South America 2023 - day 05 - Friday 10/03

Imagine a world where you can have any car like as long as it’s a VW? (OK the brand is irrelevant but let’s pretend.) Or any phone as long as it’s Samsung, any operating system as long as it’s Windows. The latter is of course vaguely imaginable but even at its height, Bill’s market share peaked briefly around 90% (dropping nowadays to 75% roughly.)

Now cast your thoughts back to the late 1800s / early 1900s, the world suddenly needs rubber, for those amazing new pneumatics such as bicycles and early motor cars, as well as a thousand other uses. The ONLY place it came from was Amazonia - imagine being in sole control of such an amazing modern-day product? The money came rolling in, and Manaus, centre of the world’s entire supply, became rich, richer and then even richer again. 

So it no great surprise to find one of the most incredible opera houses in the world in Manaus, built with the finest of everything - Alsace tiles, Italian marble, Sheffield steel, Murano chandeliers - the first built with electric light. One curiosity is that the pillars came from Glasgow - perhaps needing the skillset of a shipyard, our guide wasn’t sure. The final result is a stupendous monument to the excesses of the Belle Époque, and thankfully one we can continue to enjoy in this modern age after several restorations. 

The classic over-entrance function room reaches new heights with a 9,000 piece floor of French marquetry, and a beautiful ceiling. It is exquisite, certainly better than the finest European opera houses of Vienna, Paris and London. 

After opening to great acclaim in 1899, the theatre, indeed the city, later lost its way when the monopoly ended. Typically, it was the British who cause the mayhem, a smuggled batch of 70,000 seeds were sent to Kew, and later dispatched around the empire, causing the primary source of rubber to move away from this magnificent city. 

The house itself is stunning and every bit as impressive as when we were here in 2001, when we were able to enjoy a short performance for ship’s gusts. Today we don’t get that but enjoy a private tour instead, equally special. Our guide shows us the mock-up dressing room, gorgeous auditorium, green room and even the 30,000 piece Lego replica. He’s delighted that I can tell him some details of the fabulous Allen organ they were given by the US government in 1990, but which is sadly now in need of some attention. 

Later we pop across the street for lunch at the nearby Juma Ópera hotel, it’s great to try local dishes of confit-rice and shrimp risotto. It was also good see Lloyd-Webber’s production making it here, but wonder how they can make it pay with just two performances?

Our hotel is a ways from the centre - indeed it’s ill-placed on pretty much every factor, but as walkers that’s never an obstacle so we head off into town. Our journey passes the cemetery where we marvel at the mausolea, mostly dating back to the 1890s with subsequent additions. Then it’s onwards against the traffic towards the opera house, and our visit. 

After, we walk down to the river - not the Amazon, here it’s the Rio Negra - and along the dockside for a while before turning back towards our hotel. It’s true to say this is “adventure tourism” and not for the faint-hearted, but as regular readers will know I’m not averse to dodgy situations. To say the areas are rough is to misunderstand the depth of poverty here, and with GDP less than one-third of Britain it’s no great shock to us, except when someone lets off a string of fireworks for no apparent reason!

Unfortunately the remainder of this city of 2.2 million has not faired well. The number of magnificent buildings now in ruin is incredible - where we walk we find example of faded glory. One wonders what a return in fifty years will reveal - fabulous and sympathetic restoration or a dry dust-bowl of tragic loss? We will not know the answer to that. 

We finish our afternoon by the pool with a different view than what we are used to!