Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5
THE WESTERN AMAZON CLIMATE
The western Amazon normally receives a lot of
rain
- up to 375cm a year in the extreme west
and about 175cm around Manaus. The 2005
drought
left fish dying and stranded in pools as
the rivers receded. Entire communities were cut off as boat-dependent island settlements
were left surrounded by drying mud and rotting fish. In ordinary circumstances, the area's
heaviest rains fall in January and February, with a relatively dry season from June to October.
The humidity rarely falls much below eighty percent, and the temperature in the month of
December can reach well above 40°C. This takes a few days to get used to; until you do it's like
being stuck in a sauna with only air conditioning, shady trees, a breeze or cool drinks to help
you escape.
governor
Eduardo Ribeiro
, who from 1892 transformed Manaus into a major city.
Under Ribeiro the Opera House was completed, and whole streets were wiped out in
the process of laying down broad Parisian-style avenues, interspersed with Italian piazzas
centred on splendid fountains. In 1899 Manaus was the first Brazilian city
to have trolley buses and the second to have electric lights in the streets.
At the start of the twentieth century Manaus was an opulent metropolis run by
elegant people, who, despite the tropical heat, dressed and housed themselves as
fashionably as their counterparts in any large European city. The rich constructed
palaces and grandiose mansions and time was passed at elaborate parties, dances and
concerts. But this heyday lasted barely thirty years; Ribeiro committed suicide in
1900 and by 1914 the rubber market was collapsing fast. There was a second brief
boost for Brazilian rubber during World War II, but today's prosperity is largely due
to the creation of a
Free Trade Zone
, the Zona Franca, in 1966. Over the following
ten years the population doubled, from 250,000 to half a million, and many new
industries moved in, especially electronics companies. An impressive international
airport was opened in 1976 and the floating port was modernized to accommodate
the new business.
Today, with nearly two million inhabitants, Manaus is an aggressive
commercial and
industrial centre
for an enormous region - the Hong Kong of the Amazon. It boasts
one of the world's largest motorcycle assembly plants and over half of Brazil's televisions
are made here. The airport is often crowded with Brazilians going home with their
arms laden with TVs, hi-fis, computers and fax machines. Landless and jobless
Brazilians also flock here looking for work, particularly as there are more prospects in
Manaus than in many parts of the Northeast. This is the most populous city of the
Brazilian Amazon, and Brazil's seventh biggest.
The docks and around
he
port
is an unforgettable spectacle, with a constant throng of activity stretching
along the riverfront, while the ships moored at the docks bob serenely up and down.
Boats are getting ready to leave or, having just arrived, are busy unloading. People cook
fish at stalls to sell to the hungry sailors and their passengers, or to the workers once
they've finished their shift of carrying cargo from the boats to the distribution market.
During the day there's no problem wandering around (although watch your personal
belongings), and it's easy enough to find out which boats are going where just by
asking. At night, however, this can be a dangerous area and is best avoided, as many
of the river men carry guns.
he
Porto Flutuante
, or floating docks, here were built by a British company at the
beginning of the twentieth century. To cope with the Rio Negro rising over a 14m
range, the concrete pier is supported on pontoons that rise and fall to allow even the
largest ships to dock here year-round (the highest recorded level of the river was in
1953, when it rose some 30m above sea level).
