3
OF THE BEST
attractions Manaus
There’s plenty to enjoy in Manaus, the capital city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas and the gateway to the Amazon rainforest.
Teatro Amazonas
More than 120 years old, this architectural delight represents the city’s heyday during the rubber boom. Inside, look up at the ceiling, painted to represent the four columns of the Eiffel Tower. The Amazonas Opera Festival takes place here each April and May, and it’s also home to the Amazonas Philharmonic Orchestra.
Museu de Amazonia
Sitting on a 100-hectare plot in the lush Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve, the museum hosts an exhibition of orchids and a butterfly and snake enclosure, as well as a forest trail to a 42-metre observation tower. Climb to the top for spectacular 360-degree views over the Amazon Rainforest.
Mercado Adolpho Lisboa
Opened in 1882, this is a smaller replica of Les Halles market in Paris, and is the place to pick up fresh fruits, spices, fish, souvenirs and traditional indigenous medications. Next door is the working fish market, worth a visit early in the morning to see the vast array of Amazonian fish on display.
life. It might appear serene above the water, but lurking beneath is a whole other world. Our guide, Ralf, born and raised here, describes what lies below, and by the end I’m very glad to be sitting on the water’s surface. Piranhas, candiru fish (also known as penis fish, and one that locals fear), caiman and green anaconda (the world’s largest snake, pound for pound) are a few of the inhabitants hiding beneath us.
RAINFOREST RETREAT Juma Amazon Lodge is our home for a few nights, nestled in a remote and largely untouched region in the heart of the rainforest. With no phone signal or Wi-Fi available, you really are escaping the modern world and can embrace nature at its best. Staff at the lodge fill the days with excursions ranging from piranha fishing to visiting the house of a cabocio (a local family). Jungle treks delve right into the heart of the forest. The
humidity – and the discomfort of those pesky mosquitoes – are worth it for the captivating way Ralf explains the forest to us. With his years of knowledge, he points out a wide range of animals, fruits and trees on the trek. These include the pau rose, otherwise known as Brazilian rosewood, which has a wonderful smell and has become
40 14 OCTOBER 2021
33The jungle at night is a whole different experience. As we set sail, we’re on high alert, listening to the sounds of the forest
famous as an ingredient in Chanel No 5 perfume. After a five-hour hike, we are all ravenous, but a surprise awaits us in the opening of the trees ahead. Staff from the lodge have prepared a barbecued lunch of pirarucu and tambaqui fish, meats and salads – quite the luxury given we’re in the middle of a rainforest.
WILD NIGHTS The jungle at night is a whole different experience. As we sail out by boat, we’re on high alert, listening to the mysterious sounds of the forest while gliding along the river and looking up at the starry sky. Caiman lie perfectly still on the edges of the banks but, alas, we don’t see the largest of them all – the black caiman, which can grow to six metres long. Spiders slither over
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