Manaus, day 2

Day 57

street scene

old customs house

Off we went at 0930 to see some of the city. It wasn't far and we came to the TeatroAmazonas, or Opera House. Our guide provided an excellent tour of the interior where we learned also about the rubber barons, rubber industry and the much about the society.

Teatro Amazonas

A few blocks later, back toward the riverfront, and walked the market; this one being the food market. Trucks were unloading mountains of bananas still on their stems. Piles of fruit and many stalls where local people were shopping for their fruit and vegetables. Buyers for restaurants were busy. Our guide introduced us to several types of amazonian fruit along the way. Next door was the meat market, all under one roof, with many butcher shops, stands, chopping away, with meat handing from racks and in display cases. The odor was, well, plentiful. I made a mental note to clean the soles of my shoes when I got back to the ship. Next door we entered the fish market which like the meat market, had many stalls and these had fish laid out and piled in bins. Fish mongers were chopping and filleting. One fish went flying from one monger to another, almost catching Julie on the way. Ducking and bobbing we made our way through the labyrinth of the fish market and outside. My shoes needed a washing.

street scene

from poster

at the market

meat market

fish market

fish market

That was it for the day and by 1230 we were back aboard cleaning our shoes. I thought of taking a cab to a camera store for a new telephoto lens, but decided there was not an adequate cushion of time; 20 minutes each way (once a cab was negotiated) and the stores didn't re-open until 2pm. All aboard was at 1600. The ship actually left at 1620.