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Published: September 15th 2014
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We began our trip flying from Columbus, Ohio to Manaus, Brazil, where the mighty Amazon is actually formed as the Rio Negro and Rio Solimeos come together. The Rio Negro's black water refuses to combine with the Solimeos' creamy white water for a number of kilometers, forming the 'meeting of the waters' that is hard to describe. A late night arrival at the hotel taught us the first lesson about Brazil, the Brazilians are the best part of the country. Our driver did not have change (we had just changed money and only had large bills) but, no worries, he would come back the next day to get the rest of the fare if we would just leave it at the desk.
The next morning we found the second best thing about Brazil, the food. With the help of an American and his Brazilian wife we navigated juices and fruits that simply have no translation as they are only found in the Amazon forests. After breakfast we headed out to see the sights, from a bird's-eye view as Matt and Matt, from Amazon Tree Climbing, helped us ascent a "King Tree" high above the river for a view few get.
Marcia, the dare devil, made it 45 meters up into the branches (as in 120+ fee), George was happy to hang around 30 meters (close to 100') to enjoy the view of the meeting of the Rivers and the city.
We were of course hungry after that adventure and headed off in search of food. Not finding the restaurant recommended in the guide book, Marcia took control and led us into the type of eatery that would become our favorite--the kilo restaurant. You grab a plate, fill it with local foods, they weigh it, get your drink order (which is always a mystery as we don't speak Portuguese), and sit down with new friends as the best working-class places are usually jammed. We have no idea what the per kilo price is, but usually lunch for two was under $40R or $20 US.
Now the next adventure, the tourist maps are useless as most streets are not on them so we wandered for a while trying to find a museum and, as we were standing on a street corner trying to make sense of the map a gentleman approached us and offered help. He had lived in the
Coconut Milk
Cold coconuts, top lopped off, straw inserted, delicious and good for you. US, loved it, and, by association, decided he loved us! He charged down the street, talking about the US with us in hot pursuit until finally he showed us we were only three streets from our destination. With that he hugged us and headed off on his errands, leaving us totally and completely nowhere near where we wanted to go! No worries, Marcia turned lemons into lemonade by figuring out we were only a few blocks from the central market which we wanted to see anyway.
We had heard there was a free concert in the Amazon Opera House (see photo and caption) and turns out it was only $10R for a seat so we bought tickets to hear the Amazon Philharmonic and were treated to a great evening of music. Dinner on the plaza near the Opera House (the first of many great fish dishes). A great start to the trip.
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Susan B Wood
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Photos
Doc Wood I throughly enjoyed looking at the pictures and have more reading and photos to go . But this Opera House is beautiful I did not expect to see such a grand building there . From the size Opera must be very popular