We have arrived at Mannus 7,400 miles from Vancouver and 2 degrees south of the equator and a steady 95 F.
This jungle capital sprang up during the great rubber boom of 1896. Its splendid opera house, the centerpiece of this "Paris of the Jungle" where wealthy rubber barons enjoyed performances of Verdi and Puccini, has been magnificently restored. By 1920 the boom went bust and not until 1960 did the economy recover. At that time Brazil made this a area a tax free zone and attracted 400 major manufacturing facilities. They claim that they assemble, among other things, 75 % of all electronics in the world. The city is now over a million people and 2,500,000 in the area organized in what is now clear to me as typical Brazilian chaos.
Today it was sunny, 36C + and humid. We explored the flora and fauna of the Amazonian jungle. It is a hot house of plant and animal species even though the soil is incredible thin layer on top of sand. There are 3,000 species of fish, more than 100 species of new world monkeys, and 5,000 species of trees.
Many important medicines’ have been developed from plants found only in the Amazon. Only a fraction of its species has been catalogued. 
…….pictures to follow….
The fish, food and flee markets are next to the pier. We saw warehoused o melons and bananas. A bunch of bananas, about 40 lbs, went for about $2 USD
On day two in Mannus we explored the "Meeting of the Waters" where massive dark and light rivers meet and run parallel for miles without blending. We witnessed the vast river commerce,
moving of goods and passengers in and out of Mannus.
It is like our rush hour on the river.
Followed by what was billed as a jungle cruise. Here we got in motorized canoes (6 to 8 people). We wet about a mile into tributaries of the Reo Negro (the black river). Here we found primitive villages of river dwellers….surrounded by jungle…floating houses…..no electricity….. minimal agriculture ….minimal live stock.…primarily fisherman…
.just surviving 5 miles away from the city of 1.5M. Their pets are alligators, sloths, monkeys, snakes and dogs. We saw a rich variety of colourful birds and vegetation. The river at this point will rise 10m during the rainy season which is starting in December. This puts and end to agriculture for vast tracts of land supporting the Mannus and surrounding population.
later we went to the Teatro Amazonas Opera House.
This jungle capital sprang up during the great rubber boom of 1896. Its splendid opera house, the centerpiece of this "Paris of the Jungle" where wealthy rubber barons enjoyed performances of Verdi and Puccini, has been magnificently restored. By 1920 the boom went bust and not until 1960 did the economy recover. At that time Brazil made this a area a tax free zone and attracted 400 major manufacturing facilities. They claim that they assemble, among other things, 75 % of all electronics in the world. The city is now over a million people and 2,500,000 in the area organized in what is now clear to me as typical Brazilian chaos.
Today it was sunny, 36C + and humid. We explored the flora and fauna of the Amazonian jungle. It is a hot house of plant and animal species even though the soil is incredible thin layer on top of sand. There are 3,000 species of fish, more than 100 species of new world monkeys, and 5,000 species of trees.
Many important medicines’ have been developed from plants found only in the Amazon. Only a fraction of its species has been catalogued. 
…….pictures to follow….The fish, food and flee markets are next to the pier. We saw warehoused o melons and bananas. A bunch of bananas, about 40 lbs, went for about $2 USD
On day two in Mannus we explored the "Meeting of the Waters" where massive dark and light rivers meet and run parallel for miles without blending. We witnessed the vast river commerce,
moving of goods and passengers in and out of Mannus.
It is like our rush hour on the river.Followed by what was billed as a jungle cruise. Here we got in motorized canoes (6 to 8 people). We wet about a mile into tributaries of the Reo Negro (the black river). Here we found primitive villages of river dwellers….surrounded by jungle…floating houses…..no electricity….. minimal agriculture ….minimal live stock.…primarily fisherman…
.just surviving 5 miles away from the city of 1.5M. Their pets are alligators, sloths, monkeys, snakes and dogs. We saw a rich variety of colourful birds and vegetation. The river at this point will rise 10m during the rainy season which is starting in December. This puts and end to agriculture for vast tracts of land supporting the Mannus and surrounding population.later we went to the Teatro Amazonas Opera House.
1 comment:
Hi:
Wow! It all looks so interesting. What an opportunity. Love the pictures and comments. Sound like some of what we saw in South America like the life style in the countryside. How much of the jungle and wildlife are you able to see? You mentioned it in today's post, so I was wondering. Are you finding it pretty easy to plan your own excursions? Sounds hot so be sure to have lots to drink - do they have any exotic drinks like Pisco in Peru?
Take care.
Lynn Van Gorp
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