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Published: August 7th 2005
The bus arrived in Manaus at 6 am. When I got out off the bus I had a temperature shock. It was so hot and humid at 6 am, I couldn’t imagine how it would be at noon. I had 21 hours to kill in Manaus before my flight to Belo Horizonte, the end of my trip. I had originally planned to take a boat down the Amazon River to Belem (4 days), and the bus from there to Belo Horizonte (3 days), but I have to be home before the end of the week, so I substituted a 4-hour flight for the 7-day land trip.
Manuas is the only large city in the Amazon, with 1.5 million people. It lies by Rio Negro, which becomes Rio Amazonas just a few miles to the east. There is a lot to do there, but my time was very limited. I took a crowded bus to the airport, left my backpack in a locker (they still have those in terrorist-free zones like Brazil) and took another bus back to the center. I did some sightseeing, and met this guy, Sergio in front of Teatro Amazonas. Sergio is a tour guide, he knew the best places to visit for all time limitations. Following his advice I took a cab to a port east of the city and from there I rented a boat to “encontro das águas”, where Rio Negro meets Rio Solimoes and becomes Rio Amazonas. I felt a little snob renting alone a boat that could take 4 people for the same price, and even had my individual guide, but I figured that if Paul Theroux did it I had permission to do it too. The two rivers are of different colors and different temperatures, Rio Negro is black and cool (22 degrees celsius), while Rio Solimoes is light brown and warn (28 degrees). After the rivers meet, their waters run side by side for several miles without mixing. You can clearly see the color and feel the temperature difference in the middle of the river, it’s quite amazing. The tour included a short trip to a floating village, “casas flutuates”, where the population build everything - including their gardens and a small school - on floating logs, because of the seasonal changes in the river height.
When I got back I visited a museum of the native cultures, and did a lot of walking. By 7 pm most places downtown were closed, but I still had 8 hours before my flight. I managed to waste a lot of time in a restaurant and took a slow bus to the airport, but I still got there around 9 pm, six hours before the flight. I tried to do some reading, but it was clear that I was too tired to last more than a few minutes, so I shamelessly took my sleeping bag out in the middle of the airport, set my alarm clock for 2:20 am and slept the best sleep I had had in many days. I probably snored too, but I received no complaints.
Thanks to my nap the flight wasn’t as painful as it could have been. I had a layover in Brazilia and got to Belo Horizonte around 11 am. My packpack full of dirty laundry got mishandled and was sent in a later flight. It feels strange to be home after more than 2 months traveling.
I had originally planned to write a discussion of the meaning of this trip to me. This was one of many that I have done, certainly one of the boldest, but it wasn’t the first and it won’t be the last. I have learned a lot of things that goes way beyond what I wrote and I thought that maybe I could share it with whoever is interested, but I decided not to bore you with such things. I just hope everyone could take a little from what I wrote, and that it may encourage you to pursue your dreams.
Faith arrives next week, we are going to travel to the south of Brazil by car. I intend to continue the blog, updates will come once a week or so. I finally got a digital camera, so the blog will have more pictures and less bs. Eva wrote me from the Netherlands, she is doing much better, but she complains that Holland is overorganized. Her family and her roommates are taking care of her.
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yan
non-member comment
thank you
for writing about your journea in South America keep writing !!