Brazil trip  November 23-December 1, 2003  

While researching my trip to Brazil by visiting web sites for several months before my November 21^st departure, I had settled on the following itinerary: four days exploring the Amazon area and five days in Rio de Janeiro.

Situated virtually in the middle of the Amazon Rain Forest, Manaus is the jumping off point for most tours of the forest and the Amazon River. Since this city of 1.5 million people is surrounded by 1,000 miles of rain forest in every direction, and there are no good roads in, almost all supplies for the city are brought in by boat. The evening of my arrival I was treated to delicious Brazilian Bar-B-Q at a local restaurant. Called “churascarias” by locals, the meal more resembled a feast. As various cuts of meat were taken off the grill, a group of men were constantly taking the various meats, including beef, pork, chicken and even some fish, around the restaurant on skewers. When someone wanted a particular meat, the waiter would simply bring the skewer to the table and slice it directly onto their plate. “This type of Bar-B-Q is a custom brought here from the Pampas area in Argentina” said Mark Aitcheson, my host and the owner of Swallows and Amazons Tours in Manaus. The following morning we briefly visited the Manaus market, at which everything from whole sides of beef to fish to produce to souvenirs were on display. Although it didn’t seem very sanitary to me, and this was definitely not for the light hearted, I was fascinated by the fish portion of the market in which the vendors were cutting and cleaning the fish on tables as customers meandered around the market making their choices. At one point we ran into Mark’s wife Tania, who was picking up supplies for our riverboat trip which was to start just after our visit to the market.

 The meeting of the waters is the point where the Rio Negro meets the Rio Solimoes to form the Amazon River. The Rio Negro is much slower and darker than the Rio Solimoes, and because of other differences such as velocity and temperature, the two rivers carry on for about six miles side by side before finally mixing to form the mighty Amazon. It was truly one of the most fascinating natural phenomenons that I have ever personally witnessed. However, apparently not everyone shares my enthusiasm for this wonder. “There are a lot of people who live in Manaus who have never seen the meeting of the waters” said Anand Pooran, our English speaking guide on the boat.

 The next morning, we embarked on a three hour hike through the rainforest in which Pooran pointed out several species of plants and animals. Among the plants pointed out were several of the 35 species of palm trees found in the Amazon, rubber trees and magnesium trees. At one point Pooran cut a vine with his machete and held it up for me to drink some water from it. “This is called a water vine” he said. The water it produced was some of the best I had ever tasted. Then again, any water would probably have tasted good in the extreme humidity of the rainforest.

After lunch, we boarded a canoe and headed up another tributary with several chunks of beef to use a bait for piranha fishing. Fishing for piranha was remarkably like fishing for bream in the rivers of Alabama; we fished simply with cane poles and about ten feet of line with a standard hook. The piranha are very aggressive when they attack the bait and fight extremely hard when caught. The piranha even resembles bream. However, there was a major difference: the piranha’s razor sharp teeth. The piranha would try to bite their way up the hook in order to bite my finger while I was removing them from the hook. “Be careful. If they bite you it will hurt really bad” Pooran said.

Just as night time fell, we headed further up the tributary to “alligator flash.” We would paddle along the edge of the bank and Pooran would use a flashlight to spot alligator eyes. The alligator’s eyes would appear as two red dots when the light hit them, and when the light is held on their eyes, it apparently mesmerizes the reptiles. We would simply paddle up to the gator and Pooran would reach down and grab it. “You have to hold the mouth closed, because the gator does not have enough strength to open its mouth when it is being held closed. All of its muscles are for biting down” Pooran said as he handed me a gator to examine.

All over the city are slums and squatter camps located on public property. Called “favelas” by residents, the slums are a hotbed of crime and many police officers refuse to enter the area. Favelas aside, the physical area of the city is breathtakingly beautiful.

Huge mountains fall almost straight down to sugar white beaches and crystal blue waters. After rambling around the Copacabana area my first day, the following day I ascended Corcovado Mountain to see the Christ the Redeemer statue up close. The 93 foot statue was placed on the mountain in 1931, and the view of the city from the statue’s feet is by far the best in the area. Next stop was the Sugarloaf Mountain. I reached the Sugarloaf on the same cable car that Roger Moore had the famous fight on in the James Bond classic “Moonraker.” After Sugarloaf, I visited Baja, Leblon and Ipanema Beaches, which to me were even more beautiful than Copacabana and definitely safer. I was also able to visit several cathedrals and the Ilha Fiscal, a former customs station and site of the last Imperial Ball of Emperor Pedro II. The green Gothic Revival castle looks like a building from a fairy tale, and now houses a museum of the Brazilian Navy. The following day, I took an hour bus ride into the mountains to the imperial summer capitol of Petropolis. Easily one of the most beautiful areas in Brazil, the city features tree lined streets, numerous mansions and museums, and the Summer Palace of Dom Pedro II. During my visit, I toured the Summer Palace and was awed by its splendor. After lunch at the local McDonald’s, I boarded the bus back to Rio.

On Sunday, the day of my departure, I went to the Hippie Market, a local Sunday market started by hippies over thirty years ago. Nowadays, its just a huge flea market for both tourists and locals. While Rio de Janeiro is famous for Carnival, I would probably not attempt to navigate this wild and beautiful but unsafe city with over a million extra people in town.

As my plane left during a rainstorm, I considered myself fortunate to have visited Brazil, but at the same time glad to be returning home to America-the greatest place on Earth.

Here are a few more pictures of Manaus, the Amazon River area and the crew of the Dona Tania.  Click on the photo to enlarge.

Here are a few more pictures of the Petropolis area.  Click on the photo to enlarge.