Another day of excursions in Manaus. Jennifer went on a Jungle walk and I did a city tour. We both had fun.
One of the things I wanted to see in Manaus was the Teatro Amazonas (Manaus Opera House)- built in the heyday of the rubber era. It was build for opera for the creme-de-la-creme of Manaus to see and be seen. People came from Europe to see the opera in Manaus and the opera house had such good acoustics that singers came from Europe to perform. Materials were imported from the best of the best in Europe for the building and interior.
Manaus had a monopoly on rubber for a number of years and the rubber barons made (and spent) money hand-over-fist during these ‘golden years’. Shortly after the rubber tree seeds were stolen and brought to Indonesia, the Brazil rubber industry went bust and the rubber barons had to sell off their belongings and mansions.
The tour included the Palácio Rio Negro, a mansion built during the rubber boom. It had amazing wooden staircases.
The Mercado Municipal was included in the tour as well. This market is held in a building that is a based on Paris’ famed Les Halles market. And the building’s metallic structures were built in Paris and sent to Manaus by ship,
Just after we sailed away from Manaus we got to see the ‘meeting of the waters’ where the Rio Negro(clear dark water) joins the Amazon river(brown muddy water). They don’t mix right away because of acidity and temperature differences. There are more fish in the Amazon River because it has more nutrients.
