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Two day stop in Manaus, the major city on the Amazon. It has a population of 1.3 million and is as far up the Amazon as large cruise ships can go. Day one saw the first day of our 50-day cruise (day 40) with a weather issue. We had just reached the port terminal when the skies opened - the heaviest downpour we have experienced since we were in a typhoon in Manila in 1980. Thank goodness we were inside. After an hour we returned to the ship and at 2:30 we tried again. Weather was fine and we walked downtown and toured the famous Amazon Theater. Quite stunning. It is one of the elaborate buildings constructed in the early 1900s at the height of the rubber boom.
On day 2 we took a 2 ½ hr. tour with a cab to areas outside the historic downtown, which included the zoo and the Rio Negro beach area, the newer wealthy residential area of Manaus. Quite a contrast to the downtown, which, although it has some beautiful buildings, most lack paint and are not well-maintained. There is no lack of shopping, ranging from hundreds of stalls to very modern shops with top-line clothing. After leaving Manaus, we started back east and saw the meeting of the Rio Negro River with the Amazon. The Rio Negro (which Manaus is situated on) is very dark while the Amazon is very brown, containing a lot of silt.
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