Layne went souvenir hunting and took some pictures on the way.
Manaus was founded as a fort on the banks of the Rio Negro in 1669. San Jose changed its name to Manaus, a European spelling of a tribe that lived in the area in 1832. The place has grown into a gigantic city since then with officially 2.3million inhabitants.
The local economy is powered by tax free status created in 1967 by the Brazilian dictatorship of the period. They built the road to Porto Velho but allowed it to collapse into disrepair but the tax incentives started the growth that made Manaus so huge.
It wasn’t always so even as rubber brought wealth. There was a revolt in 1835 when the black population got fed with being excluded and organized a successful revolt. They halved the population of Amazonia down to 60,000 people which got the attention of white politicians. Manaus broke away from Belem and became the capital of Amazonia. 
Brazil has the seventh largest economy in the world and they build consumer products, phones motorcycles and appliances under license. They produce oil drilled in the Atlantic and are very independent thanks to an aggressive ethanol program.
“The BR-319 heads South connecting Manaus to Porto Velho, the state capital of Rondônia. However, access to this highway requires a ferry crossing to Careiro, across the Rio Negro and Amazon River, which takes about 40 minutes, and then is only paved for about another 100 kilometers (60 mi) to Castanho. After that, the highway is not paved, and cannot be used. Various governments have promised to recover this land-link with the rest of the country, but environmental issues, high costs and complicated logistics have impeded any progress so far.”
Access to Manaus requires effort, ferries bad roads and distances don’t help the overland traveler. And then if you read the description of BR319 it sounds like it’s impassable but if you’ve been following our journey you know it’s not.
I’ve got a cough, Layne has an upset stomach, GANNET2 has a failing rooftop air conditioner so only Rusty is in tip top condition at the moment. I’m hoping we’ll get to go on Wednesday driving north on the paved highway out of here 174 to Boa Vista and Venezuela. And incidentally to Guyana, our destination.
Manaus is a strange city filled with incredibly friendly helpful Portuguese speakers. When you are immersed in the city it’s just an urban area, one with a gruesome hot climate, high humidity and 90 inches of rain a year. But it’s not got anything that makes you remember the vast Amazon jungle surrounds this city. There are eight neighborhoods in the metropolitan area which covers 4,400 square miles. You could live in Manaus an entire life and never leave the city.
Poverty is at epidemic levels in Manaus with almost half the population rated as poor and many of them rated as pretty much destitute. Brazilians we have met in the road have told us they have never visited this part of their own country and the foreigners that do get here fly and think they are on some cutting edge of forest travel. Driving here is beyond the pale even for people who travel the PanAmerican and rate themselves hard core.
I was curious to come north and finally see this mysterious city lost in the jungle and I want to see the Guyanas, countries rarely visited but it’s pretty obvious we are off the beaten track.
Southern Brazil is the part of this country that is famous and appealing to visitors with cities, beaches, scenery, tourist sites, all the things missing from northern Brazil.
So I ask myself if I would recommend driving north in Brazil and I don’t think I can. This is equatorial country, year round heat, less in rainy season but that’s a time of increased moisture. The roads are terrible but the scenery is pretty bland. I am the only human alive who enjoys driving the flatness of Florida and northern Brazil makes Florida look doubly interesting. What isn’t jungle is ranch land and that is all.
There is very little tourist infrastructure and what there is, is expensive. Campgrounds are not full service facilities not least because there aren’t many customers here.
So what’s the point of driving here? It’s a sense of accomplishment, of satisfying curiosity, we have time so why not spend it in some exploration? If that makes no sense I can’t explain it.
To make it harder to understand is that we aren’t making money off our travels, there is no ulterior motive. You may heard the quotation uttered by the mountaineer George Mallory who, when asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest replied, partly perhaps in desperation, “Because it’s there.” An off the cuff answer to an impossible question that has gone down in history.
So there it is, here we are getting ready to drive more crap roads. For no reason I can clearly explain.
It’s worth bearing in mind too that this isn’t a serious undertaking, it’s just going for retirement drive.
Let’s not forget though that it is pretty good fun. I’m curious and I like driving so whether would I do?
