March 4 - Day 19

Amazingly we were up at 7:00 a.m., showered, breakfasted , and then Patti, Luana, Nae, and I went to the "Market". It was located near the downtown area by the harbor and stretched along about 3 blocks of one of the main streets which is closed for this Sunday market. There was much to choose from and we used this opportunity to purchase mare jewelery, souvenirs, picture cards, and food. After dropping Nae off at her place, we returned home and changed into our "church" clothes and headed off to the church which the Amoedos attended. Along the way we picked up Natasha, another of Luana's many friends. It was a very spiritual church led by a priest who had a very warm and loving manner and it was obvious that his congregation really liked him and participated in the service with much zeal and spirituality. For the big Sunday lunch, we had some wonderful fish which we had previously bought at the fish market and which was once again prepared in such an amazingly succulent way by Johana. We met Luana's grandmother and aunty from Salete's side of the family. At 3:00 we finally and literally took off for the falls which Luana and her friends were so anxious to show us. This was Iracema Falls close to Presidente Fiqueiredo City in Amazonas. The road was new and straight right through the heart of the rain forest and would have landed us in Colombia if we had continued on. Nae averaged about a 140 kph from Manaus to Presidente Fiqueiredo City , which meant at times we were going about a 160 kph. Patti, Ana Luisa, and I simply hung on for dear life in the back seat. I must admit though that to travel at this speed on such a good highway is exhilarating. Because it gets dark around 7:00 this close to the equator, Nae and Luana were anxious for us to get there so we could see the falls. Unfortunately when we got there the park gates to the Falls were already closed. Quickly Luana and Nae and Ana Luisa went to plan B. There was another set of falls that were slightly smaller but located in a private campground. We paid our admission and drove a few miles down a very rudimentary road that had jungle growth closing in on both sides. We ended up at a secluded spot and the five of us enjoyed a very refreshing swim in a fast moving black water river just below a set of beautiful falls. As it got dark, we made our way back to the small parking lot where our car was parked. There was one other car there with 2 young couples and they were in trouble. They had inadvertently locked their keys in the car. The windows withstood their attempts to break them. Finally Nae retrieved a jack handle from our trunk and the young man whose car it was, used it to break in a small back window. If they hadn't been able to get into their car they were facing a long lonely night in the heart of a rain forest or a long trek back through the dark across a rutted road to the gate where there was someone with a car. Phone reception in this area was very sketchy. On the way back we drove at a sedate 80 kph as creatures were now coming out of the forest and too drive too quickly would have been extremely dangerous. The moon hung in the sky over us but with its crescent reversed from what we are used to seeing in Canada. As well fog hung heavily over the jungle and on the road in a few places. About 25 km from Manaus we came upon a line up of cars. There was a dead horse in the middle of the land we were traveling in. It had been struck by a large tow truck. Apparently this was not an unusual event as often domestic animals got out of poorly fenced areas and onto the highway. When we got home we had Brazilian pizza for supper. It is so unlike our Canadian pizza but I really liked it once I got past the different kinds of topping pairs. Nae and some of Luana's other friends came by. Gabriela, whom I worked with at Murdoch MacKay came over also as did Tomas, one of my very first students at KEC. Gabby is still very sweet and Tomas, well, Tomas is still Tomas. Bed at midnight. These are long days for an "elderly" type like me.

March 3 - Day 18

While I am enjoying this trip of a lifetime, I am also glad we opted for only 3 weeks, as the steady pace of visiting, sight-seeing and travel is starting to wear me down. As usual I got up early and had an excellent breakfast with Salete and Amoedo courtesy of Johanna. After breakfast the 3 of us went to the fish market located near the docks in the port. It is the largest I have ever been to. It covered about a hectare of space and there was every kind of fish and food that had their origins in the river. Salete did some serious shopping here before she made her selections at a few different "fishmongers". These fish would soon show up as delectably prepared dish for either our main meal, lunch, or the lighter meal at supper time. When we got back, Amoedo and I walked a cross the street to where there was small organic fruit and vegetable market. There both Amoedo and the vendors went to great pains to show me, identify, and explain all about the different fruits and veggies on display. Despite my lack of skill in Portuguese and their similar lack in English, I still managed to get the gist of what was being said. As well the vendors graciously allowed me to taste several fruits I had never seen or heard of before. I found 2 types of fruit to be very intriguing and particularly delicious. Amoedo purchased several of each along with other fruits and vegetables that he was going to take back for Johanna to work her miracles on. We had another tremendous lunch. It wasn't easy not to over-indulge because the food was so delicious. As an aside, I found when that I got back home I had actually lost 1 kg despite the amount of food that I was being tempted with on a daily basis. After a nap, Amoedo took Patti, Luana, Nae and me on a tour of the city, this time to the industrial quarter located close to the port facilities. In the 1950 's, a Free Economic Zone of Manaus was created and out of this evolved the Manaus Free Trade Zone Superintendence, SUFRAMA, an autarchy with its own legal status and assets and having financial and administrative autonomy. Tax incentives and the subsequent complementary legislation created comparative advantages in the region with respect to other parts of the country and as a result the Manaus Free Trade Zone attracted new investment to the area. This gave the economic means to allow for regional development in order to lift the Amazon out of the economic isolation that it had fallen into in the time after the rubber boom. Today the Port of Manaus is an important commercial center for ocean-going vessels traveling the Amazon. In fact, it is the main transport hub for the entire upper Amazon Basin. It imports beef from the hinterlands and exports hides and leather. Important industries in the Port of Manaus include manufacturing of soap, chemicals, electronics equipment as well as shipbuilding, brewing, and petroleum refining. With so much industry and commerce, the Port City of Manaus has become a sophisticated cosmopolitan center and it was quite evident that Amoedo was quite proud of how the city had grown and how the quality of life had improved for its inhabitants. Nae did so much translating for us and we were happy for her presence. An exhausted Luana slept through most of the tour and when she woke we teased her about her abilities as a tour guide! He also took us to a ferry terminal where there was a much smaller fish market on the edge of a wharf but which gave a good cross-section of the abundant fish that were harvested from the river. We watched several ferries come in and disgorge their cars and passengers and take on a new load. As well innumerable smaller river boats came and went doing a great business ferrying passengers to different places on the other side of the Rio Negro. We were treated to an afternoon thunderstorm of monumental proportions but we were sheltered from it by the large roof over the wharf. After we came back, Nae, Luana, Johanna, and I went shopping for food and drink for the small party being planned for the evening. On my suggestion, it was decided that we would serve Brazilian hot dogs which I thought were fantastic! We went shopping at a large supermarket. I was allowed to spend some of my own money (you don't know how difficult that is to do because they insist on paying for everything!) and I bought a liqueur for Amoedo, some wine for Worney, and some wine and beer for the party. Luana, Amoedo, and Worney were going out for the evening to a graduation party for one of their friends and they all got wonderfully dressed up. Luana's and Nae's friends started arriving. What a wonderful group of people she has to call her friends. We had the most excellent hot dogs with other wonderful hors d'oeuvres accompanied by beer and caipirinhas. After much visiting, Patti and I retired at 1:30 a.m. while the rest of the group finally went home at 4:30 a.m.

March 2 - Day 17

We were up at 6:00 a.m. and had breakfast. Some of us looked very sleepy. Amoedo drove Luana, Patti, and me to the hotel from where the tour was starting. I found it interesting that the average room price for this hotel was $360 a night. Kind of steep for those of us not on expense accounts or who are "quite well-off"! When we got there we found that the tour had been cancelled because of low numbers. But the booking people hurriedly put us into a cab and we quickly were driven to the main terminal for cross river ferries and river excursion boats. They were holding a river excursion boat tour for us. As soon as we got on, the boat started to leave before we could even be seated. The three of us made our way to the top deck which had a sun roof but was open on all sides. In this way we could escape the sun's rays and heat and enjoy the breeze created by the moving boat. Our guide was fluent in English and French as well as his native Portuguese and gave us a lot of historical and local information as we traveled down the Rio Negro to where it joined the Solimoes to form the mighty Amazon, which has the largest drainage basin in the world (about 7,050,000 square kilometres) and which accounts for approximately one-fifth of the world's total river flow. The Solimoes flows at a much faster speed from its origins in the Andes and when the slower moving Rio Negro meets it, the Rio Negro's water is turned aside and the two rivers flow side by side for some 20 km with a clear delineation between the dark coca cola like waters of the Negro and the lighter creamy chocolate color waters of the Solimeos. It is hard to tell that there are two rivers meeting here because of the great width of both of them. It is like being on a large lake with flowing waters. Eventually the two rivers combine their waters and flow in a north-easterly direction to where the river enters the Atlantic Ocean in a broad estuary about 240 kilometres wide. The mouth of the main stem is 80 kilometres wide. We then started on our return trip by going upstream on the Rio Negro and then entering one of its many channels on the west side. We made our way between islands of various sizes until we reached a small village which was bordered on tree sides by the jungle and on one side by the Rio Negro. The buildings were on stilts because of the fact that changes in water depth between maximum high and minimum low water levels can be as great as 15 meters from dry season ending in October to the height of the wet season, usually in July. The buildings are open on at least three sides. During the torrential downpours which occur daily for an hour or so during the wet season, the villagers close canvas walls , depending on the direction of the wind. We went on a tour through the jungle which was only possible because of the raised and railed wooden walkways. We were able to see trees and vines of an amazing number of varieties. Some rivaled the sequoias of California in size. We were also able to access a swampy area where crocodiles basked in the waters among lily pads whose leaves were as large as dining room tables and on which small animals and birds of many sizes were able to traverse the swamp. Our time was limited because we were due for a downpour any minute. The first huge drops of rain came down just as we made it back to the shelter of the village. One of the largest buildings was a gift shop, of course. Here were displayed all kinds of crafts and souvenirs produced by the indigenous people of the area. We bought a lot of gifts and souvenirs. The money that our tour group spent here stayed in the village and provided valuable income for the villagers. Next on the tour was a buffet meal which was included in the cost of the tour. There were available many kinds of foods typical to this village. River fish was a main dish as were beans and rice and innumerable fruits and vegetables. After the meal our group was split in two with each group getting a canopied water taxi, each piloted by a young villager lad. The boats rode with their gunwhales about 4 inches above the surface of the river. We were taken at a rapid clip deeper into the jungle where we saw all kinds of exotic birds and plant life. We could also see how much higher the river had to rise by the water marks on the trees. At the time we were there, the river was to rise another 4 metres in the next 3 months. Patti took a large number of photos. I was restricted to only a few because my memory card was full! Talk about poor planning on my part for not having brought another card. On our return to the port, a taxi was there to pick us up. Instead of returning to the hotel where our tour originated from, Luana talked very nicely to the driver, and he took us to Amoedo's house, a saving of over an hour's worth of time. I tipped him 20 reals for this as I was quite tired and I simply was glad we would not have to spend all that extra time in the rush hour traffic of Manaus which can be quite hellish! We had a quick supper and changed into some dressier clothes as were going to attend a performance at the Teatro Amazonas or Amazonas Opera House. Salete in her line of work had done publicity for the 21st Amazonas Music Festival and had received complimentary tickets to attend. This was the concert where all the winners from the concerts held in previous weeks throughout Manaus were brought together for a final performance to declare the overall winner. We had good seats and thoroughly enjoyed the spectrum of artists showcasing their selections. After the concert, a local TV station covering the event interviewed Salete with her family and us as a backdrop. It turns out that the woman who was selected as the overall winner not only was gorgeous and very talented, she was also a friend of Salete's. She graciously invited all of us in Salete's group to the party celebrating the victor. The party was hosted on the terrace of the Opera House and there was music to go along with hors d'oeuvres,punches, and wines. All in all, it was a terrific finish to an already very stimulating and full day.