FEW would dispute the Amazon is among the most fascinating and mysterious places on the map. It was our ultimate goal on both our first trip to this region in 1974 and the also most recent.But we built up to it slowly, first landing in the country’s surprising modern capital of Brasilia. Relocated there from Rio in the 1960s, it was a challenge for modern architects to create a “from-scratch” development.

But, frankly, it was hard to decide if it was being constructed or destructed. Already it had beginnings of jungle rot. But, yes, it was the dream of real estate developers, a blueprint come to life from a George Orwell epic. You will love it or be happy to escape elsewhere.

What we wanted to see was old Brazil. So we asked a travel agent at our Brasilia hotel if there were interesting things nearby and they suggested we visit small, surrounding colonial towns.

Off we went in a rented car and it was definitely worth the trip. Actually, we found it far more interesting than the quite sterile capital itself. At a grocery store in one of the vintage villages, an English teacher suggested we drive further out to the Foundation Stone.

Quite remarkably, back when this was still truly road-less frontier, a survey party had sought out the region for possible location of the country’s new capital and a monument had been erected at the chosen site.

The small towns in the region were created by prospectors who arrived searching for gold. Even in midday, “ladies of the night” were very visible soliciting business from their open doorsK>From there it was on to Santarem, deep in the heart of the Amazon. Colourful would be an understatement. All that was visible from the air was jungle so dense much was still unexplored.It was estimated 50 per cent of the world’s oxygen originated here. There were indigenous tribes living in such isolation they’d never seen an outsider.

An effort was being made to open up the region and bring in roads. No plane our size — a Boeing 737 — had ever landed there on the short, paved runway before.

“You can’t be taking a 737. There’s no runway there to handle it,” a government official told us at a formal reception in Brasilia. I was having trouble concentrating on the conversation, distracted by the edifying sight of an uniformed official assaulting the bountiful buffet, then spitting his olive pits on the floor.

Landing was hairy, to say the least. First we flew over this vast waterway, often one mile wide interspersed with islands and running parallel to the Rio Tapajos River before they merge. Descending, we could see crowds of local indigenous inhabitants lining roadways.

We later learned it was because such a large plane had indeed never landed there before. A grader had just finished ploughing an extended swatch of rough runway and our plane taxied to its very end with not an extra foot to spare. People had come thinking it would end in the river.

As we stepped onto the so called “landing strip”, I picked up two pieces of large fist-sized stones that had been split in half. They turned out to be impressive mineral specimens which still sit on my desk as a reminder of that adventure.

Construction of a new “luxury” hotel where we stayed had been recently completed. It sat surrounded by primitive huts and the hotel manager confided it was a challenge to train help who had never used a knife and fork before.

Many tourists have arrived since and it’s become an understandably popular destination. It’s not that there’s any spectacular attraction . . . the river itself is attraction enough.

Walking along the riverfront observing passenger boats and fishermen on this fabled river, the longest in the world, was a special experience. Some vessels looked as if they dated back to the Ark.

That native under the tree was selling a flamboyantly colourful parrot . . . and, yes, that was snakeskin piled on the stall next to hats woven of an unusual bark. This was very different world.

Fish dried in sizzling sunshine along the shore, while vultures perched on shed roofs hungrily surveyed the scene. There was a special mood, the sense of a way of life unique to this slice of the tropics.

Taming the jungle remains a challenge. D.K. Ludwig, of Princess Hotel fame, a man not used to failure, attempted to propagate a fast-growing tree for use as pulp in the jungle area and found it too formidable to continue.

There’s something spellbinding about this entire region. You’d certainly not want to visit Brazil without seeing at least some section of the AmazBecause<$> the country is so enormous, a network of airways reach out in all directions. So your travel agent will be able to arrange at least a quick trip into the Amazon. Some take the adventurous route up tributaries to isolated jungle camps.On that first trip, as press participants at a journalists’ convention, we met a parade of military officials involved in bringing roads into the remotest areas. We’d all rather forget the very lengthy speeches outlining such plans. Those presentations went on and on for hours, with translators extending their length. By evening’s end, 80 per cent of the journalists had fled the room — but that seemed very rude and ill-mannered to our hosts, so we suffered through several such presentations from beginning to end. On a return visit we found many such roads in place, but also growing evidence of slash-cutting by Asian interests who had already depleted forest resources in much of Asia. Soy crops were also cutting deep into the jungle. That is now subject to several lawsuits.

From Santarem, it was on to Manaus, world famous for its elaborate opera house and sumptuous mansions built as a result of a rubber boom that put it on the map . . . until England got hold of some seeds, began growing it in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Malaysia, and captured much of that market.

Teatro Amazonas was built in 1896 as rubber plantations brought incredible wealth to this capital of the Amazonas state. No expense was spared and it remains a major tourist attraction. Elaborately decorated, its box seats were brought from France, doors and staircases from Italy and glass tiles originated in Alsace, France.

For most visitors, it’s the rivers — Rio Amazon and Rio Negro, where they flow parallel for some seven miles — that are a major attraction. River trips provide transportation to the point where both join and one can actually see different hues blend.Rio Negro is often described as “a black mirror” . . . actually it’s a slightly copper colour because of acid infusion from forest humus. The Amazon here tends to be muddy in appearance, and seeing the two merge is unforgettable with dense jungle on each bank.

The biggest surprise is to find a city like Manaus rising out of the jungle in this seemingly isolated region. On that first trip, it was estimated there was one inhabitant per square kilometre. Things have changed se.It’s possible to take river trips from coastal Belem past Santarem and fortified Obidos, on to Manaus. Some we saw looked like stand-ins for The African Queen, so do check carefully before signing on to one.Some river explorers continue on to Peru. We once came in the opposite direction along the Peruvian stretch of Amazon which we’ll be writing about later when we take readers to Peru and Ecuador. If you plan any sort of Amazon adventure trip, it’s advisable to have a yellow fever shot, as we did, good for ten years.

Also be prepared for possibilities of malaria. There was some sort of meningitis outbreak before our first trip and we were all advised to take along a well-stocked medicine kit.

Heavy-duty insect repellent is also suggested. It always pays to ask for recommendations from a tropical medicineecialist.

Next Week: Colonial treasures of Bahia-Salvador

On to Brasilia, the Amazon and Manaus