Manaus, Brazil

Manaus, the "Paris of the Jungle", is the capital of Brazil's state of Amazonas.  It rests along the left bank of the Rio Negro, which merges with the mighty Amazon.  It was carved from the dense jungle by rubber barons in the 19th century.  It has become the ideal starting or ending point for visitors to the mid-Amazon region.  Riverboats can be taken through the myriad of tributaries, estuaries and small creeks, where the richest wildlife can be seen.

We are docked here overnight.  So on day one, we toured the "Meeting of the Waters'.  This is where the black river of the Rio Negro meets the white water of the Amazon.  It takes several miles before the waters mix.  It is an interesting site.

Because the currents of the Amazon are so swift, we lost time and arrived here about one half hour later than expected.  So all the tours went out a bit late.  We probably got on the tour boat about 10am.  The tour was supposed to be 4 hours but ours turned out to be 5 hours.

We sailed to where the waters meet and tried to spot the pink dolphin.  We did see some dolphins but they did not come out of the water so not sure what color they were.

We took the large boat to the January Lake and here we got on smaller canoe like boats.  They each hold 10 people.  We wanted to sit with Noel and Tom but the one lady they asked to sit in the front, would not.  So Bob and I ended up there and it was the best seat in the entire boat.  We were all under cover so we could not understand why she would not sit in the front.  At any rate, we were the ones with the best view and the best breeze.

We rode out to see the large lily pads and then a floating village.  Here two young boys sold candy which we bought.  It is a local candy and quite sweet.  While we were in this area of the lake, our motor stopped and we had to be towed by a second boat for a bit until we were able to get our motor up and running.  We think he flooded the motor.  These boats have motors that are quite old.  I was able to toss the rope to the other boat so I felt I was helping us all out.

Back to the larger boat and our trip back to the dock.  All along the river are gas stations right in the middle of the river.  Most people who live on the river have some king of boat.  Manaus does not have any roads south.  There is a very expensive bridge which goes north but we all called it the bridge to nowhere.  And it cost 2 billion to build it.  Right now the people of Brazil are protesting how the government has spent money.

Back on our ship, we had missed lunch so we cleaned up and I headed to tea and had two small tea sandwiches and some fruit.  Then trivia which proved better than yesterday.  We tied for first but because three teams tied, they had a tie breaker and we came in second on that.

Then Eddie, Lyn and I went to a special pre dinner show.  Bob did not want to come so he headed to the suite to edit the over 300 pictures he took.  The show was Grupo Imbauba.  They are local musicians from the Amazon who play sound of the Amazon Rainforest.  One of the instruments was a rain stick.  Katie used to have one of them.  The sound is quite relaxing.

I then got Bob and we headed to Mariner Lounge for our cocktails.  Yea, nuts and chips are back.  We are no longer in Code Red.  Finally.   And then dinner in Compass Rose with Risky as our server.

Back to the suite where we started watching "Bridge of Spies".  Will finsih tomorrow night.

Pictures to follow.