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Stunning jungle vegetation and wildlife surrounds vibrant, sun-drenched cities. Brazil is a country that you really can get your teeth into.

Brazil is perhaps the best known but still most enigmatic country in South America. The tropical heat, beaches and rainforest mean that the country actually exceeds all the visitor's expectations.

One of the most fascinating things about Rio de Janeiro, in particular, is that less than fifteen minutes away from the madness that is the city centre, you are into thick jungle teeming with wildlife and waterfalls.

Brasilia

Brasilia is the capital city of Brazil, but in name alone. It is a pre-planned capital built in just three years, and it is possibly the fact that it was designed so meticulously that gives it such a stifling atmosphere. Brasilia is inundated with air-conditioned buildings and large cars, funded by the grossly-exaggerated salaries paid to top businessmen to attract them to the city. The sad fact is that, despite the money, these influential men, including the majority of the politicians, travel home to Rio or Sao Paulo at the weekend to get some real atmosphere.

"From the Central Plateau, from this solitude that will soon become the mind where the most important national decisions will be made, I look once more to the future of my country and foresee the sunrise with unbreakable faith and unlimited trust in its great destiny." - President of Brazil Juscelino Kubitschek (speaking in 1956).

Places to see in Brasilia include: The Presidential Palace, Catedral Metropolitana Nossa Senhora Aparecida (Brasilia Cathedral) and the Congresso Nacional (national Parliament).

Pictured (left and below, right): The dramatic Iguacu Falls, Brazil.

The poor residents on the outskirts are workers in the construction and service industry and one gets the feeling that they were never part of the original plan!

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro is set in magnificent surroundings, between ocean and wilderness. The local inhabitants are called the Cariocas, and their passion for life, beautiful bodies, beer and football are unsurpassed.

The local police force set up a special division just to protect the tourist areas from crime, so it is now easy to wander at leisure.

The city is divided into southern and northern halves by the Serra da Carioca mountains, which encompass the national park of Tijuca. Favelas ('poor townships') litter both sides of the mountains, but the views from the peaks above are fantastic. The Copacabana is probably the most famous beach in the world. This vast stretch of 4.5 kilometres of sand fronts the most densely-populated residential area in the world. Ipanema is the richest and most exclusive beach in Rio and is the place to get to if you can. Other fine beaches include Pepino, Praia Barra da Tijuca and Flamengo. Rio's world-famous carnival is an amazing sight to behold, but do beware as prices in the city mysteriously rise by about 400% during this period!

Salvador da Bahia

Salvador da Bahia is in Brazil’s most Africanised state, Bahia. As the state capital, it is the most populous and most historic city in the country. It also has a myriad fine beaches. Salvador da Bahia was the most important city in Brazil for hundreds of years because it was the centre of the sugar trade, and the wealth of the people and the buildings they have - and still do - live in are without compare. This means that, for the visitor, the scenery and historic architecture is fantastic, as is the famous Carnival of Salvador, which is a tourist magnet.

Dropping from the coastal mountains of Parana and Santa Catarina, the River Iguaca widens along the way and rushes past jungle backdrops. Where it reaches the border with Argentina and Paraguay, it forms over 275 waterfalls that span three kilometres and are 80 metres high. The low risk of flooding from August to November makes this the ideal time to visit.

Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo is the largest city in South America by far and is alive with the cultures of the many immigrants and ethnic groups. Almost 17 million people have their home here and many of them are of Japanese and Italian descent. Sao Paulo has one of the most driven and well-educated middle classes in the whole of Brazil, who constantly moan about the traffic, street violence and pollution, whilst not wanting to swap their home for anywhere else in the world.

Pictured (right): The magnificient vista of Rio De Janiro.

The Amazon

The Amazon is a vast system of rivers and forests that stretch across half of Brazil and also into the neighbouring countries. As an example of the size of some of these waterways, the Rio Amazonas running between Manaus and Belem, provides a gateway for ocean liners to get from one side of the South American continent to the other. The Amazonian forests are still mainly a mystery in terms of their geography and their content. Of an estimated 15,000 species of plant and wildlife, at least two-thirds are yet to be classified. This is still the homeland of many of the world’s endangered and rarest species. This diversity is highlighted by the fact that biologists are still unable to this day to classify up to a third of the fish available at Belem's local market!

Manaus itself is the starting point for most of those who are brave enough to undertake Amazonian exploration, but it is not a particularly attractive place as it is ridden with dirt and disease and plagued by increasing crime. Try to look for somewhere nearby to stay instead. One important point to make is that if you are looking for indigenous tribes people or rare beasts, prepare to be disappointed. For them, contact with 'civilisation' has been a mainly destructive force, so they have sought sanctuary in the most inaccessible areas of jungle.

The Pantanal

The Pantanal is the place to really see the wild side of nature in Brazil. Overshadowed and overlooked by the world’s media in favour of the Amazon basin, this area is about half the size of France and extends into the border regions of Bolivia and Paraguay. This is a sanctuary for anacondas, crocodiles and jaguars.

Due to its remoteness, there are not many towns or cities here, but there is Rio Paraguai on the Bolivian border.

From London to São Paulo and to Rio de Janeiro is approximately 11 hours.
Average summer (July - September) temperature: 23-27°C.

For more information on visiting Brazil visit the official website of the Brazilian Tourist Board.

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More information available in South America, Destinations