The mythic Amazon, with its tales of giant female warriors, lost cities such as El Dorado, and enormous anacondas, grips the imagination like few other places on earth. It is one of the first places that schoolchildren recognise outside their own country. Endless rivers and tributaries course through the world's largest rainforest, stretching out over 6 countries and draining 50% of the total area of South America. Despite man's inroads, it remains a place of surprises. Who would expect an opera house right in its heart, where even Caruso sang and Pavlova danced?