MANAUS, Brazil- Day 1 To "The Line"

Manaus is a city of 2.6 million people, with 55 large international companies and over 450 factories. Yes! Manaus has an opera house, the Amazonas Theater was built in 1882 at the time of the Rubber Boom. Developed by artists from all over Europe, with Italian marble, mirrors, Murano chandeliers, and glazed tiles from Alsace … it is a one of a kind building … in particular in the middle of the Amazon (restored in the past 4 years after 90 years of disrepair). We are here for two days where we did a Meeting of the Waters and a trek through the jungle along the rainforest trail.

Day 1 we took a riverboat to the “Meeting of the Waters”, where there is the confluence between the dark, black but clear Rio Negro and the muddy, yellow Amazon River without mixing. The river then flows another 37 miles before mixing fully. At the meeting of the rivers, there is a clear line that forms between the two waters and it is fascinating.

First we took a small boat made from itauba trees down the Rio Negro to the place where the Waters meet to observe this phenomenon. We were very lucky because TODAY is the first day there was enough water in the rainy season (which is over a month later than normal) after a very hot 2024 to canoe the January Lake. After that we went to a floating pier where we jumped in a canoe and took it through the January Lake and eventually back to the pier.

Why don’t they mix? Temperature, Speed, Amount of dissolved sediment, Density and Ph.
-Rio Negro flows at 1.2 mph at 82 degrees, has a 7.2 ph and is alkaline, has iron and magnesium, and is sediment free flowing from Columbia. No fish or bugs in these waters.
-Amazon flows at 3.5mph at 72 degrees has a 4.5 ph and is very acidic, is rich with sediment from the Andes Mountains. This environment is also conducive to many fish.Read more