Pictures of Manaus & the Amazon

Many of you have stated you want to see more pictures so since I am in the hotel room resting and trying to regain some strength, I thought I'd share a few of the pictures I've taken since being in Brazil. -Eric

The Manaus Theatre or The Opera House

The common coffee served throughout the day. The cup is very small but a strong coffee.

The Secretary of Health for Manaus

One of the Rotary clubs that we met with.

Ken & Krystee getting ready to board the boat ambulance (SAMU) that serves the Amazon river.

A year ago this was the ambulance that was used for SAMU.

Now these are the ambulances.

This is SAMU's motorcycle first-responder since it is quicker for him to maneuver in and out of traffic compared to the large ambulance.

Gaelynn with some kids at a local school.

Common homes on the Amazon embankment.

The meeting of the waters. Rio Negro (black) & Salimone (brown) converge but do not mix for miles.

Amanda & Gaelynn

Eric

Krystee

Our fearless leader, Ken

A family going back home on the river carrying a full-size refrigerator.

A boat with stairs in the embankment leading up to one of the villages along the Amazon.

A family on the Amazon.

The giant lilly pads (Victoria Regias)...this picture does not do justice to how big the lilly pads are.

A Snowy Egret along the shores of the Amazon.

Week 2 Begins with a Change of Plans

Sometimes the best laid plans require re-evaluation... this is where we find ourselves today!

Contrary to our ealier entry, we have remained in Manaus for an additional three days, in order to attend to the health of one of our team members. Eric's heat stroke has led our team to re-eveluate our initial plan of taking the "African Queen" adventure down the Amazon River. A 33-hour excursion without access to medical attention seemed imprudent in light of our team-member's health status. His medical consultant said that we could travel after he has had a two to three-day recovery. Proceeding with our original plan would have cramped the time available for the visit to Santarem, due to the departure from Santarem to Belem on Monday, April 19.

After holding a team conference and discussing options with the Brazillian host leaders, we jointly decided to switch to air travel to Santarem... the Indiana Jones adventure in the Amazon will to have to wait for another time. Instead, we will leave Manaus early on Thursday morning (1:00 a.m.) and arrive in Santarem at 3:00 a.m. in Santarem.

Everyone is pleased with our decision, as it reduces the risk for the teamm and allows for the full programming to proceed in Santarem. Today we will visit some local museums. The delay also allowed the team to make a presentation yesterday to the fourth and largest Rotary Club in Manaus' industrial district.

Yesterday we attended the Amazon Theater opera company's practice session for the upcoming annual opera festival. What a magnificent musical presentation!!

Stay tuned for more later.

Day 6: Last Full Day in Manaus

We have been going, going, and going. The Manaus Rotarians have been excellent hosts the entire time we have been here. They have scheduled several meetings with various people in our fields of study/profession. The Brazilians have been so kind and gracious to our team. It will be difficult for us to leave such a great group of people in Manaus.

A few highlights from the past several days:

• We visited SAMU (the equivalent of our 911 medical service in the US) a couple of days. They have been able to go from a run-down system to an elite system within one year. They have some great things happening in the medical services including very cool first-responding motorcyclist and a boat ambulance that serves several riverside villages on the Amazon.
• We visited with the Secretary of Health for Manaus, who has really helped expand medical services and pushed to revamp the SAMU system as well.
• We witnessed an incredible program that serves over 300 children to adults with disabilities that was started by a Rotarian several years ago, designed to provide adaptive mobility for people with physical and mental deficits.
• We also visited the integrated central military security communications center that oversees the police & fire departments. They monitor hundreds of cameras around the city of Manaus and we were able to observe their activities in action around the city.
• We also took a boat tour and saw the "Meeting of the Waters" where the Rio Negro (black water) & Solimoes (brown water) rivers converge. These waters do not mix for several miles, an incredible sight to see as the waters flow side-by-side as far as the eye can see. Also went on the tour of the channels (igarapes) where we we saw giant lilly pads (Victoria Regias) and several river villages where many people have their homes on the river and live their lives everyday on the river.

A couple of us have experienced the universal health care program in Brazil with unforseen visits to their urgent care center... everyone is doing fine. Gaelynn had a really bad cough and Eric had heat stroke but the Brazilian hosts wanted to make sure everything was okay, so both Gaelynn & Eric now have a Brazilian medical record.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Santarem by river boat (33-hour journey). We will be on the boat until late Tuesday night so we will not be able to update the blog until Wednesday or later. Thanks for sharing in our adventure by reading our blog!!

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!!

Final Phase of Planning

The GSE planning is nearly complete and the excitement about the trip is clearly palpable.  Visas are arriving, airline tickets are in hand, and the itinerary includes five days in Manaus followed by a two-day boat ride down the Amazon to Santarem.  We will stay four days in Santarem and then fly to Belem for the remainder of our trip.  The Rotary District conference will be held in Belem April 29-May 2.  We will return via Rio de Janeiro on May 3, arriving on May 4 in Kansas City.

Back on track with our new team

We are back on track with two new members (Amanda Dura and Christine Pearson) from Emporia, KS to complete the GSE Team.  Here is a new team picture!