Universal 'goes Brazilian' from July
-with two weekly flights to Manaus
By Nigel Williams
Stabroek News
May 18, 2004
Beautiful Brazil: These young ladies were at the Eduardo Gomes International Airport, Manaus, Brazil, to welcome the travel agents, tourists and journalists who visited the region last weekend on Universal Airlines' first trip to the state. (Photo by Nige
Travel time to Manaus, Brazil, will be significantly reduced when Universal Airlines commences flights in July.
Nature-loving Guyanese can expect dramatic vistas, delicious fruit, exotic fish dishes and that well-known easy-going attitude to life. For Brazilians it will mean quicker access to North America through Timehri.
Speaking to Guyanese reporters at the Tropical Hotel in Manaus over the weekend, Governor of the state of Amazonas, Eduardo Braga said his country welcomed the airline's initiative pledging his government's support. He said that very soon he would make a return visit to Guyana. He hailed the airline's initiative and hoped that its prices for cargo and tickets would be competitive.
With the introduction of Universal Airlines, the flight time to Manaus would take one hour and 45 minutes and then a further five hours from Guyana to New York.
This would mean a considerable saving in time for persons who now have to go through Sao Paulo to reach New York.
Chief Executive Officer of Universal Airlines, Chadrawattie Harpaul said it was for these reasons that she decided to open up the flight.
Using its Boeing 767 ER with a tremendous cargo capacity, Universal Airlines took a team of travel agents, businessmen, journalists and tourists on its first flight to the Manaus last Friday.
Speaking at the reception, Harpaul remarked that the introduction of the flight marked another milestone for Universal Airlines. Harpaul said as soon as the flights began, the airline would expand to facilitate tourists and businesspersons travelling from the USA and Canada. According to her, this particular arrangement would be to the advantage of Guyana since all flights from North America would have to make a stop-over in Guyana before journeying on to Manaus. Harpaul said there would initially be two return flights per week.
The tour
The touring party's flight took off shortly after 7 am on Friday and landed at the Eduardo Gomes International Airport around 9 am. The immigration procedures at the airport were the same as Guyana, but the immigration officers were more efficient.
The party was greeted with a traditional dance review and then boarded two coaches equipped with television and toilet facilities for the Manaus harbour. There a boat took the group up the Rio Negro en route to the Amazon River. An amazing phenomenon is the meeting of the waters where the black waters of the Negro River and the clay-coloured waters of the Amazon (Solimoes) run side by side for many kilometres without mixing.
The Amazon River, a tour guide said, is the second longest river in the world after the River Nile. The river serves as the only link between towns and villages and its fish provide employment for thousands of inhabitants.
Once off the river, the touring party journeyed to the most prominent hotel in the state, Tropical Hotel. Lavished with all the modern facilities one could think of, the five-star hotel provided the ideal stay.
The history of Manaus began in 1669 when Portuguese explorers built a fort, on the northern bank of the River Negro, close to its joining with the Amazon. A settlement known as Barra do Rio Negro grew up around the fort and included thatched huts of local Indian tribesmen. The Indians were called Manaus and in 1833, when the settlement became a town it was given the same name. Some 170 years later, the town has a population of over one million.
The region's cuisine is varied, based largely on fish from nearby rivers and influenced by local root crops. Typical dishes, one tour guide told this newspaper, include Tucanare Fish stew, or Piracuru, a fish which can weigh up to 100 kilogrammes. Tabaqui and fried Piranha with farofa are other options.
On the second day, the touring party visited the famous Opera House. At the time of the visit a choir was rehearsing pieces for a show.
Built in 1896 at the height of the rubber boom, the opera house seats 700 and was constructed entirely with imported materials. Glass roof tiles came from France, doors and staircases from England and Italy. Crystal chandeliers were shipped in from Italy and the stages and outside dome came from Paris. The style of the house is part art nouveau, part neo-classical and part baroque.