Manaus, exploring the Amazon

With the vogue in ecotourism, this remote city 1,000 miles up the Amazon River system has suddenly become the first port of call for thousands of travelers visiting Brazil. Manaus is served by one of Brazil's most modern airports, and arriving at the heart of the Amazon has lost a little of the palm-trees-and-propellors charm it once had.

Most visitors come to explore the sea of Amazon forest that laps at the edges of this city of one million people. With a little discrimination, a visitor can discover stimulating diversions well worth exploring on both ends of a rain-forest tour. In getting around, it makes little sense to rent a car. Cabs will get you throughout the city and most roads stop once they reach one of the rivers in the Amazon system.

Remnants of Manaus's belle epoque can be seen on a two-hour walking tour. Sparked by a turn-of-the century rubber boom, the city was the first in South America to install streetcars and the second in Brazil to install electricity. Although Manaus is safe as Rio is, but it is best to stroll with discretion.

A good place to start is at the Municipal Market (Mercado Municipal). A stew of Amazon River life and commerce, it was modeled by Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel and built in 1906 of imported iron. Imbued with strong smells reminiscent of its Parisian parent, the market offers huge slabs of Amazon fish, exotic tropical fruits, Indian handicrafts and close-up views of the boats that use the river as a liquid highway.

Keeping the river on your left, walk two blocks to the floating docks and Customs House (Alfandega). Imported piece by piece from Britain at the turn of the century, this passenger-ship dock is designed to accommodate the 40-foot seasonal rise and fall of the Rio Negro, the Amazon tributary that flows past Manaus harbor.

Despite the shade of ficus trees, the temperature will probably be in the 80's, so it will be worthwhile to stop at a corner bar and freshen up with an ice-cream cone or glass of juice made from Amazon fruits -- acerola, cupuacu or graviola.

There is plenty to be seen in Manaus and more to be explored. Have you ever been to the Amazon river?

Keep on exploring Brazil and let us know!