Manaus, the city in the jungle that rubber built, now almost 2 million inhabitants serving as the commercial hub of the vast Amazon forest. First day, the Opera House then a boat trip to the "other side" (9 miles across!) of the Rio Negro (...just upstream of where it joins the Salimoes to become the Amazon River...) to hug some trees. Next day, all-day excursion .....crocodile pen, river boats cruising by; lunch stop-over at a "jungle" resort.....invited to jump... in the river for an afternoon swim.....which instantly became the existential moment clearly dividing my life between willing taking risks because I thought I was almighty and would live forever and realizing what a deadly delusion that notion could easily become. Lastly, the most amazing natural phenomenon: where the Rio Negro (waters tinted by the leeching of millions of upstream riverside tree roots) joined the muddy Salimoes to become the Amazon.....where massive rivers become an inland sea. Nothing else like it on earth!
June 1999
Link to Photo Album:
Brazil - Manaus, Solimoes e Rio Negro
No comments:
Post a Comment