Day 12 – Manaus

12/5/14 – By the time we woke up we were already docked at the Cruise terminal, very close to the city center.  We had selected a tour to an Indian Community and also to a rubber museum, so we boarded a small boat and traveled for more than an hour before reaching a village with about 25 inhabitants. 

Like the village in Boca Da Valeria, this settlement was probably designed to entertain tourists, but if so, it was very well done.  We were welcomed by the Chief, whose remarks were translated into Portuguese then into English.  We were escorted into a large ceremonial building where the natives danced and sang their traditional songs; it was most interesting and entertaining.

Then of course, they brought out craft and art souvenirs for us to check out.  Debbie purchased a small mask, made primarily from large fish scales, but with the mouth and teeth of a piranha.  We hope it was made locally, but at later ports, we saw very similar masks.  We were given time to explore the village which was also interesting.

We then returned to our small boats and traveled for more than an hour again to reach the Rubber Museum which was very interesting.  It had been a plantation during the rubber boom in the late 1800s and early 1900s and was restored and maintained as an example of those days.  There was a large manager’s house, a warehouse, a chapel and several other out-buildings.  Rubber in Brazil was never planted in large tracts; instead the rubber trees were tapped where they naturally grew. 

The trees grew widely interspersed with other trees and vegetation, making the harvest of the sap of the trees very time consuming and difficult, since the rain forest is almost impenetrable.  After enjoying a demonstration of the tapping of a rubber tree, and watching the sap being heated and formed into large natural rubber balls, we stopped at the little souvenir stand to purchase a local drink, Tuchaua, which tasted similar to cherry cola.  Very refreshing!  We then headed back to our little boat and returned to the City.

Manaus is the largest city on the Amazon with a population of over 2 million.  It is located about 980 miles from the mouth of the river, at the confluence of the dark waters of the Rio Negro and the muddy brown water of the Rio Solimões, which combine to form the Amazon.  Here again, we experienced the “meeting of the waters” as the water ran side-by-side without mixing.  Manaus was at the center of the Amazon region’s rubber boom.  For a time it was “one of the gaudiest cities of the world”.  The decadence extended to a grand opera house, vast domes and gilded balconies, and marble, glass and crystal from around Europe.  The opera house cost ten million public funded dollars, but its foolhardiness was demonstrated by the death by yellow fever of half the members of on visiting opera troupe.  The opera house, called the Teatro Amazonas, has been restored and once again presents operas.

The pier is very close to downtown and the main street goes straight past the opera house, so we decided to walk to the opera house to see if we could get a guided tour.  The streets were as crowded as in Manhattan (and we were just there in October, so we know what we’re talking about), with stores of all kinds lining the sidewalks.  Surprise!  It was uphill all the way to the opera house.  Once we got there and figured out where the entrance was located, we bought tickets for an English tour that would begin in 15 minutes.  Good timing, huh? 

The facility is fascinating with a large main floor and tiers of boxes around the sides.  One of the most interesting exhibits was a model of the opera house made completely of Legos.

Once the tour was finished, Debbie and our friend, Judy, took a taxi back to the pier while John and Tom once again braved the shoppers to get back down the hill to the pier and our ship.

The ship had entertainment every night of the voyage, either a singing, dancing troupe, or solo artists and singers.  This night we had a Brazilian folk group playing native instruments (and guitars), along with a female singer with a very haunting voice.  It was a most enjoyable experience.