Manaus, a modern, Mediterranean city at the heart of the Amazon

After having read the travel account “My Amazon”, I wonder if I had not wrongly chosen my base for the next month. The author Juan Madrid describes Manaus as antipode to the pleasant city of Belem, the second important town at the other end of the river. Fellow travellers assure me, it´s the other way round and I start believing them after just one day.

Thiago, young assistant to the only green Member of the Parliament of the State of Amazon, get´s time off to show me around and help with travel preparations. The city boosts a number of remarkable buildings from the turn to the 20^th century, the “golden age” of Manaus. Exploiting its monopoly for rubber production at the expanse of the life millions of enslaved workers, Manaus became within a few years one of the richest and most modern cities in the world. Many of the old buildings are better preserved than Art Deco houses in Brussels and the city is still so modern that many sights could easily be found in Western Europe or America. The port is the life line of this vibrant place, which can only be reached by air or water.

The vast green tropical rainforest surrounding the city and stretching over the entire state is to 97% preserved. The contrast to the neighbouring state Pará, where large-scale deforestation is rampant, is according to Thiago not only due to its seclusion. Rather an alternative economic model, not based on the exploitation of natural resources, but on the development of other industries, furthered by a tax-exemption, marks the difference.

At night, the city is probably most pleasant, when a gentle wind takes away the heat of the day, squares and buildings are illuminated and a Mediterranean flair takes over. In front of the newly renovated Palacette Provincial, which hosts 5 interesting exhibitions for free with excellent French- and English-speaking guides, a brass band entertains the public, playing in a romantic pavilion in the midst of a park of water and plants. More people are even attracted by a band playing famous Brazilian folk songs on the large square belonging to the splendid Teatro Amazonas. People dance and enjoy a traditional shrimps dish while the most popular songs are echoed by the entire audience, about 200 voices. It can be felt that this part of the city is safe even at night, and fortunately my hotel is just a stone throw away.