An Opera Theatre in the Middle of the Jungle

  Manaus, Brazil
Thursday, November 30, 2006

Manaus is one of the most isolated metropolitan areas of the world, accessible by ground transportation only by two highways. The main means of access is by air or by the rivers surrounding the city. The capital city of the Amazonas State, Manaus is located right smack dab in the middle of the jungle at the confluence of the Rio Amazonas and the Rio Negro.  The two rivers demonstrate an astoundingly interesting physical phenomenon by literally flowing side by side for quite a few kilometers without mixing, almost like 2 lanes on an undivided highway.  The reason lies behind the differences in speed, temperature, density, and pH of the rivers this prevents the rivers from mixing until they balance out, and finally come together downstream.  The phenomena is represented artistically in the grounds area surrounding the Amazonas Opera House, opened in 1896. This same artistic representation of black and cream swirl pattern mosaics also lines the boardwalk at the famous Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.
 
In the early years of the twentieth century the city of Manaus, became very wealthy and the most important cultural centre in the Northern Region of Brazil   The old rubber barons dreamed of transforming it into a European style city and called it "the Paris of the Tropics".  A reflection of this period of opulence is to be found in the mansions and monuments of the city, such as the Amazonas Opera House. Built with the aid of materials and artists brought from Europe, its central area, in the shape of a harp, can seat 640 people in the stalls. In 1965 it was declared part of the Brazilian National Heritage.  It has seen the likes of  some of the world´s most acclaimed singers, including Jose Carreras.

 

 
Coincidentally, after our tour of the theatre, we were told that there would be a free performance by the APHO the same evening.  APHO stands for Amazonas Philharmonic Orchestra!  How cool is that?  The name itself conjured up images of musicians playing in a forest hanging from trees, blowing sounds through bamboo, banging drums made from skins, and producing sounds resembling rainforest rhythms...



Of course, that wasn´t the case, but it was a splendid way to spend an evening for sure.  In fact, a bigger coincidence was that the guest maestro and master cellist were from guess where?  CANADA!  They sounded great, we were proud of our countrymen and women, and we were treated to a wonderful performance...for free!

One of the most important ports in all of Brazil, Manaus is BUSTLING!  And we haven´t really seen this kind of bustling in a long time.  Visions of India kept going through our minds as we weaved in and out of massive markets, up and down the international duty free zone named the "Zona Franca", and strolled by massive containers along the port dock area.  People flooding all spaces, sounds emanating from everywhere, and activity at all hours of the day.

 

Since the Amazon River is navigable for large ocean steamers to Manaus (amazing, since Manaus is located about 1500kms inland from the Atlantic), its port activity resembles that of any other major ocean port in the world.  Large tankers and containers line the docks, shady and sleazy people wander around looking for a victim to fall for their next con, slums house the poor, and the homeless from all around the region sadly beg and plead for any morsel they can find.  The entire atmosphere surrounding the massive city was definitely not picturesque, in fact we can probably say with confidence that Manaus is not a pretty place...the word "dump" comes to mind.  Primarily a place to organize jungle tours, we opted out of trekking through the Amazon from this point due to the high cost of such tours.  Instead, we decided that Bolivia would be the place that we would venture out again into the Amazon, based on reports from other travelers insisting that it was as much as 6 times cheaper, relatively untouched, and hasn´t experienced as much of the deforestation as has happened on the Brazilian side.  Amazon Destruction: Why is the Rainforest Being Destroyed in Brazil? 

However, dumps can be curious, and we were happy to experience some interesting attractions that Manaus had to offer:

-  Like the massive and busy city market where animated fishmongers would skillfully slice, gut, and sell their catches of peculiar Amazonian fish of incredible sizes and shapes.  One smiling, large-bellied man sang a beautiful song in a deep voice, as he chopped and placed the pieces in a large bag for his customer.  He then showed us a 2m long Pirarucu fish (the world´s largest freshwater fish) that dropped our jaws in awe.  We succumbed to the aroma and decided to feast on 2 types of these freshwater creatures: the Tambaci and the Pacu.  And, in the produce market, large bundles of colorful fruits, ridiculously large watermelons (weighing in at 20lbs!), and gigantic plantains would line the floors around their sellers.

 

  

-  Or, the natural medicine market where you can find a cure for every single ailment or chronic disease known to man.  The remedies are found embedded inside the countless number of plant species found inside the Amazon basin which are extracted and packaged for consumption.

  

-  The night scene was also fun, as we witnessed live stage bands and outdoor casino nights in plazas across town.  And since it was approaching Christmas, the street decorations and tree decorations were quite a sight, especially because there was not a trace of snow or an annoying Canadian Tire commercial to be found.

    

- And we managed to bump into some very interesting dudes from nearby Guyana that have set up shop in this metropolis.  The Guyanese, searching for better economic prosperity in Manaus by taking up tour guiding or selling jungle tours for large operators, are an interesting addition to the populous.  Since they speak English very well, we made a few friends during our time there.  One man who stuck out was Mohamed, a large henna-bearded Muslim, who spent a few years in New York after leaving Guyana, and then moved to South America in search of spirituality in the jungle.  After exchanging a few Muslim pleasantries, Mohamed began ranting in his American accent about the absence of prayer and mosques in his newfound home.  "Before I die I will start ´Dawa´(the word for prayer, as he put it) and I will build a ´masjid´ in this city.  There isn´t enough ´Dawa´ going on in this city and I can´t believe it!".  Quite a character.

On December 2nd we departed Manaus and set sail for one of the most fantastic journeys of our lives.  The perpetual journey of 1100 km up the Amazon River to the Colombian border will go down as one the longest and most interesting journeys we´ve experienced thus far on the road less traveled... "Oh, the places you´ll go!" - Dr. Seuss.

   

DID YOU KNOW? Guyana is the only South American country whose official language is English, and is one of only two remaining countries on mainland America whose traffic still drives on the left.

(View this entry´s Slideshow/Photo Album above)