From the tropic to the Equator

I left Rio with a winter of 26 degrees, and arrived in Manaus, dry season, and a temperature that I don't even want to know. It's very hot here, very humid, and I'm sweating all day long. At least many places have air conditioning, and I just hope my body gets used to this climate before I go out in the jungle.

Manaus is the capital city of the state of Amazonia, with a population somewhere between 1 and 2 million people. It is also very different from the other parts of Brazil I've seen so far. Indigeneous seem to form the majority of the population, so it is clear now that I am a tourist. Locals don't bother giving me leaflefts with advertising for their shops. In Rio I could be mistaken for a Brazilian as long as I didn't wear shorts -my untanned legs would tell I haven't seen the sun for quite a while.

I went out this morning, and I could see that this is really another world. First it took me ages to find an ATM that accepted one of my cards. In addition, banks were packed with people (begining of the month?) and the security guards didn't seem to appreciate me looking around for a Master Card sticker. I soon understood that I should not enter a bank with my sun glasses on. With money in my pocket I decided to buy some phone cards and give a call to my parents. The problem I found this time is that most public phones downtown don't seem to be ready for international phone calls. And the ones that are (only DTMFs, for the techies) don't allow conversations longer that 20 or 30 seconds. Quite a challenge. The third activity this morning was finding a boat to go tomorrow to the "Encontro das Aguas", the place where the Solimoes and Rio Negro rivers meet. I finally agreed to go with a certain Manoel, who gave me his card both in Portuguese and English. The English version says: Lancha Anaconda, we moke jungle trips and ovemight. We shall go to that point (12 km from here), try to fish some piranhas, and make a short walk in the jungle.

After doing my duties for the day I was free to walk around and discover a bit the city. It has many colonial buildings, including an Opera house inspired in Paris' (like many others around the world). But the most interesting part was to see the people and the trading. I went to the local market, where you can buy a lot of herbs, fruits, fish and crafts. I discovered there that a certain plant, unhas de gato, can cure several illneses, including AIDS. I had a superb guarana, carefully prepared with almond and other nuts and spices that I didn't know. I also saw people with typewriters offering to write letters, bills, etc, and Real Madrid T-shirts sold for less than 5 EUR (starting price without negotiating. Anybody interested? They have the main European squads, and also the Brazilian national team. Of course, all oficial). Anyway, this was just to give you an overview of how is life here, very very different from Rio or SP. But this is also part of Brazil, this great country.

I was expecting to meet here Craig (MBA, PT1) who had scheduled a business trip to Manaus one of these days. But he hasn't replied to my mails, so I don't know where he is. If by any chance you are reading this, Craig, I'm staying at 10 de Julho hotel, but I will leave next Thursday. You can try to leave a message at the reception.