Manaus, Brazil
We arrived in Manaus, Brazil at about 8:30 am. The Captain said there was an issue taking on 2 pilots at about midnight and then having to traverse very slowly to navigate through some difficult parts of the river. The past few hours he had all 4 engines running at top speed to make up some time.
Manaus had a brand new pier as the previous one sank sometime during the pandemic. It was nice to have a pier to walk out on instead of boarding tenders.
Kimberly reminded passengers to take small amounts of money and eliminate jewelry. Crime was a problem here.
We exited the ship about 9 am and were directed to a shuttle that would take us out of the port. We had no excursion today and were planning to explore on our own. The shuttle just took us to the port exit. It wasn’t far but this was a working port and no pedestrians were allowed.
Upon exit we organized ourselves and began our journey. I was using a gps map program and selected a route to the Teatro Amazonas or the Amazon Theater. We began following the map and I saw a sign “saida de peds” or pedestrian exit in Portuguese. We walked amongst a few buildings and followed some arrows. We appeared to be going farther into the port rather into the city. Two port officials approached us. Using google translate, they told us that Manaus was not safe. Someone will pull a gun on you and take everything from you. Cell phones were highly sought after. They directed us onto a bus that took us back to the ship. We spoke with ship security about what happened and they laughed. Out of all the folks on the ship, I would say we were the least likely to be targets. We saw Janet and Brian back on the ship and decided to team up and try it again.
Success this time and we were off to the theater.
Manaus is the capital and largest city in the state of Amazonas. About 2.2 million here. Manaus is in the center of the Amazon rain forest and at one time was the richest city in Brazil. This was center of the rubber boom of the late 19th century. Buildings built during this time period were spared no expense. The Opera House was built in 1896 at a cost of 10 million dollars. In one season, half of the visiting performing troupe died of yellow fever. The theater closed for most of the 20th century and did not open again until 1997.
Impressive structure from the outside, we decided to have a look inside. There were many tour busses here and learned that we could not get beyond the lobby unless we were on an organized tour. I was able to drift up the stairs with an organized group while the others waited because they were stopped by security.
I was able to take pictures of a few areas but learned the performance area was closed for renovation.
When the seeds of the rubber tree were smuggled out to be planted in southeast asia, Brazil lost it’s monopoly on this product and Manaus lost its’ status. Remnants remain of great buildings now abandoned. Homeless people are sleeping on the streets although a fraction of what San Francisco has. Crime is an issue and the drug trade rampant.
We wandered around the city looking for the recommended sites not to miss. One was the municipal market that sold spices, elixirs, and tourist souvenirs. The main drag was also closed for part of the day and venders set up tables to sell their wares.
We parted with Janet and Brian at the market and went back up toward the theater to have lunch and a drink.
The restaurant was right across from the theater. It had outdoor seating and also had a generator running for electricity. No clue as to why there is no electricity here. Corruption I would guess. We had a shrimp appetizer, a beer and a locally created drink. Very good.
We wrapped up our time at this stop and headed back to the ship.
The ship left the port while we were having dinner. Nice sunset out the back window.
We finished the evening playing dominoes using a set we purchased at the market. Interesting game. My first time playing.…