20 October 2008, Manaus.

We had the pilot exchange shortly after midnight and then we sped up again for a timely arrival in Manaus. Sailing this part of the Amazon was a little bit easier. The river has less shallow patches and as long as the pilot stayed with the ship where most of the current flows; we knew that we were in deep water. Again we had the peculiar situation that for about an hour we sailed over land, as in one particular turn the river is churning away the land on the south bank and adding land on the north shore. Thus the river is slowly moving to the south and the hydrographical services of Brazil have not been able to keep up with it. However we made good speed and I could keep my promise to the guests, we were docked one hour ahead of schedule.

The town of Manaus is not located on the Amazon but on the Rio Negro or Black River. About 8 miles south of Manaus the two rivers meet and the boundary is very clearly defined between the two rivers. The brown muddy waters of the Amazon clearly contrast with the black water of the Rio Negro. The latter river gets its water from a different hinterland than the Amazon and that results in a different sort of soil being carried and also the acidity of the water. Especially the Rio Negro is on the negative side of being “fresh” which has as an advantage that mosquitoes really do not like that water and that makes a stay in Manaus a lot easier.

Manaus is blessed with some sort of Cruise terminal. Mainly in use by the hundreds of little ferry boats that provide a vital communication network between the many hamlets along the river. As a matter of fact these boats are virtually the only way of communication between the various communities. There are very few roads in the jungle and even fewer airports. These boats come in all sorts of shapes and sizes but for an outsider it is quite funny to see that the regular commuters on these boats hook up their own hammocks on the deck and spend the night that way, while the ferry moves on to its destination. I suppose with the wind flow created by the moving boat it is a cheap way of having air-conditioning. Some of the larger boats do have cabins but never that many.

The Manaus Cruise terminal. The ramp that leads to the pontoon dock can be clearly seen.

When a cruise ship arrives in Manaus, the authorities clear one side of the dock and that is were we come alongside. This dock is a floating pontoon that goes up and down with the water height of the river and has the advantage that the docking height for the ships is always the same. When docking I was requested by the pilot to go gently, very gently, alongside with the ship as the dock really was not meant to be used by ships the size of the Veendam. The passenger terminal part of the dock consists of two shops (Stern and Sauer, well-known jewelers) with a canopy covering both which also acts as a gate. Thus I lined up the gangway right in between and there we were, right in the middle of Manaus.

From the ship you can see a few of the old buildings from the Rubber boom days. Near the bow is a yellow building that looks like an Austrian City Hall but it is the Kaiser Beer brewery. Just outside the dock gate is a very ornamental building and that is the old Custom and Excise building and Harbormasters office. During the years of the Rubber Boom, a lot of money must have come through to have made it possible for the Customs and Excise to build such an elaborate building. Piece de Resistance is of course the Opera house. I visited the Opera for a performance during my 2006 Veendam cruise to the Amazon and I still find it a time warp to see, what is basically a 19th century European style Opera House, here in Manaus, right in the middle of Brazil and the jungle.

We have tours going all day of course and also during the night. From Manaus little ferries take the guests into the smaller side rivers and there they transfer to even smaller boats to go into the jungle. Also an evening at the Opera House is always very popular with our guests. Needless to say the crew is having a ball as well. Shopping is very good over here, especially if you venture a little bit away from the main streets. A most peculiar thing that I just heard, while writing this blog, was the fact that the locals have started to refuse dollars. It seems that the dollar is not that strong anymore so the local currency or Euros are preferred. As you can see, the turbulence of the money markets has also reached Manaus.

We have an overnight stay here and most of my officers and crew are going either out for the evening or tomorrow during the day. The weather is supposed to be overcast, which is great as it keeps the temperature down a bit.