The sheer size of Brazil is enough to make
even the most intrepid traveler stop and think, and as usual when I travel, I
had only limited time to explore. After some deliberation, I chose to start with Manaus,
capital of the state of Amazonas. This
largest state of Brazil some sixteen hundred kilometers from the Atlantic, has
a tropical climate with average daily temperatures of 27 degrees C.
Manaus is a conglomeration of modern
buildings; huts on stilts with thatched roofs; gracious mansions from the
times of the rubber boom; fine stores; restaurants, and theatres.
In the heart of the city is the legendary opera house, the "Teatro
Amazonas". The entire
theatre was built in 1896 from materials imported from Europe, including tiles
and furniture from France, and marble from Italy.
The best European singers and ballet troupes of the day were brought
here to perform. Even now,
performances are still given on special occasions.
I signed up for a 1-day boat tour of the
"meeting of the waters", the place where the yellow-brown Amazon
meets the blue-black waters of the Rio Negro. The two streams run side by side for about 6 kilometers but
their waters never mingle. This
is a spectacular sight! If it is
an overcast day it can be cool on the river, and a sweater is handy.
During the cruise, my fellow passengers and I took a short walk through
the emerald-green humid jungle, with its giant trees and vines.
We passed and admired "Victoria Amazonica", enormous water
lilies, the round leaves of which can grow to a diameter of 2 meters.
Later that day I embarked on a 4-night
catamaran "Ensasa Amazonas", to sail from Manaus to Belem.
On the first day out on this enormous river, there wasn't much to see
other than green shores in the distance, and always there was the sky and the
muddy Amazon waters. The day
passed pleasantly by reading, talking, and playing chess.
The next day was more rewarding.
We spent part of the morning on the Tapajos River, and had a chance to
disembark and go to the beach. I
walked for more than an hour along an endless beach, with its many small bays
and inlets. I passed countless sea turtles, all laying their eggs in the
sand. And the birds!
Clouds of them with brilliant colours in their plumage, rising up in
the bright noon sky as I disturbed their siesta, swooping up and down the
length of the beach. Through the
zoom lens of my camera I could just make out small huts in the distance, and
wished there had been more time to explore.
On the third day we entered the "Narrows
of Breves", the region of a thousand islands, where our ship sailed
through passages with equatorial forest only 20 or 30 meters out of our reach.
I could hear monkeys chattering in the trees, and every now and then a parrot
or a Toucan with its enormous beak would fly by, its colours contrasting
brilliantly with the dark foliage of the jungle. At one point we even scraped
a sand bar, and didn't that cause a little concern among the passengers.
Some had visions of becoming rubber barons;
others envisioned schools of piranha hungrily eyeing the ship.
Nevertheless, we all had confidence in our Captain.
Indians far off in the distance stopped
paddling their dugout canoes to gaze curiously at the ship as our Captain
worked to free us. Once we
started to move again, we passed isolated settlements, where boats were being
built, children were running, well-kept cemeteries, and women working at
cooking fires, and we pondered life in the jungle.
Instead of going directly to Belem, we
stopped and disembarked on the little-visited island of Marajo, and what a
treat it was! Marajo is located between
two branches of the Amazon River at its mouth. This island is bigger than Switzerland, and is the cradle of
Marajoara Civilization, a pre-Columbian culture.
We had a chance to shoot the water buffalo
(camera, not gun), and some of us even rode one.
After lunch, we stopped for an hour on the beach, sitting under the
tall palms, our toes digging in the powdery white sand.
There was Bossa Nova music to listen to, and with a cool beer in hand,
and the gently breaking sea on the sand bars as a backdrop, it was one of the
highlights of the cruise.
Right there, the Amazon River is very wide
and it is not possible to see the opposite shore.
In the late afternoon, we went to watch the immense variety of birds.
In my mind's eye, I see a picture of brilliant Ibises, captured as they
flew into the sunset. Late in the evening we arrived in Belem.
I had promised myself to have a small walking tour by night, but soon
found that this was not a very good idea:
Belem is not very safe.
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"Bom dia Cidade Maravilhosa!
Rio, the most beautiful place in the World!"
Rio de Janeiro is truly one of the most
lovely places to visit, and I was eagerly anticipating the chance to see for
myself. It was a long journey in to the hotel from the airport.
Morning and afternoon traffic jams are very real in Rio.
The city is divided into three zones:
North, South, and Centre. The
South Zone, a strip of land along the Atlantic so narrowly compressed between
the mountains and the sea, that it is only five streets deep at the western
side, and three deep at the eastern end.
Yet the South Zone contains one-sixth of the city's entire population,
and its skyscraping apartments are among the most expensive living accommodations
in the World. Most of the large
hotels are also here. This
is the Zone which holds all the magic of a visit to Rio.
The more than 23 beaches are the most obvious attraction for visitors. The waves are strong and fast:
a great place for surfing.
I did the "must" sightseeing.
I took the cable car up Sugar Loaf Mountain, which guards the west side
of the entrance to Guanabera Bay, Rio's huge natural harbour.
Then off to Corcovado, the mountain with the statue of Christ The
Redeemer. The little train which
takes you there winds through the spectacular Dijuca Rain Forest, and it was
very exciting to see the whole city spread out below.
Up here the scenery is spectacular.
Mountains with their green forests, bays dotted with gray-rocked
islands, and endless beaches backdropped with a panorama of skyscrapers. Against the setting sun the city was changing its character,
becoming almost mystical.
On my last day in Rio, I explored the
Colonial part of the city. Santa
Teresa is a very hilly suburb of Rio, the streets are narrow, twisting and
trees-lined. Up here is the
"Chacard do Ceu", a gallery an impressive collection of Brazilian
painters. I stood by it for a
while, and looked back on the city. The
sun shone between the clouds, casting shadows on an unbroken line of
skyscrapers. There was not a
sound from the busy streets, all jammed with traffic moving at a suicidal
pace, and no fumes. That was a
dream city.
I breakfasted my last morning in Rio on the
balcony of my hotel, overlooking the most famous beach of them all, the
Copacabana. As I sipped strong
black Brazilian coffee, I felt the city's extraordinary vitality washing over
me. Tanga clad young girls with
golden tans, men with surf boards, millionaires with Borzoi dogs and
pot-bellied old men in shorts -- everyone was on their way to the beach.
It must have been the busiest and loveliest place in Rio.
This is the city of "Black Orpheus"
and "Flying Down To Rio". This
is the home and heartland of Brazil's annual Carnival.
Rio is more than just a 'city': it's an experience lived daily by 3
million residents, and fleetingly by the visitor.
There is something for everyone: beaches,
museums, shopping, music, architecture, entertainment, super restaurants.
It is a paradise for amateur photographers.
Manaus, an "urban island" in the
jungle, is a free-port and this means that when you arrive or leave the city,
you are required to clear customs. It
is a good idea to declare goods of non-Brazilian origin, such as cameras,
radios, tape recorders and so on, on arrival to avoid any problems.
