Rio de Janeiro - The Olympic City

BrazilianTripTips -

Rio de Janeiro (or just Rio) is the most popular city in Brazil and probably in the whole Latin America. And it will host the next Olympic Summer Games in August/2016.

The first curiosity about it is that this summer games will be hosted during the Brazilian winter!!! It's strange but true, in the southern hemisphere we have winter between June and September. But you do not need to worry because the average temperatures in Rio at that season are about 22°C/  71°F. A pretty nice weather...

Rio is not the Brazilian Capital (which is Brasilia), but is the Capital of the State of Rio de Janeiro. It is a big and crowded city with almost 10 milions inhabitants living in its metropolitan area.

The city is world widely knowed by its beautiful beaches and landscapes (positive vision) and also by its not so pretty favelas. And yes, there really are a lot of beauty in the city but at the same time many degradeted sites. It is a place full of contrasts.

But let's talk about some trip tips about the city and the Games...

- Normally the best part of the city to be hosted in is its south zone, a region near the mainly beaches, full of good restaurants, shopping malls and typical local atractions such as public fairs/markets, theatres, etc. This region includes the districts of Leblon, Ipanema, Copacabana, Botafogo, Flamengo, Catete, etc.

- But the Olympic Parc is located in a region a little far away from the south zone (around 30 km), in the relatively new district of Barra da Tijuca (west zone). It is also a good neighborhood to be in, full of big and new apartment buidings, some huge shopping malls and also with some (not so popular, but good) beaches. So if you are coming to watch the games, it sounds like an interesting option.

- One other option to be hosted during the Olympics will the inside the Cruse Ships in the City Port. This part of the city is being re-vitalised specially for the games. So if your bugdet allows, it sounds pretty nice as well.

- Rio is one of the most expensive cities in Brazil and during the Olympic Games it tends to be still more, so be prepared to it. But on the other hand, due to a recent economic and political crisis, the Brazilian Currency (Real) suffered huge downgrades in the last months and currently with US$1,00 you can buy around R$3,40 (last year it was around US$1,00 = R$2,20).

- Due to the Olympic Games, the public transport system in the city was completely restructured. Although its traffic is still crowded and slow, nowadays (and specially for the games) it is possible to consider the use of the metro, the new tram and the bus rapid transport (brt) in your plans to move yourself inside the city. (If you prefer taxi cabs, be aware to get the authorized ones or use the Uber Service).

-  The Brazilian official language is Portuguese and the most of the people does not speak fluent English (actually some of us do not speak a word), but mainly the younger ones are quite able to comunicate themselves in English and certainly the staff of the Games will be able to speak English, as well. So I think the language will not be a huge problem for you here.

- Is Rio safe? Well, a simple answer to this question would be NO. But I would not say, as well, that Rio is dangerous to you, a foreign tourist. Rio receives thousands of tourists from all over the world every days and in general they are able to have a pretty good time here. The touristic districts are quite ok and specially during the Olimpic Games there will be a lot of police force in the whole city... So I would tell you to come and enjoy, but do not try an adventure outside of the turistic places.

- During the Olympic Games, Rio will be receiving a lot of Brazilian tourists from the whole country (which is huge). So it is a great chance to get in touch with the Brazilians and make friends here. Our people is quite friendly and welcoming with foreign ones. They would be quite happy to talk and exchange experiences with you, for sure.

And finally, as you could see, I strongly recomend your visit to Rio, specially during next August in the Olympic Games. If you have any doubts, please write it here in the comments and I will be happy to answer.

See you later, in Rio.

MANAUS - The Amazon Capital

BrazilianTripTips - Manaus is the Capital of the State of Amazonas in Brazil. It is a big and crowd city literally inside of the Amazon Jungle. So its peculiar condition brings to Manaus lots of tourists from all over the world. And without doubts, this city really offers some very unique attractions to the visitors.

The facilities and infra-structure in Manaus can not be considered excellent, mainly for the inhabitants day-by-day life, but in my opinion they are quite enough in a touristic point of view. What I mean is that there are a large number of good Hotels, a good Airport, many proffesional agencies avaiable and accostumed to deal with foreign visitants, several attractions and points of interests offered in English and Spanish and a welcoming atmosphere to the visitants.

 If time is not a problem, there is  an interesting Jungle Cruise offered by some international Cruise Companies that bring the visitants inside the Jungle in a confortable boat, offering daily attractions, a very flavorous tipycal food and amazing experiences. This Cruises can be customised, but in general they last around 3 nights and 4 days and can be booked online and in the most of the tourism agencies in Manaus.

Another possibility, in a faster visit, is the "Amazon Day Tour", or some similar named tour, that means a one day boat tour in the Black and Solimon Rivers. In this option, you will be picked up in your Hotel around 8am, be driven til the Port, where a mid-size boat with around 40 seats will navigate from the Black River to some pretty interesting attractions, such as a visit in a native Indigenous Tribe, a stop to swimm with the Amazon Dolphins ("Botos"), a lunch in an submersible restaurant over the river with tipycal amazon food (many kinds of fluvial fishs) and finally the beatiful meeting of the rivers Negro (Black) and Solimões (Yellow). This tour ends around 5pm, when you be driven back to your hotel or left in some of the central attractions of the city (it is up to you) and can also be booked in the most of the local tourism agencies.

The city of Manaus also have some interesting attractions such as the Amazon Theater, which is considered in of the most beautiful Opera Houses in Latin America, and offers different kinds of shows every weekend. Other two points of interest in Manaus are the Arena Amazonas, the Football World Cup 2014 Stadium, and  the Municipal Market, where you can find the tipycal Amazonic Flaviours in some very uniques local condiments and natural ingredients. And finally, there is a small town close to Manaus called President Figueiredo Falls that can be easilt visited and offer to its visitants some beatiful and refreshing falls.

GENERAL TIPS:

- Manaus' weather is pretty warm and humid, so you should drink water as much as you can to keep yourself always hydrated.

- To avoid loose your valuable time in Manaus you may want to try to book all the attractions you are planning to do in advance. If possible you should consider to have everything booked before landing there.

- People from all over the world visit Manaus, so during those tours mentioned above you have a great opportunity to make new friends and interact with different cultures. There is an incredible environment during the tours because, afterwards, everybody there will be experiencing a true adventure togheter.

- The Indigenous Tribes visited in these regular tours are native and true, but they live quite close to Manaus and their habits are already very influenced by the "White Man". If you want to visit a real Indigenous Jungle Tribe, with original habits, you should looking for some very specialized tours that will demand more time, preparation and will be followed by authorized and well prepared personnel.

- Brazilian people from Manaus are very open and welcoming. But although they are accostumed with tourists, the English idiom is not spoken by the most of the regular citizens. So if you want to interact with the locals it will be important to learn at least some Portuguese or even Spanish,which can be understanded with some patience, as well.

- The violence level in Manaus is not high, but it can also not be considered a very safe city, so you should have caution there, mainly in the empities downtown streets at night.   

SANTA CATARINA / VALE EUROPEU - BLUMENAU, POMERODE, JOINVILLE and BETO CORRERO WORLD

BrazilianTripTips - Beto Carrero World is one of the most popular attractions in the South of Brazil and the State of Santa Catarina, but what the most of the Park´s visitants do not necessarily know is that around it you can find one of the most beaultiful and different region of the contry, The European Valley.
        
    




Who pretend to enjoy the Amusiment Park or who just would like to visit the south of Brazil should definetivelly include the European Valley in the list. It is a very peculiar part of the state of Santa Catarina - Brazil where the marks of the European colonization are still very evident and the quality of live and warm receptivity are just some of the wonders that this land has to show us.

Blumenau, a middle sized city, can be considered the European Valley Capital, as it is centrally located and it offers a lot of different attractions to the visitants. There, everything is somehow related to the German traditions and archtecture. From the people, who proundly keeps through generations along the German language, way of life and traditions, like the already famous Brazilian Oktober Fest, until the natural charm that the German archtechture offers, everything there sounds like a fairytale to the tourists.

Besides this unique city shows to its visitants that it is possible to have a very high level of life quality inside the Brazilian borders... You can find there a large number of well stablished residential areas, large roads and an impressive comercial, educational and health related infra-structure. The number of malls, supermarkets and restaurants are very enough as well.

 

But once you are in the European Valley in Santa Catarina - Brazil you won't want to leave without visiting the most "German Town" in Brazil, and it is Pomerode-SC.

Pomerode is a charming and beautiful village about 20 km away from Blumenau and full of original attractions, such as the possibility of visiting some colonial families who open their homes and receive the tourists telling them the history and the way of life that their German ancestors had since they arrived in Brazil in the XIX century. There are some typical German restaurants, a beautifil entrance portic to welcome the visitors and some historical museums as well. The local Market place also offers a great variety of local products such as artesanals gifts and different kinds of cheese. In resume, you should not miss it.

In conclusion, a good way to arrive in this region is via the Joinville airport, from where you can find fair airticket prices (the other two options of airports - Florianopolis and Navegantes - have in general more expensive airtickets fares as these two cities are very touristics). Joinville is located around 100km away from Blumenau and the roads in the state of Santa Catarina are quite fair, so you may want to land in Joinville, rent a car in the airport and drive through the State. Moreover the city of Joinville, although it is not a touristic one, have some interesting attractions like its Public Market and the Ballet Bolshoi Academy, the only one outside Russia. So it is a very good idea to spend at least some hours in this city as well.


 GENERAL TIPS:
- Beto Carrero World is a great amusement park, but you may want to avoid visiting it during some holidays and in the very high season (January), because it can be really crowd.

- Blumenau and the European Valley in Santa Catarina can be visited during the whole year, but in October, there is the Brazilian Oktober Fest in the Germanic Village in Blumenau, that is the biggest beer party outside Germany.

- There are three main airports closer to the European Valley, the Florianopolis one, the Navegantes one and the Joinville one. All of them have regular flights from the main Brazilian and some South America Capitals. A good tip is to search in these 3 options before you buy your ticket. The 3 of them are well located and have good roads infra-structure to Blumenau and its region.

- The people from Santa Catarina, "Catarinenses", are very receptive with tourists. Some of them speaks English and a large number of them speaks German.

-  For the Brazilian standards, Blumenau and its region are very safe places. And also have a relatively low cost of life. The hotels and touristics attractions, in general, have fair prices also.

- The regional typical food is the German food, which you can find in a large number of specialized restaurants spread over the place.