Brazil
Brazil is loud, colourful and impossible to ignore. It blends huge natural landscapes with cities powered by music, dance and celebration. In Rio de Janeiro, Christ the Redeemer watches over beaches like Copacabana and Ipanema, where football games and sunset gatherings are part of daily life. Beyond the cities, the thunder of Iguazu Falls crashes through rainforest on the border with Argentina, while the vast Amazon River basin reveals dense jungle, wildlife and remote communities. In the Pantanal wetlands, travellers can spot jaguars and countless bird species, and Salvador’s historic centre pulses with Afro-Brazilian culture, music and capoeira.
Unmissable Moments
Iguazu Falls: Devil's Throat from Both Sides
Day nine is the panorama. The Brazilian walking trail builds in scale and sound until it reaches Devil's Throat, 80 metres of falling water and a mist you can see from kilometres away. On day ten, the Argentinian side puts you above the falls, this time, you’re close enough to feel the force before you've properly heard it. It’s overwhelming in a way photographs don't capture.
Lunch at Quilombo do Campinho
Somewhere between Rio and Paraty the van turns off the coastal highway and the landscape changes. The Quilombo do Campinho sits in the hills above the Costa Verde, a community founded by descendants of enslaved Africans who held onto this land when everything else was taken. Lunch is shared at a long table. The conversations that follow give context for the rest of the trip.
The Caiçara Kayak
The boat drops you at the entrance to the Saco do Mamanguá and you paddle into the only tropical fjord in South America with a local guide who learned these waterways before he could read. Mountains rise straight out of the water on both sides. Lunch is prepared on the bank by the community that has lived here for generations. No other boats. No signal. Just the water and the stillness of somewhere that has deliberately stayed off the map.
Samba Schools: Carnival's Revolt
In Rio de Janeiro, samba schools are community organisations that prepare elaborate performances for the city’s world-famous Carnival. Many are rooted in local neighbourhoods and favelas, where dancers, musicians and designers spend months creating costumes, floats and choreography.
Cheat-Sheet:
MAJOR AIRPORT:
São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) & Rio de Janeiro–Galeão (GIG)
CURRENCY:
Brazilian Real (R$ / BRL)
HIGH TRAVEL SEASON:
December to March (Carnival and beaches)
LOW TRAVEL SEASON:
April to November (Amazon dry season)
TIPPING CULTURE:
10% in restaurants
HOW TO SAY 'THANK YOU':
Obrigado/a, pronounced "oh-bree-gah-doo"
Why we love it
Bart
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