Day 2 - GSE Activities in Manaus

Today our GSE team visited the Emergency Medical System (EMS) center of Manaus and visited with the Municipal Secretary of Health.  We will follow-up with a visit on Friday of their speed boat ambulance, which is used for the emergency response and tranport from outlying communities along the Amazon River (range of 4 hours each way - out and back).  We also learned about the motorcycle emergency responders, who are able to maneuver through the city with greater agility than the other emergency vehicles... a unique approach to emergency response.

We made another Rotary Club presentation today at lunch to the Rio Negro Club.  Later in the day we visited the famous Amazon Theater (opera house) built for rubber barons during the rubber boom of the late 19th century (1896).

From GSE Trip

Arrived in Manaus, Brazil

After nearly 20 hours of air travel and 6000 miles we arrived in Manaus, Brazil at Noon.  Our trip took us from Kansas City to Atlanta, then to Brasilia with a connecting flight back north to Manaus.  We crossed the equator 2.5 hours prior to landing in Brasilia.  We are just a few degrees south of the equator.  It's 86 degrees and humid (like a sauna).  We were met at the airport by two wonderful Rotarians (Gerson and Maxwell), who took us to lunch and helped us get settled into a hotel near the famously beautiful Opera Theater Building (circa 1890).  We will visit the four Rotary clubs in Manaus before leaving by boat next Monday to Santarem.  The river trip on the Amazon will take 2 days.  Happy Birthday, Gaelynn!!