Manaus is the Amazon’s largest city, an incongruous pocket of urbanity in the middle of the jungle, a major port for ocean vessels that’s 1500km from the ocean. The Amazonian rainforest has a population density half that of Mongolia’s, but the journey there invariably begins in (or passes through) this gritty bustling metropolis. Don’t be surprised if you feel a little out of whack.
Manaus is no colonial gem, but does have some genuinely rewarding sights, including a leafy zoo with as many animals out of the cages as in them, and a beach-and-museum combo that gets you out of the city center. It’s a place to stock up on anything you forgot to pack, or to refill your tank with beer and internet after a week in the forest.
You can book jungle tours from Manaus, mostly three to six day excursions, ranging from budget to upscale. Plenty are run by honest professionals, but the city is also full of slippery touts whose tours are not only miserable and a waste of money, but often dangerous – see our tips for avoiding scams.
Another bit of advice: don't get stuck in Manaus! It's strangely easy to forget that a city of three million people is not, in fact, a very logical place to experience a natural wonder like the Amazon. Remember there are many places, both upriver and down, that are fairly easy to reach and may offer something closer to the Amazonian adventure you've been imagining.