February 7, 2008 - Rio de Janeiro & Manaus, Brasil

February 7, 2008 - Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
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I woke up on my own and the hotel´s wake up call came at 4 AM sharp. I was ready to head out by 5:30 AM. As the payment for my stay at this Hotel was always in advance, I handed my key to the night manager, thanked them and headed out. The driver (of the taxi) I had spoken with yesterday morning was waiting outside. He had been waiting for 15 minutes! He was an elderly gent so felt reasonably safe. [Taxis in Rio are known to take you on certain "Unforeseen routes" where you get mugged]

Chatted with him as we drove to the airport. Maybe it is the "consulting" profession I was in for a long time: I am able to pretend and give the impression of being "Knowledgeable" rather well! We reached the airport in 35 minutes. Used the electronic check in and had my bag checked-in and boarding pass in my hand in less then 5 minutes. The bag still weighed in at 18 Kilograms (despite the fact that I had given at least 4 Kilograms of stuff to my friend to carry back to the US)! Maybe there is a spell on the bag.

The flight departed on time. I had a window seat. The 2 seats next to me were empty. The flight headed to the Capital Brasilia (90 minutes) first before heading to Manaus (2 hours from Brasilia). The flight was scheduled to continue to Boa Vista (another 45 minutes) from Manaus. The only good thing about all this was that Manaus was 2-hours behind Rio.

I slept a bit during the flight, read my guide book and noted down places to see and things to do in Manaus. The plane almost emptied in Brasilia as all the Politicians and lobbyists disembarked! The flight fill back up to 75% of its capacity. We reached Manaus at 12:30 PM Rio time (10:30 AM local time). There were no locks broken on my bag this time!

February 7, 2008 - Manaus, Brasil
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A taxi cab with my name was waiting for me. The driver and a representative from the hotel sat up front and I sat in the back. The hotel rep (Wilson - Young kid) kept fishing for my plans in Manaus as he wanted to sell me some package or the other during the ride to the hotel. I did not bite.

I expected Manaus to be a remote jungle outpost with a handful of hotels located in a clearing near the Amazon Jungle. It turns out to be a thriving CITY of 2 Million People! I was definitely disappointed. I come to the Capital of AMAZONAS State, not to see a big city. I hope my stay at the Jungle lodge in the Amazon (for 2 nights / 3 days) will help re-establish my image of this place.

I was under the impression that the pickup from the airport was a complimentary one. Oh, how wrong could I be: I was asked to fork out R$40 for the ride! My ride in RIO was cheaper (at least from the Airport). The hotel (Dez de Julho) was passable. The room was clean and so were the sheets. The lighting in the room was horribly dull (I most certainly cannot READ here). The price was R$60 (US$35) per night. I headed out, bought a R$10 phone card (for making land line calls) and called my parents.

I headed next to meet the representative for the ANAVILHANAS JUNGLE LODGE with whom I had corresponded quite a few times during the booking process. Valdemar was thrilled to see me. He spoke reasonable English and we chatted for 45-minutes. He told me that my Jungle Lodge stay will not cover the "Meeting of the Waters" and that I may have to do that on my own. Valdemar is a very engaging gent. He advised me on safety issues in Manaus and told me not to venture out after 10 PM.

The Vegetarian restaurant (that I went in search of and finally found) was out of food by 2 PM! It was quite hot and humid - as a tropical place is expected to be! The Paraguayan shirt was not cutting it in his heat. It was wet and sticking to me (despite it being made of cotton). I headed back to Hotel, rested in the air-conditioned comfort of my room before changing into a T-shirt and heading to the nearby Eco-Cafe for a snack.

I bought tickets for the 4 PM English language tour of the Teatro Amazonas. This is a 110 year old Theatre built during the rubber boom of the late 19 century. Sadly, the theatre was not having any performances until February 20 :( In the early days of this theatre, the costumes worn by the performers used to be sent to France to be laundered!

I visited the Amazon Explorers office (a company recommended by Valdemar) to explore the tour options to see the "Meeting of the Waters". The company had a 6-Hour tour of the "Meeting of the Waters" for R$90 (US$55) and lunch was included. It sounded decent, so I booked myself on a trip departing the next morning. I finally bit the bullet and purchased a Brazilian SIM Card for R$15 - with a R$ credit included. I hope it works!

I headed to an Italian restaurant for dinner. The restaurant provided a mean hot sauce (I mean MEAN) that was made from Potato Juice and Pepper. The Pizza that I ordered was tolerable. The internet connection I tried was quite bad and I gave up after 15 minutes. I tried sending messages to friends (using my Brazilian SIM card) and it worked!