Manaus!

I am aware that pride cometh before a fall but right now I’m feeling pretty proud of myself. I have driven my own car to Manaus in the middle of the Amazon Basin.

I used to read about this city, the rubber/robber barons building a civilization in the middle of the jungle. I grew up in a time when colonization was seen as advancing civilization, a rather outdated concept so nowadays when we see Manaus, a city of two million people living in a tax free incentive zone, we don’t se civilization in the jungle but we measure poverty and crime and the statistics are terrible.

But I am here, romantic or not, aboard GANNET2 through our own efforts. It only took me 67 years to get here. But first, before Manaus we have to go back and see the ferry ride from here, a dusty sweaty disorganized village on the south bank of the Amazon:

We had a crap night’s sleep at the gas station next to the ferry terminal in Careiro da Várzea across the river from Manaus. Though the highway officially ends in the middle of Manaus, this was the end of Highway 319 for us, the place where we took an hour long ferry ride across the river for just $15.

I backed onto the ferry at 7:10 am. We had no idea of schedules or what was happening but it seems like there is a constant coming and going of boats across the river because as we drive up they waved us on. I saw other vehicles facing the dock on the barge so I turned in a circle and backed on. No sooner had we parked than we were off so I feeling like the captain in charge of Team Lost hastily asked a fellow passenger if this was the balsa for Manaus. He reassured me laughing so Rusty and I took a tour of the platform. “It is prohibited to remain in your vehicle” unless you are in Brazil where rules are flexible. 

They call these ferries “balsas” which means rafts, and they haul cargo and vehicles up and down these rivers. We could take a five day ferry to the mouth of the Amazon at Belem, for instance. Or inland to Colombia at Leticia where the cartels process cocaine. The world is your oyster in Manaus. Bring a back pack and sling your hammock on deck and look at the stars. 

Brazilians are funny people  and they appreciate a joke  so I say “Hello. I don’t speak Portuguese. Can you fill my tank with gasoline? A beer please.” Then I shrug and say roughly “…that’s all I need to know” and they get the joke and laugh with me.

There was a guy with his pick up towing a skiff on vacation. He spoke slowly so I could understand him a bit and we talked. And two other guys came in and they toured GANNET2 and thought about where we’d been. 

Paulo on the left is a traveling salesman covering all of northern Brazil selling veterinary medicines and I imagine he makes a good living will all the ranching that  goes on. And on his vacation days he takes his skiff for a drive to do some fishing. 

He gave Layne some names of restaurants after telling us Manaus produces first class chefs known across Brazil. He showed us pictures of Ana Indian fruits we have to taste as well. This might be an interesting place. 

My first distant view of the legendary city in the jungle. 

The passengers pointed out to me the moment where brown waters met black waters.  You can just about see it despite the lack of sunshine to highlight the merging of the waters of two rivers. 

Manaus is where the Solimoẽs River (brown) meets the Rio Negro (black) and technically this is where the Amazon is formed though on maps you’ll see the Solimoẽs River alternatively marked as the Amazon.  

I’m hoping we will work out a river tour on a classic Amazon River boat like this ferry:

Or this one:

Imagine steaming up the Amazon from the Atlantic Ocean 525 statute miles away. 

The market is also the ferry landing. 

And the repair facilities alongside. 

Paulo passed us and waved as he went back to his real world went in search of a vet. 

Rusty has developed a couple of hot spots since we left Porto Velho and we needed to get him to a vet. It’s been a worry but he’s had them before, in Belize. Nice vet with an English speaking assistant. 

They gave us a cone of shame for Rusty to wear so he stops licking the spot as well as a prescription for cream and shampoo. We had to stop by a shop a shop they recommended to buy the shampoo -$48!- for our chief security officer. It turns out the Nexguard pet vaccination representative was offering samples…of Brazilian food. And coffee. And it was breakfast time. How fortunate. 

Another encounter with charming and sweet Brazilians. 

Another department store Statue of Liberty like the one in Porto Velho. 

No idea what the parrot is. I think it’s a supermarket logo and as we aren’t familiar with any of them we have to start figuring out basic shopping. 

We cut across town on our way to an iOverlander campground half an hour north of the city. Google Maps as usual sent us across all hell and back. And we passed by the local dump that I thought bore a more than passing resemblance to Mount Trashmore on Stock Island. 

The campground is a little run down but rather homey and were Rusty in perfect health we might stay though it is a long way out of town   As it is Layne has found a rather comfortable looking apartment for a week at  $350, so it is in the more expensive bracket with due conditioning, an elevator, a washer, a deck, and room for Rusty to rest in comfort and heal  he deserves no less  the trooper while GANNET2 will get a wash and brush up and a week off.

There is a Brazilian family that speaks English and Spanish and have welcomed us into their camping life with shared food and stories by the pool. 

We shall tour Manaus and try the food and give Rusty his time in comfort. Then next Sunday we start out to Boa Vista and Guyana where another 270 miles of dirt road awaits us. Opera anyone?