Manaus

 Traveling to Manaus was the epic climax of our voyages throughout Brazil.  The capital of Brazil's largest state, Amazonas, the city of Manaus is on the Amazon River, and it feels like a totally different country than anything I had ever experienced in Brazil.  As we flew in, I had the overwhelming feeling that this was going to be the best part of my trip, and I wasn't disappointed. 

Before heading crossing the Black River into the depth of the Amazon jungle, we spent some time in the city.  We visited the famous Amazon Theatre, constructed in the year 1892.  The building is the home of the Amazonas Opera Festival, held once a year in Manaus.

 

Inside the theatre, there was a very interesting ballroom with this mural on the spacious ceiling.   Our guide pointed out that if you walk from one side of the room to the other with your eyes fixed on certain parts of the painting, they change.  For instance, if you watch the little girl as you go from one side of the room to the other, she grows, and if you look at one of the women, she moves her arm and opens her eyes.  Its really crazy, but true.

We got to visit the nearly-finished temple of Manaus!  I'd never seen a partly constructed temple before, and this is located right on the river! (You can't see it from this photo, but the river is on the other side of the fence.)  The temple is supposed to be finished by the beginning of next year, so its dedication should be coming up soon.  So many members of the church will be blessed to not have to take the several-day voyage to the São Paulo temple once this one is finished.