Day 12 - Manaus

We arrived yesterday in Manaus, a large city situated on the Amazon River. We are staying near the famous Opera House, which has turned out to be a blessing. The neighborhood is a quiet retreat in an otherwise painfully loud and bustling city. Last night we enjoyed pizza on the plaza where a small crowd gathered to eat and watch what I believe was a kind of `open mic´ night. After sunset a group of small street vendors selling popcorn, ice cream and a Amazonian typical native soup called Tacaca came out to sell to the locals and tourists strolling around the plaza.

Today was a lesson in taking the city buses in Brazil, something we had yet to try. It was quite the experience, but something we needed to learn sooner or later. The drivers in this country are a bit crazy anyways and the bus drivers are no exception. There are no posted schedules or routes at the stops, so somehow you just have to know what to do. After several attempts and a couple VERY helpful Brazilians, we finally made it on to the correct bus and headed to the INPA Science Grove. It is supposedly an Amazon research facility that has a small tourist section, but being that it was Sunday it was a bit difficult to tell exactly what they were doing there. Apparently, one of the projects is a conservation project for manatees and river otters. However, the small and rather dirty tanks these animals are being kept in made me wonder. I suppose some research is in order.

We have decided to take it easy for the next 24 hours as our boat trip begins 10 a.m. Tuesday!