Brazil – Amazonas Central and South (Manaus, Coari, Humaita)
Day 4, 5, 6
On January 17, I flew on Azul Air from Belem to Santarem, Para Inland state arriving at 1:55, got my luggage, and tried to find a taxi into town. There was no Uber and I ended up talking to a guy going into town. He sells medical supplies throughout northern Brazil and was here to set up a new outlet. I caught a ride into town with him and I explained my travel.
Santarem to Manaus by boat on the Amazon.
I wanted to be let off at the Enasal office, the company that offers boat trips up the Amazon to Manaus. I had been trying to connect with them by email and phone but had no luck. Their website states that boats leave daily (9hours) or less often 48 hours) from Santarem. The taxi driver pulled over near the Enasal office and talked to a guy on the Malecon. Within minutes, I was in a speedboat trying to catch the Enasal ferry that was cruising by out in the middle of the Amazon. It soon disappeared out of sight behind an island but we caught up to it, it slowed down and I climbed on board. The guy in the boat wanted 250 BR. That was 3:06 pm.
The boat is run by Enasal and is the Navegacao Ana Beatriz. The bottom deck was full of cars, bananas, and other produce. The first deck had about 160 hammocks slung out cheek to jowl in four rows but all were occupied. Everyone’s luggage was on the deck below them. I wandered up to the second floor where there were another 100 hammocks. Most of the hammocks had people sleeping on them. I went to the bridge and a guy asked if I had a hammock. Of course, I didn’t but I have a sleeping pad that I could lay out anywhere. He didn’t seem to care where I put it and I wanted it to be where there was a breeze. The top deck is completely open and empty except for the frame for a small tent. That is where I thought I would sleep, barring any rain.
The cost of the ferry to Manaus was 150 BR (US$30) and takes about 48 hours. With the exorbitant speed boat ride, I would get to Manaus exactly how I wanted to for a fraction of the cost of a plane (400 BR equals about US$80). A bus is a big trip as the it has to avoid the Amazon so goes a longways south to get around all the water, heads west, and then turns north to reach Manaus. The scene out the window would be monotonous bush and at this time of the year in the rainy season, prone to being blocked by floods.
I put my pack next to the outside wall on the second deck, bought a beer, and ensconced myself on a bench with a bunch of nice Brazilians enjoying themselves drinking beer, my computer plugged in and all set to go. I have wifi tethered to my smartphone network, but am soon out of reach of a signal. I recently downloaded four books from Amazon so have lots to read and my book on Asperger’s to finish. Too funny.
I have lots of cash to get by, the beer is cheap and I assume with this crowd, the food is too.
I have always believed I am the luckiest person (maybe not in love but in everything else). This is just one more example. Santarem had nothing to see (the only NM site was the Santarém Museum, which after several attempts, I couldn’t find it. It was probably closed anyway). I was only there to collect another NM region (Para Inland). If I were stuck there for a few days, I thought I would go to Fordlandia, a NM Bizzarium site 180 km south of Santarem. But it would otherwise be deadly boring. A couple of nights in a hotel would be well over $80.
As things progressed, one guy (the comedian of the group) bought me a beer and seemed intent on hooking me up with the woman sitting next to me. They had lots of laughs. They were all very pleasant. I doubt that anyone on the boat speaks English.
Nice fast Brazilian music is playing in the background. There are two tables of dominoes going. This appears to be a simplistic game, made enjoyable by everyone slapping down the dominoes with gusto and betting. One older guy asked me to play, but I don’t think I could tolerate its simplicity. I have chosen the right bunch to be sitting next to.
Even under the deck, it is steamy hot but quite manageable at 27 and sunny. The Amazon here is muddy brown and very wide. I guess it must be at least 2 km between shores. The nearshore is fields and second-growth bush. The Amazon has many channels with islands in the middle.
It is not uncommon for some travelers to have their dream trip of taking the Amazon to its mouth. I always thought this would be deadly boring and it would be, only made tolerable with a lot of beer and a fun crowd. A comparable trip (that I have done) is the Trans-Siberian Railway – 74 hours of exactly the same scene – not a hill, birch trees, ugly Soviet cities, and impoverished farms – all made tolerable with a lot of vodka and people to party with. But it is also very expensive, not at all like this trip.
At sunset (7 pm), we passed a village of houses on stilts and dependent entirely on boat access. A lightning storm in the northeast provided pyrotechnics. I was feeling very knackered early and went to sleep at 8:30 on the top deck, now full of people, but with an area in front. Supposedly forbidden, a crew member told me that I would get cold and it would rain, but finally let me be. Someone came and woke me at 01:45 to warn me of impending rain and I moved undercover. The dominoes game was still going. The rain started at 2 and everyone went to bed.
At 3 am, we stopped at the town of Juruti and picked up passengers. I gave a guy some money to get some smokes, he ran like hell but didn’t make it back before we left. Oh well.
The Enasal Expresso Ana Beatriz caught up to us and let off a passenger. This must be the nine-hour daily trip between Santarem and Manaus.
At 08:30, we passed Parintins, a fairly large town on the south bank of the river. We stopped here for at least 3 hours and basically unloaded all the fruit (bananas, plantains, apples, grapefruit), vegetables (onions, potatoes, cabbage), and a whole bunch of chairs from the boat.
The river continues to be a muddy brown and at least 2kms wide. During the day, there were multiple rainstorms. I started playing rummy in the late afternoon and stayed up till 1 am. It was fun. At 2 am, we had another stop at Itacoatara for over an hour.
On Wednesday morning, a man came up to me and demanded I pay for the boat. I had already paid 150 BR to a man on the bridge but was not given a ticket or wrist band. He kept talking to me in Portuguese despite me asking him several times to use Google Translate. It got ridiculous and finally told him to f**k off. Then a woman explained the situation and told me that I had paid a ‘mafiosa’. I went to the bridge to talk to the captain and asked if they allowed mafiosa on the bridge just waiting to swindle the only person on the boat who arrived this way? He was unable to help. It appears that the person demanding the money who refused to use GT was also a mafiosa!! It was all crazy and remains unresolved. I refused to pay again.
Just before disembarking at 3 pm on Jan 19th, I was ushered down to the accounting office where I finally got to talk to Mr Santander, who spoke faltering English, but also the most of anyone on the boat. I explained the whole episode and that the guy I paid was standing in the bridge. I wondered why nobody had met me when I literally jumped on the boat that had had to slow down considerably to let me on. He was very understanding and didn’t know the fellow who had tried to make me pay but wouldn’t use Google Translate (and was a ‘mafiosa’ too). He was very understanding and ended up not charging.
MANAUS (pop is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, distributed over a land area of about 11,401 km2 (4,402 sq mi). Located at the east center of the state, it is situated near the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers.
The city was founded in 1669 as the Fort of São José do Rio Negro.
Manaus is located in the center of the world’s largest rainforest, and home to the National Institute of Amazonian Research, being the most important center for scientific studies in the Amazon region. Currently, its main economic engine is the Industrial Park of Manaus, a 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 Solimões and Negro rivers meet just east of Manaus and join to form the Amazon River (using the Brazilian definition of the river; elsewhere, Solimões is considered the upper part of the Amazon). 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 for sophisticated European art, architecture, and culture with them. Manaus was one of the twelve Brazilian host cities of the 2014 World Cup, as well as one of the five subsections of the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The name Manaus comes from the native people called Manaós, which means Mother of the Gods.
History. During the rubber boom, it was “one of the gaudiest cities of the world”. Historian Robin Furneaux wrote of this period, “No extravagance, however absurd, deterred” the rubber barons. “If one rubber baron bought a vast yacht, another would install a tame lion in his villa, and a third would water his horse on champagne.” The city built a grand opera house, with vast domes and gilded balconies, and using marble, glass, and crystal, from around Europe. The opera house cost ten million (public-funded) dollars. In one season, half the members of one visiting opera troupe died of yellow fever. The opera house, called the Teatro Amazonas, was effectively closed for most of the 20th Century. After a gap of almost 90 years, it reopened to produce live opera in 1997 and is now attracting performers from all over the world.
When the seeds of the rubber tree were smuggled out of the Amazon region to be cultivated on plantations in Southeast Asia, Brazil and Peru lost their monopoly on the product. The rubber boom ended abruptly, many people left its major cities, and Manaus fell into poverty. The rubber boom had made possible electrification of the city before it was installed on many European cities, but the end of the rubber boom made the generators too expensive to run. The city was not able to generate electricity again for years.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, an estimated 76% of the population of Manaus was infected with coronavirus, and the possibility of herd immunity was discussed. However, a second outbreak infected people in Manaus, this time with the Lineage B.1.1.248 variant starting in early January 2021
Despite being located in the Amazon, Manaus is densely developed and has few green areas in the city.
Climate. Manaus has a humid tropical rainforest climate, just wet enough in its driest month to not be a tropical monsoon climate, with an average annual compensated temperature of 27.6 °C (81.7 °F) and high air humidity, with a rainfall index of around 2,300 mm (90.6 in) annually. The seasons are relatively well defined with respect to rain: July to September is relatively dry, and December to May is very rainy. Thunderstorms are frequent every day in the summer, but they can occur at any time of the year.
Demographics. There were 2,182,763 people residing in the city, and 2,676,936 people in the Metropolitan Region of Manaus.
Racial compostion: Mixed 63.83%, White 25.59%, Black 4.2%, Asian 1.15%, Amerindian .22%.
Religion. The city has been influenced by Catholicism since the time of European colonialism, and the majority of Manauenses are Catholic—there are nevertheless dozens of different Protestant denominations in the city. Judaism, Candomblé, Islam, and spiritualism, among others, are also practiced. The city has a very diverse presence of Protestant or Reformed faiths. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also has a large presence, with an LDS temple having been built in the city, the sixth in Brazil.
Economy. Manaus is the sixth-largest economy in Brazil. Although the main industry of Manaus through much of the 20th century was rubber, its importance has declined. Now, fish, wild fruits like Açaí and Cupuaçu, and Brazil nuts initiate up important trades, as do petroleum refining, soap manufacturing, and chemical industries. Over the last decades, a system of federal investments and tax incentives has turned the surrounding region into a major industrial center (the Free Economic Zone of Manaus).
The urban area covers all or part of four river basins, all tributaries of the Rio Negro. The São Raimundo and Educandos streams are completely contained in the city. The Tarumã Açu forms the western boundary of the city in its lower reaches, and is fed by several tributaries that originate in the Ducke Reserve and run through the north and west of the city. The Puraquequara forms the east boundary of the urban area in its lower section
Day 7
I stayed at Local Hostal Manaus, quite a well-organized place a block from the Amazonas Theatre. Unlike Belem, there were several backpackers and a much younger crowd. I had slept poorly waking up at 3 am feeling achy and very out of sorts. I took a handful of vitamin I, had a great sweat, and woke up feeling much better but tired.
The next morning, I took a city bus to Manaus Central Bus Terminal and bought a ticket on Eucatur Bus Lines (bed seat, 320 BR) leaving at 07:15 pm for Boa Vista (Roraima State), an 13-hour trip I was looking forward to with the comfy seating that would allow a completely reclined bed.
I then used buses, Uber and also walked a lot to see as much of Manaus as possible.
CIGS’s Zoo. This small zoo on a military base has some interesting animals: black panther, jaguar, harpy eagle, anaconda, and a gorgeous toucan that you could get very close to. Free if over 60
Rio Negro Bridge
Manaus Municipal Market. This small market was half closed and unusually had no produce but several sewing and eating places. It is very close to a major city bus transit spot.
Museu Casa Eduardo Ribeiro. House and Biographical Museums. Closed for renovation in Jan 2022.
Igreja da Matriz. The main RC church of Manaus is in the Central Historic District close to the water. 3 nave with a vaulted ceiling, the highlights are the marble side chapels and the carved white marble pulpit. The altar is lovely.
Relógio Municipal. Monument In front of the church, it is a bronze-painted fountain without water – a statue or a woman is surrounded by many cherubs. This is a homeless hang out with lots of shade trees.
Northern Man Museum. This is a must-se museum with many wonderful ethnographic examples of indigenous people, most of whom are unlikely to practice any of these customs any longer. The is a huge number of headdresses – basically, bands and masks adorned with multicoloured feathers. There are also many gorgeous woven baskets, so tightly woven as to hold water. Other woven items include large mats, trays, and baskets. There are many wood masks to complement the feather masks. Wood dolls. Clothing was woven from a coarse fibre that appears terribly uncomfortable and worn in girls coming out at age 15 or so.
See the two parts of the museum each with their own guide who both spoke English. Free
Indian Museum. This small private museum is not worth going to if you have been to the Northern Man Museum. Closes at noon. 5 BR
Palácio Rio Negro. This is another must-see place in Manaus. Built by a rubber baron, it is a wonderful large 2-story house. The floors alternate with blond and dark wood. The furniture is a highlight, all matching, of great design dark wood with carved leatherbacks on the chairs. There are front and back verandas, an elevator, a great staircase.
He didn’t have much luck. Rubber was replaced with synthetic rubber, WWI intervened, he was caught in Europe and died penniless. Free
AMAZONIA THEATERS Tentative WHS (30/01/2015)
Teatro Amazonas (Amazon Theater). A building whose cornerstone was laid in 1884, the Teatro Amazonas had its design drawn up in Portugal at the Lisbon Engineering Office. As for the style of the facade, the Teatro Amazonas is essentially eclectic with many aspects close to the Art Nouveau style. The construction of the theater used the most advanced construction techniques of the time, introducing metal structures, especially the dome, with its iron frame being brought from Europe. This grand element that does not have the function of giving light to the internal space, stands out not only for its size but also for its unique multicolored coating, in all 36,000 glazed scales that, besides providing a monumental character to the building, reflects the desire to make this theater a unique piece of work in architecture.
In order to achieve the desired luxury and refinement, most of the materials used in the construction were brought from Europe: glazed tiles from Alsace for the dome; iron railings and furniture in the style of Louis XV of France; Italian marble; steel beams from Glasgow; fittings and the rose window for the main hall from the Koch Fréres Parisian house.
The lack of manual labor in the region, scarce at the time, was remedied by the recruiting of various foreign professionals, including Domenico de Angelis, who was hired to paint the foyer with other Italian artists. The foyer, or Honor Room, features beautiful illusionist paintings that demonstrate the refined technique of these professionals. Over the metallic columns, cornices, balustrades, and pillars, the technique of stucco has been used, making it resemble marble. The illusionist effect can also be seen in faux tapestry, on painted Gobelins representing the fauna and flora of the Amazon Region, a theme required by the Amazon State Government.
Another professional who has also stamped his art on the theater was Crispim do Amaral, who, along with the responsibility for the decoration of the concert hall and other decorative elements, made the curtain representing the meeting of the waters of the Negro and Solimões Rivers, emblematic references of the landforms of the Amazon Region and its waterways.
The Teatro Amazonas has undergone some renovations since its opening in 1898. There was an effort in 1974 when a broad restoration took place, preserving its original architectural style and giving the building more modern infrastructure, with new lighting and air conditioning. There were also some internal adjustments and restoration of furnishings at this time. The last intervention, in 1990, corresponds to the full restoration of the theater, which had serious conservation issues. At the time, Brazilian and foreign technicians recovered the original features of all paintings by Domenico de Angelis and by Amaral Crispin, the bronze and crystal Murano chandeliers, the two house drapes, among other pieces of art.
I saw this right at the end of the day. Teatro Paz, the sister opera house to this one in Belem had odd hours and was closed for all the days I was there. I arrived at 4:45 hoping to have a quick look. However, the theatre is only seen by reservation and tours starting on the hour with hours of 9 to 5. However, I had forgotten to turn back my watch, it was actually 3:45 and I was able to get on the 4 pm tour, in Portuguese (English tours are available), but this was my only chance to see these gorgeous theatres.
Enter the foyer encircled by columns and then immediately the theatre, renovated in all its glory. There are 4 balconies fronted by filigree metal and lovely columns with capitals and Divine Comedy carvings. The stage curtain was half up and could not be seen well but the wonderful ceiling and chandelier are very nice. Go upstairs to see a great room with dark brown faux-marble columns and a wonderful parquet floor. 20 BR
I returned to my hostel at 5 and booked a flight from Boa Vista to Rio Branco in Acre province. I had thought of arriving in Boa Vista at 06:30 and immediately turning around and returning at 9 am to see my bus journey in the day. But that was crazy.
The road between Manaus and Rio Branco is all jungle. There is a road but Eucatur had no buses that drove it, so it appeared that flying was the only way to go. I researched flights between Manaus to Rio Branco and Boa Vista to Rio Branco. The latter had many options from a 2-hour direct, a 7-9 hours with one or two stops, or monstrous 55-60 hour flights. Although pricey (about CAD$550), as I would have to fly from Manaus anyway, it made most sense to fly over Manaus and avoid marathon bus trips. All the flights on the 21st were long ones, so I decided to sleep overnite in Boa Vista and fly on Jan 22.
NM sites in Manaus I didn’t see. The first two are a 21 km drive northeast of Manaus and Seringal M a 2 1/2 hour drive.
Manaus Botanical Garden
Museu da Amazonia (MUSA)
Seringal Museum. House and Biographical Museums
Anavilhanas Ecological Station Tentative WHS (16/09/1998)
Islands: Tupinambarana
Borders: Brazil (sea border/port)
World of Nature
Adolpho Ducke Reserve
Anavilhanas NP
Campos Amazônicos NP
Iquiri National Forest
Mapinguari NP
Matupiri State Park
Nascentes do Lago Jari NP
Uatumã Biological Reserve
Waterfalls
Cachoeira de Iracema
Cachoeira Santuário
Rivers
Amazon River
Canumã River
Madeira River
Purus River
Roosevelt River
Tapajós River
Tapauá River
Uatumã River
Cities of the Americas
COARI
PORTO SEGURO
PARINTINS
Festivals
Parintins Folklore Festival
Parintins: Festival Folclórico de Parintins
==============================================================Brazil – Roraima (Boa Vista) Jan 21-22, 2022
My 11-hour bus ride from Manaus arrived at 08:00. I was able to sleep well in the “bed” seat and slept a big portion of the 13 hour bus ride. Jungle turned into savannah after about 8 hours. I walked the 2.8 km to my hostel and was happy it was in the morning and so hot. I registered, dropped off my pack, slept for a few hours and took an Uber to the zoo.
BOA VISTA (pop 375,000) literally Good View) is the capital of the Brazilian state of Roraima. Situated on the western bank of the Branco River, the city lies 220 km (140 mi) from Brazil’s border with Venezuela. It is the only Brazilian state capital located entirely north of the equator.
The only road access between Boa Vista is from Manaus, Lethem, Guyana, and Santa Elena de Uairén, in Venezuela. Travel by airplane is the only means of transportation with other regions of the country.
As a modern city, Boa Vista stands out among the other capitals of the North Region of Brazil as it is a planned city with a radial plan.
History. The São Joaquim do Rio Branco Fort, founded in 1775, is located on the banks of the Uraricoera River about 32 km away. The city was created in 1890 and the territory was renamed “Roraima”. Later, machine-based mining was prohibited (because of the resulting damage to the landscape), which ended up hindering the economy of the state and the municipality. In the 2010s, the crisis in Venezuela led to the population swelling by around 50,000 Venezuelan immigrants.
Culture. Anaua Park is a major recreational park, Taumanam is a small artificial beach on Rio Branco (stores and snack bars) and the Ayrton Senna complex is the most visited tourist attraction.
Festa Junina lasts from June 12 to 29th has bonfires, fireworks, and folk dancing in the streets
The Civic Center starts from the banks of the Rio Branco and opens like a fan into a system of 16 avenues. In this square are the state government buildings, the Palace of Culture, Amazônia Bank, the Ministry of Education, and a cathedral. The civic center also showcases a monument to the miners who were the first inhabitants of this land.
Demographics. Initially, indigenous people were the only inhabitants of Boa Vista. Boa Vista had high growth in the 1970s, due to public service jobs. The city grew more than 10% in just one year due mainly to Venezuelan immigration.
Ethnic groups found in Boa Vista include Amerindians, Portuguese, Africans, Germans, Venezuelans, Guyanese and Lebanese.
Climate. A tropical savanna climate, with a hot, humid wet season (April – November) and a very warm dry season (December to March). Being the only major Brazilian city north of the equator, it is the reverse of the rest of the Amazonian region. Temperatures fluctuations are relatively unsubstantial throughout the year.
Airport. Boa Vista is served by Boa Vista-Atlas Brasil Cantanhede International Airport with direct flights to Brasília, Georgetown (Guyana), and Manaus. Airports: Boa Vista (BVB)
Monumento ao Garimpeiro (Monument to the Miners). Built in 1960, it pays tribute to some of the most important historical figures in the entire territory of Roraima, the garimpeiro, whose mineral exploration began in the early years of the 20th century. The monument was erected in the 1970s in honor of the men who worked during the period that became known as the “yellow miracle” and that gave origin to famous garimpos like Tepequém, still active. The structure is in the center of the government headquarters and Legislative Assembly of Roraima.
In 2014, the National Indian Foundation (Funai) signaled that it would propose its demolition and claimed that the statue was an apology for a crime. Although there are no legal prospects in the state, Funai estimates that there are between 7,000 and 10,000 miners working in the Yanomami Land, the largest indigenous reserve in Brazil and the most affected by the illegal practice. In 2019, leaders of the Yanomami and Yekuana ethnicities released an open letter in which they denounced the presence of illegal miners in the region and warned of the risk of a massacre in the reserve. According to the prosecutor of Roraima, Edson Damas, the race to mines in the Yanomani Land, in the midst of the pandemic, could lead to a third cycle of genocide of the peoples living in the indigenous territory.
Bosque dos Papagaios. Home to hundreds of plants and more than 50 rescued animals, including macaws, parrots and toucans. Those who visit the forest can also see agouti, paca and capybara.
Borders
Brazil-Guyana
Brazil-Venezuela
World of Nature
Monte Roraima NP
Serra da Mocidade NP
Serra do Tepequém
Viruá NP
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I didn’ see this province of Amazonian jungle.
Brazil – Amazonas North and Southwest (Japura, Tabatinga)
World Heritage Sites: Central Amazon Conservation Complex
Tentative WHS: Parc national du Pico da Neblina (Amazonas) (06/09/1996)
Borders
Brazil (sea border/port)
Brazil-Colombia
Brazil-Peru
Brazil-Venezuela
XL: Tabatinga/Leticia/Santa Rosa
World of Nature
Jaú NP
Juami-Japurá Ecological Station
Pico da Neblina NP
Serra do Aracá State Park
Tefé National Forest
Rivers
Amazon River
Japurá River or Caquetá River
Javary River
Juruá River
Putumayo River
Solimões River
Vaupés River