Manaus is a city I would not believe exists if I hadn't seen it myself. It is a city of 1.6 million people along the confluence of the Negro and Amazon rivers deep in the Brazilian rain forest.
I was here for the 1998 World Road Relays, my second time on this US team. Though I had been to Mexican border towns, this was my first real Latin American experience, and certainly my first jungle experience. The city is huge, hot, and humid. Along the riverbank I saw hundreds of tin roof huts where some of the poorest people I've ever seen were living. Naked children were jumping in the Amazon, while their older siblings were fishing for piranha by dangling chicken bones from a string. Apparently the piranha don't eat little children after all.
Above is the Teatro Amazonas, an opera house built in 1896. It is a notable landmark of Manaus, reflecting the massive wealth of the turn of the century rubber boom. It was such a shock to find so many people so far from any other civilization. The main form of transportation in and out of Manaus is the river, and via plane. No one would drive here through dense jungle.
The best part of our trip was an excursion up the river in a small flat boat. We stopped at a floating CHEVRON station in the middle of the river to fill up. We saw a pod of pink river dolphins swimming along side us for a bit. As we got over to the side of the huge river, we started turning up smaller and smaller tributaries, until finally the overgrowth of jungle overhead was so thick it seemed that night had fallen. Eventually we pulled alongside a ramshackle floating general store that seemed to be anchored to the trees. Inside were lots of native carvings for sale. I chose a working blowgun adorned with piranha teeth for a few dollars. They offered to sell me the poison to dip the darts in as well, but that seemed like a bit much. As soon as we disembarked at their floating store we were besieged by monkeys. They boarded our boat and commenced digging though purses and knapsacks looking for food, or items to hold hostage. While very cute, the mischievous buggers stole some hats and clothing from our group and retreated into the trees. I have no doubt that they brought the items back to the store after we left and were rewarded with food. Once everyone got over the monkey sneak attack, it was time for the big show. The store owners would dangle some meat hanging from a string tied to a long pole over the water in a large enclosed water pen. At first the pen seemed empty, then a 9 foot crocodile leaped a good six feet into the air to snatch at the meat! It was terrifying. I kept my arms and legs in the boat the whole way home and wondered how many little Brazilian boys disappeared while swimming.
