We docked in Manaus on Sunday, January 23rd, and quickly got ready for our trip in the Amazon. The trip started with us loading onto a riverboat and traveling one and a half hours to the "Meeting of the Waters." This is where the Rio del Negro (Black Water) meets the Solomoes (Brown Water). The temperatures and thus the density of the two waters is different, which causes them not to mix rapidly. The result is about 4 miles of the Amazon where one side is black and the other is brown. I have yet to see any water here that would be called clear. After the meeting of the waters we proceeded to the Ecological park. This park is located between the two rivers and is a marshy, grassy area alive with wildlife. We had lunch here, fished for pirahna, went for a short hike, viewed the Amazon's largest tree (According the the guide), and went for a motorized canoe ride along this marshy area. While on this trip we saw monkeys, a baby alligator, giant water lillies, pink dolphins, birds, and a lot of people living on stilt houses or floating houses on the water. The entire tour was 8 hours long and very worthwhile.
This morning Jen and I were able to get a 5 mile run in. There is a group that meets for runs now and then, and today there were 4 of us. Manaus is a busy city with street vendors everywhere. We ran along the river and through the cities big "Market." The market is the clearinghouse for fruit, fish, veggies, meat, bread, and all else. The market is huge and the local distributors are bargaining for what they want to buy and transport to their stands and stores. I will say I have never smelled so many different odors at the same time. Imagine pineapple, lemon, orange, meat, fish, vegetable, and sewer all at once. Each breathe and smell was different than the one before. We passed a flavela (slum) and arrived at one of the city parks. The park had about a 1/3rd mile loop and locals where running around it. We took a few laps and then retraced our steps. On the way back a runner Bill wasn't looking and ran into a telephone pole, ricocheted into a local and almost knocked her into the street. Everyone was ok, but it illustrates the challenge of running in a crowded city. Today it's off to the beach (no swimming due to black water), and then tour around town.
This morning Jen and I were able to get a 5 mile run in. There is a group that meets for runs now and then, and today there were 4 of us. Manaus is a busy city with street vendors everywhere. We ran along the river and through the cities big "Market." The market is the clearinghouse for fruit, fish, veggies, meat, bread, and all else. The market is huge and the local distributors are bargaining for what they want to buy and transport to their stands and stores. I will say I have never smelled so many different odors at the same time. Imagine pineapple, lemon, orange, meat, fish, vegetable, and sewer all at once. Each breathe and smell was different than the one before. We passed a flavela (slum) and arrived at one of the city parks. The park had about a 1/3rd mile loop and locals where running around it. We took a few laps and then retraced our steps. On the way back a runner Bill wasn't looking and ran into a telephone pole, ricocheted into a local and almost knocked her into the street. Everyone was ok, but it illustrates the challenge of running in a crowded city. Today it's off to the beach (no swimming due to black water), and then tour around town.
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