Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE AMAZON
MANAUS
Palácio Rio Negro
Av Sete de Setembro s/n • Tues-Fri 10am-4pm, Sun 5-8pm • Free •
T
92 3232 4450
he
Centro Cultural Palácio Rio Negro
is a gorgeous colonial-period mansion built in
the early twentieth century by the wealthy German rubber merchant Waldemar Scholz.
Scholz's dream in the Amazon was short-lived; with the collapse of the rubber boom,
he was forced into remortgaging his home. he State acquired the mansion in 1918 for
a paltry sum and it became the seat of the government of Governor Pedro d'Alcantara.
Today, the building functions as a cultural centre and museum with lovely varnished
acapú
and
pau amarelo
floors and displays of beautiful period furniture.
5
Museu do Homem do Norte
Centro Cultural dos Povos da Amazônia, Praça Francisco Pereira da Silva s/n, Bairro Crespo • Mon-Fri 9am-5pm • Free •
T
92 2125 5323 •
Bus #611, #705, #706, #712, #713 or #715 from Praça da Matriz
With a collection of over 2000 objects, the fascinating
Museu do Homem do Norte
(Museum of Northern Man) offers an insight into the life and traditions of the
Amazon's diverse tribes. It provides an excellent introduction to the region, with
informative displays on pre-colonial societies, tribal rituals and medicinal herbs,
along with exhibitions on
guaraná
and rubber production.
Meeting of the waters
The most popular and widely touted day-trip around Manaus is to the
meeting of the
waters
, some 10km downstream, where the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimões meet to
form the Rio Amazonas. The alkaline Solimões absorbs the much more acid Rio Negro
over several kilometres. For this distance the waters of the two rivers continue to flow
separately, the muddy yellow of the former contrasting sharply with the black of the
latter. Interestingly, the Rio Negro is always warmer than the Solimões. The lighter
colour of the Solimões is mainly due to the high levels of soil suspended in the water,
which has mostly come here as runoff from the Andes. The Rio Negro is particularly
dark because most of its source streams have emerged in low-lying forests where rotting
vegetation rather than heavier soil is absorbed into the river drainage system. It creates
a strange sight, and one well worth experiencing.
Parque Ecológico do Janauary
The beautiful
Parque Ecológico do Janauary
is an ecological park of 90 square
kilometres some 7km from Manaus on one of the main local tributaries of the Rio
Negro. Tours to the meeting of the waters usually also include a visit here; you'll be
transferred to smaller motorized canoes to explore its creeks (
igarapés
), flooded forest
lands (
igapós
) and abundant vegetation. In the rainy season you have to explore the
creeks and floodlands by boat; during the dry season - between September and
January - it's possible to walk around.
VICTORIA AMAZONICA
One of the highlights of the Manaus area is the abundance of
Victoria Amazonica
(previously
Victoria Regia
), the extraordinary giant floating lily for which Manaus is famous.
Found mostly in shallow lakes, it flourishes in the rainy months. The plant, named after Queen
Victoria by an English naturalist in the nineteenth century, has huge leaves - some over 1m
across - with a covering of thorns on their underside as protection from the teeth of
plant-eating fish. The flowers are white on the first day of their life, rose-coloured on the
second, and on the third they begin to wilt: at night the blooms close, imprisoning any insects
that have wandered in, and releasing them again as they open with the morning sun.
