| Opera House | Dancers | Market | City Square |
In the middle of the Amazon Jungle is a remote city with the population of Auckland. Despite being over 1000 miles from the Atlantic, big ocean-going ships visit Manaus.
Manaus has a better "knowledge economy" than Auckland, for it is the electronic capital of Brazil. Because it is a duty free area, major electronic firms have established factories in the jungle to avoid taxes. The New Zealand government by comparison has no idea how to attract high technology into their remote country.
Manaus is a popular starting point for trips along the Solimoes and Rio Negro rivers, which join here to form the Amazon River. Its airport provides quick access to the middle of the Amazon Basin, after a 5 hour flight from Sao Paulo over remote farms and then the huge Amazon Forest.
Manaus was once the rubber capital of the world and during that 19th century phase the fabulously rich Portuguese rubber barons built the Manaus Opera House out of expensive materials imported from Europe. The Amazon had a major decline in fortune when rubber plantations started producing in Malaysia. The Opera house has recently been refurbished as Manaus returns to prosperity. The excellent Amazon Symphony Orchestra plays here.
Teatro Amazonas flood-lit at night Photography by John Wattie |
