We passed small farmhouses elevated on stilts and a bit of actual Amazon rainforest, the treetops populated by sloths-which are hard to spot, but we did see some. ![]() In a small boat we motored up the Rio Tapajós, a tributary of the Amazon. Then we went piranha-fishing on Maica Lake. Victorious angler holds piranha for photos while others continue to fish. They take small river steamers and sleep in hammocks slung between decks. People of the region measure inter-city travel in days, not hours. Since air service is both expensive and sparse, most long-distance travel is by boat. Unlike any other city of its size, Manaus cannot be reached by road. Thus, the Amazon can be navigated for a thousand miles, all the way to Manaus, by oceanic vessels. In total volume of water carried down to the sea, no other river on Earth comes close. The Amazon is either the longest or the second-longest river in the world, but it is without doubt the largest. To trek the Amazon Rain Forest is one thing riding the Amazon River is quite another. When I say “Amazon,” you may see dense jungle dripping with rain, bromeliads perched on every tree and bone-nosed cannibals behind every bush. We flew to Manaus, a city of more than two million people in Brazil’s northwest. But perhaps you’d like to hear about the sunny Tropics. Far be it from me, Dear Reader, to assault your sensibilities with arctic narratives à la Jack London. We experienced both of these contrasting joys recently. The city’s majestic opera house is in the background. Workers repair tile in the Manaus town square.
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