Rolls Alaska to Argentina & back: 28 Manaus, Brazil

Monday, May 2, 2011

The people on board are a mixed group. Most have a business of some sort - one women had small furniture stores, Sivlio made sheets & had dry goods stores in river towns, others sold jewellry, hand made decorations, did pedicures and so on. Free enterprise is alive and well on the river!

The morning started with another firey sunrise. We did some packing, then went down for breakfast, but the kitchen had run out of food. Marilynn had a couple of tea bags, so we got hot water and had some crackers with it. Most people had a bun and coffee.

We made it into Manaus at 8 AM sharp. We said goodbye to our new friends, and hired a taxi to take us to the Taj Mahal Hotel. We had a prepaid voucher, but had phoned from the ship to say we would be a day late , and they agreed to move our two night reservation forward one night.

The hotel was rated as 5 star, but I think they are very generous with stars, or they are self proclaimed. I would give it three and a half or a shakey four stars, but it was great to get a good sized room and bathroom. My first priority was a shower, but the drain didn't work and by the time I noticed it had flooded the bathroom and spilled out into the hallway. I dried, put on a pair of shorts and waited for more than an hour until someone showed up to solve the problem. When they finally came to clean up and fix the drain I had them get rid of the large cockroach by the bed as well. In spite of the interruption, the shower felt great! It is the first "5 star" I've seen where shampoo isn't provided, but no other amenities that come with upper end hotels were available either. At least they provided soap!

The hotel is well located, only a couple of blocks from the famous Manaus Opera House - the Theatre Amazonas. It is opera season, so we purchased tickets to see Dialogo Das Carmelitas tomorrow night. After a buffet lunch in town we walked through the free zone area in search of camera stores as Marilynn needs a lens cap and repairs to the viewer, but had no luck. We rested in the shade in the litter free Police Park, where jazz music was playing and we cooled off with an ice cream cone.

In the evening I met with Silvano, the English speaking guide Amazon Tours had hired to help me with getting the Rolls. He said the car was expected to arrive tonight, so with luck we should have it tomorrow.

Marilynn has come down with a nasty flu or cold, likely brought on by the air conditioning in our ferry cabin at night then extreme heat during the day, so we didn't go out. Room service took over an hour to bring us an inedible sandwich each that served for dinner.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Monika, the reception employee who had said no problem to move the dates forward a day when ferry staff phoned to advise we would be a day late, kept asking for a new voucher with new dates. I contacted Amazon Star, asking them to send the same voucher with the new dates, but when they contacted Monika then got a different story. When Silvano came to pick me up to get the car I had him carify the situation with Monika, and she said they were charging for the night we couldn't get here, and that she wanted a new voucher for a third night. This was not what ferry staff or Marilynn had understood when we phone from the ferry early on Sunday morning.

Silvano and I had to leave for a 45 minute drive hair raising taxi ride to the barge company in Porto Carinhoso where he was brilliant in getting the paper work done to release the Rolls. It was in good shape, and all items shipped with it were still in the trunk. Silvano guided me back to the hotel where indoor parking was arranged for the car before he headed home.

Marilynn had been back and forth on internet with Amazon Tours regarding the room problem. In the end they sent a voucher for the third night. The hotel was firm on their position that the day's notice they received was not adequate, and that although it would have cost them nothing to advance our stay two days they wanted payment for the night we could not get there. It amazes me that they would penalize a company that supports them by sending clients to gain one nights rental! I would suggest that this is a hotel to avoid!

In spite of not feeling well, Marilynn came with me to the opera, planning a meal at a good Asian restaurant where I'd had lunch. They said they would open at 6:30, but were not open when we arrived. We sat around the square beside the theatre to kill time, then went to the entrance, where the attendant pointed out to us that my watch was one hour later than Manaus time. Silvano had not been late for appointments and phone calls, the restaurant did open on time, we just didn't know we had crossed a time zone part way up the Amazon and that Manaus was in a different time zone than the rest of Brazil!

The opera was pretty heavy and depressing, so we left at intermission and headed back to the hotel. In the morning we'll drive north to Presidente Figueiredo before tackling what we hear is very bad road through Indian lands.