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Manaus to Rio, Brazil

At 0830 am I had a hearty breakfast with cashew nut juice at Go Inn Manaus.

go inn manaus breakfast buffet (2)

breakfast go inn manaus

After breakfast I walked to Banco Brazil 5 minutes away to draw more money from their ATM’s but by South African bank cards did not work on their ATM network. I returned to Go Inn Manaus rested until check-out time at 12pm. At 1300 I took a taxi to the Amazonas Shopping Mall.

amazonas shopping center outside

I was looking for a charger for my GoPro (which I forgot in South Africa), a magnet of Manaus and possibly some clothes (Taco had a nice selection). In the end I didn’t end up finding what I needed.

amazonas shopping center

I checked out a few stores.

rio manaus t-shirts

bombons finos chocolate manaus

I had a quick lunch at Pizza Hut and took a taxi back to the hotel to collect my luggage at 1450 for 20 reals. At 1510 I left the hotel for the airport. I asked the taxi driver if he could stop outside Manaus Soccer stadium which is on the way to the airport. A few hand signals with the help of a map on my phone helped me get my request across. Instead of 65 reals directly to the airport he’d charge 80 reals for the detour. I was fine with that.

manaus stadium amazon

As I sat into the taxi I ripped my K-Way pants in the centre. Just a small tear but thankfully I’d be able to change into something else soon. I was planning to wear the same pants on a 5 day hiking trip 3 months later. If it ripped at a later date that would have been a real problem.

About 15 minutes later we arrived at Manaus Soccer Stadium. This facility is a white elephant, built just for the World Cup 2014 in Brazil. Since then it’s hardly been used. Manaus doesn’t even have notable a local soccer team that plays nationally.

I couldn’t find a good enough vantage point at the first stop outside the stadium so I asked him to drive to another side of the stadium and managed to take a slightly better photo. We then headed directly for the airport which was about 15 minutes away.

I changed into denim jeans, bought some Guarana Bare soda and surfed online on the free WiFi available at the airport.

manaus airport terminal

At 1800 I boarded the 4 hour flight to Rio de Janeiro. The plane was very empty.

tam airmine manaus to rio

The 2 seats next to mine were empty. As we departed Manaus I had a magnificent view of Rio Negro and Rio Solimoes during sunset.

flight over manaus amazon river

We passed over Brasilia when the sun had fully set.

flight over brasila at night

I arrived in Rio at 2310 (Rio’s time zone is 1 hour ahead of Manaus).

As soon as I landed I connected to the free WiFi in Rio de Janeiro Airport and sent a WhatsApp message to my friend to say that I’d be at our hostel shortly. He wasn’t in the hostel at the time but advised that the key was at reception.

I found the taxi drivers in the arrivals section quite intimidating. They’re all coming up to you inside the terminal trying to get you to travel with them. Instead I headed upstairs to the Departures section and found my own taxi outside. I like having some control of who I choose to travel with.

The taxi from the airport to the hostel in Copacabana cost me 60 reals. I arrived just before midnight, unpacked and met my friend. I then went out to look for some food after midnight. All I found was a McDonalds so I purchased a McFlurry and some bottled water. By 1am I returned to the hostel and went to sleep immediately

About Zaid

Zaid is an intrepid traveler from South Africa that has traveled to all 7 continents. He loves to explore new destinations, experience new activities and go off the beaten path.
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