You can hear them from far, way before you can get a glimpse of them. A constant throb, deafening. More than 1.700 m3/second. More than 270 falls spread over 2.700m (almost 2 miles) in a semi circular shape. Iguazu Falls are a gigantic nature wonder. At the border of Brazil and Argentina, the falls have everything to get on every traveller’s bucket list. Here are my tips to get the best out of your visit to the cataracts.
19 millions inhabitants, 13.000+ restaurants, 15.000 bars. The figures talk for themselves: Sao Paolo is a monster city that can easily intimidate travellers. But it’s an excellent destination that gourmets should not miss during their visit to Brazil.
Thanks to my dear brazilian friend Regina, I discovered a trendy, sophisticated and hipster Sao Paolo that delights even the pickiest gourmets. For those who aren’t lucky enough to have a brazilian friend -get one!-, I am sharing a few local secrets…
GOOOLLLLL! Brazil scores 1-0! The whole country is boiling of excitement, Maracana is burning, finally we are going to win, at the FIFA world cup and in Brazil. But… Uruguay wanted something else! GOOOOLL! 1-1. 11 minutes before the end of the game , GOOOOL 1-2, Uruguay is now leading. Brazil is giving their best the last minuets, but no goal and the referee blows the whistle. It’s suddenly deadly quite. As if the country stopped to exist. Brazil has lost its first World Cup final at their own home stadium the Maracana.
This is a must experience for everyone, even those who haven’t seen a single game. Football is the number one religion here, trust me people pray more at the stadium than home. Everyone has their team to cheer for, such as Corincas, Palmeiras, Flamengo, São Paulo and Vasco da gama. During our visit to Rio de Janerio Vasco da Gama was playing against ABC. Of course we were going! Football madness, Brazil!
“If you want to relax, come to Ilha Grande. If you want to be active, come to Ilha Grande”. Just a few hours from Rio de Janerio, the brazilian island Ilha Grande has seduced locals for decades. Many international travelers now also head off to the lovely island to relax after a few days in bursting Rio de Janeiro. Hikers or beach lovers, all meet at the end of the afternoon by the beach to sip a few caipirinhas.
Just listen. Did you hear the silence? Maintenance trucks aside, there are no motorized vehicule on the island. Locals like tourists go around by foot, by bike or by boat, highly contributing to the laid back atmosphere of the island.
Chances are you will fall in love with the island even before you leave the boat
So far on our trip we have not been so lucky with the weather when we were on the coast. Florianopolis and Ilha Catharina followed the tradition: we woke up with the sound of the rain and under grey clouds. It was easy to indulge ourselves in not doing much the all day… But this was our unique full day on the island before continuing South!
So we decided to rent a scooter.
Me on the scooter, just pretending (I don’t have a moto license)
Every year in February, the daily life of Brazilians stops for 3 days: it’s carnival, a celebration bigger than Christmas. And Rio de Janeiro, with 2 million people attending per day, holds the most famous and biggest carnival in the world.
But did you know you can get a glimpse of the world’s biggest carnival even if out of carnival time? Guided visit to one of the most famous samba school of Rio de Janeiro.
It’s one of these small town where time seems to have stop 100 years back. Parati (pronounce “Paratchi“) is a photogenic postcard town on the coast of Brazil, enjoyable under blue sky as under rain – when photographers get creative with the facades’ reflections in the water pools. The historic center, UNESCO protected, enchants local and international tourists with its aligned white houses with colorful accents.
Add to this the proximity of dozen of beautiful beaches and lands and an ideal location between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and you get the perfect stop over or weekenders’ destination.