A bit of Manaus

The city of Manaus is the gateway to the Amazon in Brazil.  It has 3 million people, most of whom live near the city centre, and is known for being one of the major electronics producers in Brazil.  We saw several electronics factories, including Foxcon (they produce apple products). The city is also earmarked for a soccer stadium to be built where it will host a few matched during the soccer world cup in Brazil in 2014.
We spent only a short time in Manaus. Our hotel was decent, and had an amazing zoo with a jaguar (Buenos Aires zoo did not even have one!), capybaras, and a variety of other wonderful animals.  We didn't get to see them all, because of heavy rain, but where very impressed by it.

Downtown Manaus

The Manaus opera house. The opera house, and many of the beautiful colonial style houses downtown, represent the wealth of the rubber boom during the turn of the 20th century. Manaus was at the centre of the rubber boom, and went into a slight decline after its end.  However, the city benefits greatly from the electronics and tourism industry.  There is alot of development, and it is sad to see a great deal of the Amazon being lost every day to urban expansion. Our guide in Manaus told us that animals used to be easier to spot and now a bit of extra time is needed in the remoter parts of the jungle to see the really interesting ones. The Anavilhanas jungle lodge that we stayed in, deeper in the Amazon, tries to encourage eco-tourism to protect the remainder of jungle.

 Manaus town square.

These mosaic patterns of the street started off in Manaus and were such a hit that Rio also used it for their pavements. These designs, however, were seen more in Rio and have now become associated with the city.

The Manaus port where we left to see the meeting of the waters.