Photo above is the Teatro Amazonas, the most familiar symbol of Manaus.
Of course we are up early (5:15am), as usual. Another striking sunrise greets us.
We are still heading upriver to Manaus, which we are scheduled to reach at 10am.
To our stern, a beautiful sunrise is visible. Steve can’t help himself, and takes more photos of barges and other river traffic. He is especially impressed to see two FedEx trailers on one barge. That company certainly has a global presence if you see their equipment eight hundred miles from the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest.
We relax on our veranda for an hour. It’s a beautiful morning, but we can feel that the heat and humidity is beginning to build. Steve blogs. Cathy reads, but looks out just in time to spot a pink dolphin! At 7:35, we head for the Terrace Café, and have breakfast outdoors on the stern, where there is a light breeze that offsets the rising temperature and humidity.
Around 8:15, we have another example of the “Meeting of the Waters.” Manaus is actually on the Rio Negro, just a few miles north from where it meets the Rio Solimões. In Brazil, the confluence of these two rivers actually forms the Amazon River, although, internationally, most geographers consider the Amazon as beginning thousands of miles east in Peru.
The more we learn about the phenomenon Meeting of the Waters, the more we hear about additional factors that cause it. We will go back to Wikipedia yet again for more information, this time about the merging of the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimões: it is “due to the differences in temperature, speed, and amount of dissolved sediments in the waters of the two rivers. The Rio Negro flows at near 2 km/h (1.2 mph) at a temperature of 28 °C (82 °F), while the Rio Solimões flows between 4 and 6 km/h (2.5–3.7 mph) at a temperature of 22 °C (72 °F). The light-colored water (the Rio Solimões (or Rio Amazonas, depending on the interpretation of the Amazon’s origin) is rich with sediment from the Andes Mountains, whereas the black water (the Rio Negro), running from the Colombian hills and interior jungles, is nearly sediment-free and colored by decayed leaf and plant matter. Smaller-scale meeting of waters of the Amazon river also occurs in the locations of Santarem (Brazil) and Iquitos (Peru).”
We head for Insignia Lounge at 10:00am to begin our 7-hour excursion, Best of Manaus. We board the tender, which brings us to a pier where we find five or six buses and board bus 3. We start off and our guide D’Angelo introduces himself.
At this point in this post, it would be a good time to introduce Manaus, a city most North Americans have probably never heard of, including us until we booked this cruise. The municipality of Manaus encompasses 4,402 square miles and has a population of 2.6 million people. As discussed in the Santarem post, municipalities in Brazil are enormous, and it is hard to define the geography and population of the actual cities. We read somewhere that the city of Manaus has a population of 2.3 million.
It is in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest, and this location has had an enormous impact on its history and development from the late 19th century through the present. As explained to us, Brazil’s economy has historically suffered enormous boom and bust cycles due to its dependence on a single agricultural crop, with a very few families becoming fabulously wealthy while the rest of the population remains in poverty.
This phenomenon was its most exaggerated in Manaus with the rubber boom, and the effects of that period of the city’s history is still evident everywhere to this day. There are a few neighborhoods of the wealthy and high-rise apartment building where the small middle class lives, with the rest of the city’s population located in many square miles of decrepit housing. There are hundreds and hundreds of abandoned buildings from the rubber boom era of over a hundred years ago. The entire city is a study in severe economic inequality the likes of which you see nowhere in America, despite the claims.
The following twelve paragraphs were taken from various Wikipedia articles (and this there is some duplication), and have been included in this post to give come historical context to the paragraph above:
The Industrial Revolution in Europe led to demand for uses that natural rubber could satisfy. At that time, it was exclusively found in the Amazon Basin. It was a desirable commodity, valued at a high price, and thought to create wealth and dividends for whoever would dare invest in the trade.
But the substance was difficult to use and the market for rubber therefore limited, until the process of vulcanization was developed. Charles Goodyear, in the 1830s, was working to improve tube tires. He tried heating up rubber in order to mix other chemicals with it. This seemed to harden and improve the rubber, though this was due to the heating itself and not the chemicals used. Not realizing this, he repeatedly ran into setbacks when his announced hardening formulas did not work consistently. One day in 1839, when trying to mix rubber with sulphur, Goodyear accidentally dropped the mixture in a hot frying pan. To his astonishment, instead of melting further or vaporizing, the rubber remained firm and, as he increased the heat, the rubber became harder. Goodyear quickly worked out a consistent system for this hardening, which he called vulcanization because of the heat involved. He obtained a patent in the same year, and by 1844 was producing the rubber on an industrial scale.
From the beginning of the second half of the 19th century, rubber began to exert a strong attraction to visionary entrepreneurs. In 1849 Manaus had 5,000 inhabitants, expanding in the next half-century to 70,000.The activity of latex extraction in the Amazon revealed its lucrative possibilities. Natural rubber soon achieved a place of distinction in the industries of Europe and North America, reaching a high price. This caused various people to travel to Brazil with the intention of learning more about the rubber tree and the process of latex extraction, from which they hoped to make their fortunes.
Because of the growth of rubber extraction, industrial processing and related activities, numerous cities and towns swelled on waves of immigrants. In 1855, over 2,100 tons of rubber was exported from the Amazon; a figure which reached 10,000 tons by 1879. Manaus was transformed and urbanized. Manaus was the first Brazilian city to be urbanized and the second to be electrified.
Belém, the capital of Pará state, as well as Manaus, the capital of Amazonas, were the most developed and prosperous cities in Brazil during the rubber boom. They were located in strategic sites, and prominent men in the rubber industry built their numerous and wealthy residences in each. These citizens created the demand that led to both cities being electrified and given running water and sewers.
The two cities’ apogee was reached between 1890 and 1920, when they acquired electric trams, avenues built on cleared gullies, as well as imposing and luxurious buildings, such as the polished Teatro Amazonas, the government palace, the municipal market, and the customs house, in the case of Manaus
The European influence later became notable in Manaus and Belém, in the architecture and culture; and the two cities enjoyed their greatest economies and influence in the 19th century. The Amazon Basin was the source in the era for nearly 40% of all Brazil’s exports. The new riches of Manaus made the city the world capital in the sale of diamonds. Thanks to rubber, the per capita income of Manaus was twice as much as the coffee-producing region.
For a time, Manaus 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.
By the second decade of the 20th century, the Amazon was already losing primacy in rubber production, as the British government had planted rubber trees in its colonies in Maylasia, Sri Lanka, and tropical Africa. These rubber trees were planted from seeds that trader Henry Wickham had smuggled out of Brazil in 1876. These plantations were able to produce latex with greater efficiency and productivity. Consequently, with lower costs and a lower final price, the British Empire assumed control of the world rubber market.
The Amazon’s rubber was undercut in the world market and demand for it fell. This rapidly resulted in the stagnation of the regional economy. There was a lack of entrepreneurial or governmental vision to find alternatives for development. The “rubber barons” and economic elite followed the money, leaving the region to seek their next fortunes elsewhere.
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. As an example of the depth of the economic decline, 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
The recession caused by the end of the rubber boom left profound scars on the Amazon region. There was a massive loss of state tax income, high levels of unemployment, rural and urban emigration, and abandoned and unneeded housing. Those who remained in the region had few expectations for the future. Deprived of their income, the rubber workers remained in the periphery of Manaus, searching for new work.
There was a similar “rubber boom” during World War II, of course. The Japanese controlled Malaysia, and the United States once again turned to Brazil as the principal source of rubber. Here is another Wikipedia excerpt describing the period:
“Eager to supply the Allied Forces with the rubber needed for war equipment, the Brazilian government made an agreement with the United States government (the Washington Accords). It set goals for the large-scale extraction of Amazon latex, an operation which became known as the Batalha da borracha (“rubber battle”), for the manpower and effort devoted to the project.
“After the rubber forests were abandoned, no more than 35,000 workers remained in the region. The great challenge of Brazil was to increase the annual production of latex from 18,000 to 45,000 tons, as set in the agreement. For this, 100,000 men were needed.
“During the same period, the northeast part of Brazil had suffered a devastating drought and an unprecedented crisis for its farmers. Brazil decided to recruit new rubber workers from that region. The Estado Novo in 1943 ordered the compulsory enlisting of workers in the Serviço Especial de Mobilização de Trabalhadores para a Amazônia (SEMTA; “Special Service of Mobilization of Workers for the Amazon”), based in the northeast, in Forteleza. Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas reduced the problem of the economic blight and at the same time increased colonization of the Amazon Basin.
“In addition to SEMTA, the government created other organizations to support the rubber battle: the Superintendência para o Abastecimento do Vale da Amazônia (SAVA: the Superintendency for the Provisioning of the Amazon Valley), the Serviço Especial de Saúde Pública (SESP: the Special Service of Public Health), and the Serviço de Navegação da Amazônia e de Administração do Porto do Pará (SNAPP: Navigation Service of the Amazon and Administration of the Port of Pará). The Banco de Crédito da Borracha (Rubber Credit Bank) was also created.
“The international organization Rubber Development Corporation (RDC), financed with capital from United States industries, covered the expenses of relocating the migrants (known at the time as brabos). The United States government paid the Brazilian government $100 for every worker delivered to the Amazon.
“Thousands of workers from various regions of Brazil were transported under force to obligatory servitude. Many suffered death by tropical diseases of the region, such as malaria and yellow fever. The northeast region sent 54,000 workers to the Amazon alone, 30,000 of which were from Ceará. These new rubber workers were called soldados da borracha (“rubber soldiers”) in a clear allusion to the role of the latex in supplying the U.S. factories with the rubber necessary to fight the war.
“During World War II, the region again enjoyed prosperity. Money began to circulate in Manaus, Belém, and other cities and towns nearby, and the regional economy gained strength.
“For many workers, it was a one-way journey. About 30,000 rubber workers died in the Amazon, after having exhausted their energies extracting the “white gold.” They died of malaria, yellow fever, and hepatitus; they also suffered attacks by animals such as panthers, serpents, and scorpions. The Brazilian government did not fulfill its promise to return the “rubber soldiers” to their homes at the end of the war as heroes and with housing comparable to that of the military veterans. It is estimated that only about 6,000 workers managed to return to their homes, at their own expense.”
All of this may appear to be a deviation from the main reason for this post, which is to describe our visit here. But the impact of the rubber booms is integral to any discussion of Manaus, and, as we have said, the evidence of these enormous economic gyrations is everywhere to be seen in this city.
We can’t leave this subject without noting the significant progress that has been made since. In 1967, a Free Trade Zone was established here in order to improve the economy, and it has done much to draw economic activity to the area. Again we turn to Wikipedia: “Although the main industry of Manaus through much of the 20th century was rubber, its importance has declined. Given its location, 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 mobile phone companies LG, Nokia, Samsung, Siemens, Sagem, Gradiente, and BenQ-Siemens operate mobile phone manufacturing plants in Manaus. Plastic lens manufacturer Essilor also has a plant here. The Brazilian sport utility vehicle manufacturer Amazon Veiculos is headquartered in Manaus.”
Now, at long last, on to our tour. We will visit four locations: Teatro Amazonas (Manaus Opera House), Gaucho’s Restaurant for lunch, the National Institute of Amazonian Research, and the Military Zoo. It takes all of five minutes after boarding our bus that we begin to realize that today’s tour is going to be something special because of our guide D’Angelo. He has already shown us his great sense of humor and his wealth of knowledge on all sorts of subjects. For that reason, we will start with a long list of bullet points on a whole range of subjects he brought up:
- Manaus is the capital of Amazonas state, which has a population of 4 million people, 2.6 million of whom live in the municipality of Manaus and 2.3 million of those in the city itself.
- Catholicism is by far the most dominant religion, although D’Angelo suggests that the real religion is soccer!
- 50 families hold 89% of the wealth in the country, and this imbalance results in the stubborn, chronic and deep poverty suffered by a vast majority of the population.
- The racial makeup of the country: Mulatos (mixed race of black and white) are mostly on the coast; in interior Brazil, Cabaclos predominate (mixture of white and Indigenous). [We have found the guides on this cruise very matter-of-fact about the issue of race. No politics; no resentments. Very refreshing.]
- There are few mosquitos in Manaus, entirely due to the pH balance (acidity) of the Rio Negro. Fortunately, these insects find the environment inhospitable.
- Examples of the opulence of the rubber boom: Manaus had electric lights in 1891; and sewers installed in 1892.
- São Sebastião square, in the center of the city and opposite the Teatro Amazonas, is paved in a tile design symbolizing the Meeting of the Waters.
- Manaus economic fortunes have been steadily improving since the establishment of a Free Trade Zone here in the 1960s, and the city now has a larger economy than Madrid and Barcelona combined.
- In the center of the city, the buildings are no more than six stories, just as in the rubber boom days. High rises are being built, and are located outside of this small city center.
- From 1964 to 1985, the military ran the government of Brazil, and they had little interest in educating the population. Hence another contributor to the income extremes, lack of a functioning middle class and persistent poverty. Significant steps are being taken to correct this, but they will take years to have an important impact.
- The Danish company Lego established a plant in Manaus a few years in 1986 to take advantage of the Free Trade Zone, and employed approximately 60 people. In 1998, the plant was closed, in part due to “many political changes in the country make it difficult to conduct business in the Brazilian political system.” (https://www.lego.com/en-,in/history/articles/g-production-in-brazil/).
In a very few minutes after our bus left the pier, and a short walk through São Sebastião square, we arrive at the Teatro Amazonas.
There is no symbol of the incredible rubber boom era that hit its zenith between 1890 and 1920 than this magnificent building, and it is the pride and joy of the community for sure. We will start with some paragraphs from Wikipedia:
“The Amazonas Theatre was built at a time when fortunes were made in the rubber boom. Construction of the Amazon Theatre was first proposed in 1881 by a member of the local House of Representatives, Antonio Jose Fernandes Júnior, who envisioned a “jewel” in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.
“In 1882, the State legislature approved some limited financing, but this was considered insufficient. Later that year, the president of the Province, José Lustosa Paranaguá, approved a larger budget and initiated a competition for the presentation of plans. The chosen project was made by the Gabinete Português de Engenharia e Arquitectura, an engineering and architecture office from Lisbon. By 1884, construction was ready to begin under the Italian architect Celestial Sacardim. Work proceeded slowly over the following fifteen years with some stops and restarts from 1885 to 1892.
“By 1895, when the masonry work and exterior were completed, the decoration of the interior and the installation of electric lighting could begin more rapidly. The theatre was inaugurated on December 31, 1896, with the first performance occurring on January 7, 1897.
“The theatre’s architectural style is considered typically Renaissance Revival. The roofing tiles were imported from Alsace, the steel walls from Glasgow, Scotland and the Carrara marble for the stairs, statues and columns, from Italy. The dome is covered with 36,000 decorated ceramic tiles painted in the colors of the national flag of Brazil. The interior furnishing came from France in the Louis Quinze style. Italian artist Domenico de Angelis the Younger painted the panels that decorate the ceilings of the auditorium and of the audience chamber. The curtain, with its painting “Meeting of the Waters”, was originally created in Paris by Crispim do Amaral. The theatre’s 198 chandeliers were imported from Italy, including 32 of Murano glass.”
We spend almost an hour there, being led from place to place by D’Angelo, who knew as much about this theater as any guide possibly could. Here are just four notes:
- Originally, there was not to be a dome, and the architects protested. But the head of the Amazonas state government, charismatic governor Eduardo Ribeiro, who led the effort to make the theater the symbol of opulence and glory that was Manaus at the time, insisted.
- Eduardo Ribeiro also insisted that the capacity of the theatre be exactly 701, not 700 as suggested by the architects. He surmised that this odd number would lend additional distinction to the theater and would add to the publicity that it would receive as a result.
- The acoustics that the building possesses are said to be almost perfect and still among the three best such locations in the world. It has features such as the columns in the balconies being made of hollow iron that quietly vibrate, and the wooden floor reflects the sound as well.
- Needless to say, the Amazon environment is hot and humid year-round. To help to cool the interior, a unique “air conditioning” system was built. Breezes coming off of the Rio Negro were captured at the river’s edge and flowed through a series of large pipes directly into the building, making the air inside several degrees cooler than that of the outside.
On one of the hallways leading to the balcony seats, we are treated to an interesting sight: a model of Teatro Amazonas built entirely of plastic Lego bricks. The story of its existence is provided in the photo below, along with a photo of the model itself.
The actual theatre opened in 1896, but was closed in 1924 after the rubber boom collapsed. Here is a brief history of its revival published in the British newspaper Guardian: “The Amazon Theatre was hit hard by the crash, closing regular operations in 1924. The city continued to maintain the building, which eventually became a national historic landmark in 1966, but it was rarely opened to visitors, usually only for guided tours.
“Manaus itself lost most of its old-world charm. The public parks fell into disrepair, the streetcar system deteriorated and was closed, and many of the luxurious houses built in the central city were abandoned. Most people who were able to leave did so, and the class divide that had been an issue for the city even during the boom times worsened.
“After decades of disuse, interest in reviving the Amazon Theatre finally picked up thanks to an unlikely source: a movie. Werner Herzog’s 1982 film Fitzcarraldo features a concert in the Amazon Theatre. Its popularity brought the eyes of the world back to Manaus’s fabled theatre.
“By this time, the city was no longer in such dire financial conditions. Rubber production never regained its position in the region’s economy (though it enjoyed a brief spike during the second world war), but the declaration of Manaus as a free economic zone encouraged local trade and the development of new industries.
“After years of neglect, the theatre was finally ready to reopen in 1990. At the first concert, the scene bore some resemblance to the theatre’s initial opening nearly 100 years earlier – but instead of local elites, the theatre was filled with tourists from western Europe and the United States, drawn by the theatre’s recent international notoriety. Many Manaus residents instead opted to protest the opening, shouting: “The people paid for this opening, but the people are left outside!”
“It proved to be a false start: two weeks later, the theatre once again had to shut down due to the public backlash, and it wasn’t until 1997 that the theatre resumed regular concert schedules. The establishment of a permanent philharmonic orchestra in Manaus that same year has kept performances going at the venue, and helped it to build a reputation as a centre for classical music.” (https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/apr/14/manaus-amazon-theatre-brazil-history-cities-50-buildings).
Below are some photos of the interior of this incredible structure, taken as we walk through amazed at what we are seeing:
We exit the building and head for our bus. As we do so, we see that Christmas decorations are being put up in the area surrounding the theater. Very festive … and very incongruous in this heat and humidity, which has made itself very obvious, very quickly, to all of us.
It is now around 12:30pm, and we head for our lunch. We pass though some of the formerly exclusive neighborhoods. A few of the magnificent buildings have somehow been maintained, but most are virtually falling down after a century of being abandoned by its rich owners and the occupied by the poor masses that emigrated to the city when their rubber-gathering jobs in the rainforest disappeared. It is startling and upsetting to see.
But soon we arrive at Gaucho’s, a classic Brazilian steakhouse. It is Sunday, and many of the tables are occupied by entire families. It’s delightful to see because it gives us a glimpse of what is apparently a common custom: Sunday lunch. We are led through the main area to a large room with three twenty-foot-long tables, each holding about 18-20 guests.
For the next hour or so, we are treated to a large and varied menu of delicious food. It is obvious from the start that the wait staff is accustomed to the constant activity and they are very well trained and professional. First they bring bread and large cubes of grilled cheese to nibble on. Water is served, although we can purchase other soft drinks and beer as well.
We are then invited to go to the buffet in the main room. There are two main stations, both heaped with all kinds of different dishes. Beans and rice (fejoida), curried fish, hearts of palm and other salads, two kinds of plantain (sweet and sour), and many, many other dishes. The line moves efficiently, and we are back at our table within a few minutes.
Then comes the reasons this is called a steakhouse. Waiters come around to everyone with swords of meat: two kinds of beef (round and sirloin), lamb, chicken. They also serve slow-cooked beef ribs, which Cathy thinks is the best meat offering. Lastly, a waiter comes around with more large cubes of cheese, only these are on the swords as well.
Here’s when something memorable takes place. Cathy asks a woman waitperson: “How do you make these delicious cheese cubes?” She holds up her finger, indicating that, while she doesn’t speak English, she will find someone to answer the question. In less than a minute, another woman arrives to help. She motions for Cathy to follow her and leads her into the kitchen!
Naturally, the kitchen is buzzing with activity, with waiters, cooks and chefs running all over the place. But Cathy’s host calmly shows her where and how the dish is prepared: just like the meat, on long swords over hot flames. Very cool! The two of them wae there for five to ten minutes, and it turns out to be the high point of the meal for foodie Cathy.
After this delicious meal, we board the bus and head off to our third stop, a visit to the National Institute of Amazonian Research (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia or INPA). This is a research center of the Brazil Federal Government linked to the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation. Appropriately, it is headquartered in Manaus. It was founded in 1952, with the purpose of furthering scientific knowledge of the Brazilaian Amazon Region. Most of INPA’s research focuses on tropical forest management, ecology, molecular ecology, zoology, botany, tropical agriculture and tropical pisciculture. We couldn’t find all that much more information (written in English), but it is located on the edge of the Amazon Rainforest here in Manaus.
Cathy’s right hip is acting up again, so she stays behind at the entrance. Steve and the others spend about an hour here, walking through a park where we are able to view specimens of some of the animal and plant life in the Amazon, such as this tree and some animals, such as giant otters and manatees.
Unfortunately, most of the animals are either underwater or trying to avoid the heat of the day. It’s a pleasant walk, and we chat among ourselves, but, between the heat and humidity and the enormous meal we just consumed, we are all a bit listless.
We finally enter a very modern, well done and air conditioned exhibit area. D’Angelo continues filling us with information – the guy’s supply is endless – which includes explaining some of the maps and such we see on the walls. He explains the earth history of how the Amazon region was formed, beginning with the supercontinent Pangeia. He does so referring to this helpful wall exhibit, which is unfortunately written only in Portuguese.
There are examples of plants and animals as well, as shown below.
All in all, it is interesting and instructive, and does give us a decent introduction as to the work that this organization does and the important research its 600 employees are engaged in, including several from the United States here on loan from their universities.
Okay, it’s back on the bus. It’s almost 4pm, but our tour will have an interesting finish. Our excursion description tells us we are visiting a Military Zoo, which seems a bit of an oxymoron. But, as D’Angelo explains, the Brazilian military has a large presence in the Amazon Rainforest, and always has. The rainforest borders many countries, and, being as isolated and seemingly impenetrable as the rainforest is, Brazil feels it must keep a significant military presence in order to enforce its territorial claims. There are 12,000 military personnel in the Manaus area alone.
Zoologico do CIGS (the CIGS Zoo, CIGS being some military acronym) is adjacent to the Jungle Warfare School. It is billed as a zoo housing indigenous species that had been in some kind of danger, mostly from poaching and illegal hunting. They are brought here both to be protected from human predators as well as to provide an opportunity to educate people about the Amazon Rainforest and the many species that live there.
Understandably, this is not comparable to the Bronx Zoo in New York or the San Diego Zoo, which, over the decades, have undergone expensive transformations to reflect the modern theories of providing habitat that closely reflects the animal’s real-world habitat. The animals here are caged in the old-school method, but they appear to be in very good health and well-cared for. It is a great credit to the Brazilian Army that they even have such a facility.
Below are photos of some of the animals we see.
There are many, many more animals to see, but time is growing short. As we walk through the park, we have an opportunity to discuss all manner of subjects with D’Angelo. He is well-versed in all of them.
Steve finally has the opportunity to ask him about his background. He actually studied law, graduated from law school and practiced for two years as well. When the last recession hit, he decided that a law career was not for him. He has been a fulltime guide for twelve years, and loves it. With his outgoing personality and widely varying interests, we can see how being stuck in an office surrounded by stacks of ossifyingly-dull paperwork would be sheer drudgery for him, and we applaud his courage to follow his interests and pursue a career that he truly enjoys. We also learn that he does indeed live in of the large apartment buildings that he has mentioned with his wife and seven-year-old son.
It has certainly been lucky for us that we ended up on Bus 3 today with him as our guide. As we have said in many posts, the quality of the guides we get on these excursions has everything to do with how much we enjoy them and even influences how much we enjoy the country we are visiting. Without a doubt, he has been one of the very best ever, and our growing interest in Brazil in general and Manaus in particular is due to D’Angelo.
We board our bus at 5pm. The drive back takes less than half an hour because, as D’Angelo explains, it is Sunday. Were we to be traveling on a Monday, he tells us the trip could be ninety minutes. Just like home, we are thinking! He also mentions that, were it a weekday and a World Cup game with Brazil going on at this time, the city would be at a standstill until the game was over.
Unfortunately, we are now passing through some of the poor sections of the city again. Every wall has barbed wire or concertina wire on top, and many of the apartment houses have wire fencing covering the doors and windows up to the top of the second floor. Hundreds of other buildings haven’t seen paint or even much maintenance in what must be decades, and what were grand buildings a hundred years ago are in ruins. It is truly tragic.
It would seem that much of the touted economic development that has taken place in the past thirty or forty years is not yet impacting nearly enough people. As D’Angelo has told us, the two most devastating conditions are 1) too few people controlling almost all of the resources, and 2) a minimum wage so low that no one can eke out even a marginal living on it. Many progressives in our country claim the same problem in the USA, but they ain’t seen nothin’ compared to Brazil.
Well, we arrive back to the pier, and say our goodbyes to D’Angelo. What a fascinating and totally unexpected introduction to the Amazon. We board with a whole new perspective. We have not exactly explored the Amazon Rainforest, but have been given a history and perspective of the region as a whole that few Americans will be fortunate enough to receive.
We board the tender for the fifteen-minute ride back to Insignia, which will spend the night here. We will have another day of new experiences to enjoy, and we look forward to them with great curiosity and anticipation.
