Manaus, Brazil

This is going to be a long post.  We first did a city tour where we stopped to see the Opera House,which sets on a hill. To build the OperaHouse all materials were brought from Europe. Workers would bring the marble, bricks, everything from the docks. Then they would fill the empty ships with rubber. The rubber was made into balls which weighed 70-80 lbs. Can you imagine the manpower that took.

We Were fortunate to get to hear the orchestra rehearsal.

This is a room where the indigenous people were put on display for dignitaries(governors from other countries or other parts of Brazil) to view them in all their original costumes.

The home of a German slave trader.  When it was built there were 2 whitepeople living in that huge house with 28 servants.  Now there are 28 people living there with 2 servants

Servants quarters

The mold is so bad her that the buildings would require painting every two years. Now they have developed a paint that is mold free and will last 25 years.

Next we headed to a dock to go into the jungle and stay overnight at an Eco-Lodge on the Rio Negro.

Water houses everywhere. How about that for a Air BB?

Last year when there was no rain these houses were just setting in the mud or dirt.

Coming into dock at the Eco Lodge

 

We dropped off our bags, had lunch, and headed out to a tribal village.

Then they invited some of the spectators to join in.

A special surprise!

We were invited for some refreshments

Live Grubs, Toasted ants, Brazil nuts, tapioca bread, all kinds of goodies. Yum!

Back to the lodge

Our cabin. Three cabins to a building.

After dinner we went on a hunt for cayemen.  When you shine a flashlight in their eyes at night the eyes shine bright red. We went up and down the shore line for a couple of hours looking for those little buggars with no success. All three boats came back empty handed. 

It was fun anyway. The frogs were out in big numbers. They would jump out of the water about 10 feet when the boat came by.  The chorus was something you can't imagine.

We woke to a downpour. Breakfast was at 8:00 then we headed out on a jungle hike. It was still raining, but it only lasted about 15 min.  The rain is a welcome relief from the heat. But as soon as the sun comes out its back to a sauna.

Ant nest

                      Due to the rain there were no animals.

This tree is a rubber tree. The scars from someone getting some resin.

Retuning to the Lodge we then journeyed to the Monkey reserve.  The Eco Lodge started with the project to save Amazonian monkeys 25 years ago. There are three kinds of monkeys that live in the reserve. There are no fences,  but they are fed twice a day so they stick around.  The first monkey we met was a red monkey who was brought here with her spouse 10 years ago.  They kept the male isolated in a big cage for several months until the other monkeys could get used to him and not perceive him as a threat.  However when they did release him he was indeed killed by the other males.  The female is allowed to stay with the group because she is not a threat to the alpha.  There are also vampire monkeys. but they are much smaller and don't bother the others.

The Alpha male came immediately to check us out.

As soon as the food is put out the trees come live and monkies come from everywhere.

The young and vampire monkeys come in for the clean up.

We had lunch and boarded the riverboat which carried us back to the ship. Kyle soaked up every second of this amazing trip.

This is Brazils bridge to nowhere.  It is built to connect Manaus with the other side of the river.  There is nothing on the other side of the river. However it is hoped that one day there will be.

These are oil barges taking fuel to the villages up river.

And here we have the LDS temple.

The slums

And here we are back on the muddy(silt) Amazon. All the debris is trees and branches from upstream. The force of this river and its tributaries is amazing. The run off will keep rising until the end of July about 15 more feet. 

The rich