Today I managed to have a sleep in, and it was glorious. I opened my curtains, to find a stunning birds eye view of Manaus. Compared to Havana, this town is just so modern. Lots of new buildings, new cars, everyone seems to be bustling off to somewhere.
I went to the hotel breakfast, and soon realised that as I passed the foyer, there was a pharmaceutical exhibition going on. I must admit, there was no temptation at all to visit... I'm well and truly in holiday mode.... Plus the lure of coffee and fresh fruit was too great!! I know this holiday will soon come to an end, and I will be back at work before I know it (which I do love and miss). So I need to enjoy this experience as much as I can!!!
Breakfast done, now back to my room to repack my bag and organise all my stuff!! I may have also had a chance to apply a new coat of my new nail polish!!! Hahahaha, I have to be respectable when I meet my new tour group this afternoon!!! I can't go shaking hands with chipped nail polish can I??? Now my main aim is to finish packing my bag without chipping my nails again!!! I don't like my chances!!!
So I was picked up from my hotel at 1pm and taken to my tour hotel. This was supposed to be about a 20min exercise, however due to traffic it turned out closer to 40mins. We cut through some interesting parts of Manaus. Hmmmm, maybe I could just go back to my studio apartment that I had stayed at last night. Although I did find it hard to believe that my tour hotel would be plonked right in the middle of a shanty town.
We drove straight through the commercial part of Manaus, where they sold everything from cars to cane outdoor furniture. We weaved our way through the busy streets of the shanty town, in many instances the houses were run down shacks, backing onto small creeks polluted with litter. Even though these areas are quite poor, the people are still smiling and laughing.
We then approached the coast line of the rio negro, where there were beaches, and a course way where people were walking and running. This river gets it's name from its dark colour (negro is Spanish for black), and this river eventually feeds into the amazon river. You can tell that this area is no shanty town. Maybe by the fact that the people running along the course way are fully decked out in their new nike gear, all with their iPhones strapped to their arms listening to tracks whilst they run!! We drive along the course way for a couple of minutes until we approach a gated community. The van indicator goes on.... Ok looks like I'm staying in here!! My driver beeps and waves to the security guard on the gate, who allows us access. We drive past the tennis courts, past another hotel, and eventually we pull up out the front of this very flash hotel. This is me!!!
I swing out of the van and make my way up to the check in desk. I soon realise that this is the hotel of choice by all of the airline pilots and air hostesses. There they are swanning around the lobby with their captain hats and sunglasses on!! Once I was finished been distracted by the pilots, I eventually checked in. Room 1507. Sounds nice.... 5th floor. Noooooo. I was wrong. The checkin guy directs me to the first floor, which is a level down (reception was actually located on the 2nd floor), I know I was confused by that as well. Then he said keep walking. Ok!!
So off I trek. I head down the stairs. I start walking down the corridor... room 1101. Ok..... My rooms 1507..... Can this be right??? I finally get to room 1175. And the next corridor starts..... 1201. Oh my god. Are you kidding me. This is going to take forever. I should have packed a picnic lunch for this one!! I walked all the way through to 1375 and arrived at a meeting point of 3 corridors. So I continue down the 1401 corridor, only to find that it comes to a dead end. Hmmmm, now I'm lost. So I returned to the 3 way corridor intersection. I swear turn around 3 times with your eyes shut at this intersection and you would be completely lost. It's like a rabbit warren. So I went to walk down a corridor, only to realise that it was the 1375 corridor again, so third time lucky I eventually found the corridor marked with room 1501. Yay!!!
I set my bags down, and then headed straight back to the lobby to meet my tour group. It took me a good 10mins to walk the corridors from the lobby to my room. So I have to factor that in to my travel time.
Along the way I noticed that they actually have a zoo at the hotel. Interesting.
So I head back to the lobby and wait around to meet my new tour group. I didn't know who they were, or how many there would be, so I was eagerly searching for any signs of someone who looked like they would be on my tour. Then I hear the Australian accent, one guy saying to someone else 'well maybe we are the only ones on the tour'. They have to be with me!!
I turned around to see a man probably in his early 60's talking to 3 other people of a similar age. I smiled and asked if they were with globus..... Bingo they were!!
So for the amazon section of this tour there are 5 of us. The other four people already know each other, and are all from Brisbane. They are lovely, welcoming people. So we just chatted for a while, until our guide for this afternoons city tour arrived.
We all jumped in the van, and made our way to a biodiversity research centre. This place is attached to a university in Manaus, and has been established to research and preserve Amazonian flora and fauna. One of the biggest projects (and tourist attractions) is the breeding program for fresh water manatees. These animals were under threat due to hunting. This program was established to try and preserve the species and breed up the numbers again.
The next stop was the opera house. This was amazing. It was built from European materials back in the rubber boom. It was so grand inside. An absolute must if you ever travel to Manaus!!!
Our final destination was the municipal markets. We walked through the stands of fresh fruit, meat and fish. I really got a feel for what it would be like to live in Manaus by going to this market. Locals were animatedly arguing back and forth about produce, price and quantity.
The fruit section was divided by fruit. One place sold oranges, the next plantains, the next pineapples, and so it went. There was this one guy who was obviously the guy with power, I'll just call him the mafia dude. He was just going around to every stall taking and eating what ever fruit he wanted. No one ever said anything to him. He just did it!!
The next hall was the meat one. It still amazes me.... How come these people don't get food poisoning. I mean hunks of meat are out on display, no refrigeration and flies buzzing around. They must have iron guts!!
Then it was the fish market. Being on the amazon, there is definitely no shortage of fish. There was table after table of different types of fish, and fish mongers cleaning and gutting them. Nothing quite like the fish monger filleting the fish with a smoke hanging from his mouth!!
We went out and had a look at the harbour, and saw all of the boats out on the river ready to set sail. Some boats only go a short distance, dropping people off at home after a day of work. Other boats are for longer journeys. One boat we saw was sailing up the amazon river, all the way through to Lima in Peru. The people buy their tickets, and the boat has a strict BYO hammock policy. No cabins for the week long journey.... just a hammock (which you must supply).
We then made our way back to the hotel, where we had a welcome dinner. We sat and got to know each other a bit better. It was then time to call it a night!!!