2 - 5 March - Manaus

4 nights in Manaus, with many of the group hopping off into the Amazon jungle for the middle two nights to stay in a rather luxurious looking lodge and to tramp around looking at spiders, frogs etc. The rest of us stayed at our hostel and took turns to cook.
Guard-cat by our room at the hostel


We mooched around town a fair bit and visited the large, bustling market a couple of times, buying bags full of veg and spices for just a few pounds.








Chicken curry, beef stir fry etc all worked out to be just over $2 a head. The character of the city is largely due to the market stalls that coat every street. A local guy told us though that the mayor is trying to get rid of those because they are ugly.


One highlight of our stay here was bizarrely a bus trip to the zoo. Not the zoo itself, as we didn't manage to find it (Vanessa and Heather had a second more successful attempt a couple of days later) but the bus ride itself. The driver flew round the hilly, pot-holed streets and Vanessa fell out of her flip flops at one point. Brilliant.
Mister, you really need to mow your house


Another highlight was the opera house, which was stunning, unexpected in what is a pretty grimy downtown area. Only seating 690 people, it's lovely a small, so the acoustics are great. We caught a rehearsal, which sounded amazing and made up a little for missing a show the previous night.









The chaps didn't seem too impressed with Black Swan (chick flick)