MANAUS, BRAZIL Located 1,000 miles upriver from the Atlantic, Manaus is the most populous city in the Amazon basin. Its prosperity from rubber trade earned it a reputation as the “Paris of the Amazon,” with elegant buildings, gracious avenues, and colorful facades still visible in the Old Town. The Amazon Theater, constructed when demand for rubber was at its height, boasts a striking tiled dome and rich European influences. The Rio Negro Palace, once home to eccentric rubber baron and later the governors, is a vibrant cultural center. Small excursion boats from Manaus deliver travelers to the Meeting of the Waters, where the dark waters of the Black River and the sand colored waters of the Amazon run side by side. European flavored Manaus is one of Brazil’s largest cities, yet it is also one of its most secluded. Its remote situation in the Amazon rainforest makes it primarily accessible by boat or plane. So isolated, the unique and fascination culture of native B
