mentally gone bonkers jockey for position in
your emotions.
Flat Stanley opted to travel with a better
vine swinger.
As presented in the tour description, the
monkeys we saw were a growing population with varied backgrounds and stories
that were being reintroduced to the wild.
The EcoPark is a halfway station offering an
expansive jungle habitat, protection against humans and some food (such as leftover
fruits and vegetables from the lodge).
We went back to our boats one last time for
the trip back to the lodge. We had
lunch, packed and headed back to the asphalt jungle.
We were a mite late getting back to
MAASDAM. More precisely, we were the
last passengers to return to the ship and we arrived after the time the ship
was to depart. Fortunately, since our
tour was one sanctioned by Holland America, there was no problem, but as soon
as we walked aboard the ship started singling up its lines and within ten
minutes was underway.
As we approached the confluence of the
Negro and Amazon rivers, we could again see the demarcation line
distinctly. In the following picture,
note the wake of the boat that has passed from the Negro to the Amazon. The boat was going straight, but the wake
shifts significantly to the left. This
is due to the Amazon flowing much faster that the Negro.
- - - - -
Although we had to surrender any time
seeing Manaus, including its famous opera house built by the rubber barons a
century ago, Pam & I agree that our experience at the EcoPark was well
worth it. Megan and Matt, our HAL tour
leaders, did a great job of making the trip hassle-free and fun.
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