Amazon Holidays & Accommodation
Brazil, South America
Besides being known as a duty-free zone, Manaus is perhaps best known to tourists for being a gateway to their tour of the Amazon. Whether visitors are looking to trek in the rainforest or cruise down the Amazon, Manaus is the gateway destination in Brazil they head for.
Amazon Holidays Planner
Manaus means Mother of the Gods, and half the population of the Brazilian Amazon lives in this city. It used to be a city of excess, a city filled with tycoons of rubber tree plantations that arose while Brazil enjoyed a natural trade monopoly on the rubber tree. Then rubber tree seeds were smuggled out of Brazil and the bottom fell out of the market. Once one of the first places in the world to be wired for electricity, generators fell silent without the funds to run them, and the city lost its fortune. Today, there are some fragments of this past that still remain for travellers to visit. The most notable of these is the Teatro Amazonas, an opera house constructed from materials assembled from all over the world. Today the opera performances are often free, but you will want to get there early.
One of the most remarkable phenomena of the Amazon occurs near Manaus. Here, for about seven kilometres is the 'meeting of the waters.' The black water of the Rio Negro and the silted water of the Solimoes River flow side by side without mixing due to a temperature gradient and a difference in their relative speeds. A popular cruise takes visitors out to view this phenomena where light and dark waters flow side by side without mixing. Where the two rivers eventually combine is the Amazon proper.
The Negro River and Amazon
On the right bank of the Negro River, surrounded by lush vegetation is the Paricatuba Waterfall, best seen from August to February when the water level is at its highest. On Guedes Bayou there is also the Love Cascade, another waterfall which can only be visited by boat.
Approximately eighteen kilometres from downtown Manaus is Ponta Negra beach. This neighbourhood is popular with bathers and enjoys a good reputation for its nightlife. The Mercado Adolpho Lisboa, around since the late 19th century, is the town's oldest marketplace and is an interesting place to visit. You may also want to visit the Natural Science Museum, where you can see preserved examples of animals of the Amazon. This museum was created by a Japanese entomologist with a particular interest in butterflies.
For people who arrive in Manaus to arrange a trek or boat cruise into the Amazon, there are plenty of tour operators in the city. You can book at tourist offices or you can choose to book through your hotel's concierge service. Cruises can be rudimentary, where you sleep on deck on a hammock to more luxurious yachts with deluxe catering, and prices vary accordingly. Just remember that the cruise may seem monotonous. Wildlife is plentiful in the Amazon, but it doesn't come down to the riverbank to meet you. What you are experiencing on the river cruise is the ambience of the sounds, smells and sights of the rainforest. Treks can also be arranged with tour operators, and many can arrange for you to visit indigenous settlements known as Caboclos for visits.