I have posted before, but would like to refresh this topic.

We are a couple in our early 60s. We are visiting Brazil the first part of November. Our first 3 or 4 days will be in Sao Paulo at a family wedding. After that, we have about 12 days to travel.

The places that we'd like to see are Rio, Iguazu Falls, possibly Manaus and/or an Amazon cruise and maybe one more place-- Salvador?? We're open to suggestion. Logistically, what would be the best order to visit these places? We will need to leave from Sao Paulo and return there after our travels.

My husband is an avid photographer and I like historical places. We don't need luxury, but I'm not interested in sleeping in a hammock!! I don't mind going "off the beaten track", but we don't speak Portuguese, so I have some concerns about that. We can get by in Spanish.

If anyone has taken one of the 3-4 day Amazon cruises, we'd like to hear about it.

Are we trying to do too much in 12 days? Any suggestions as to the order in which to visit these places?
Should we leave out the Amazon and visit someplace closer?

We're also trying to figure out if buying a domestic air pass would be beneficial. I know these passes need to be purchased in the US, but who do I buy them from?

Thanks for your input.

TAM Brazil airlines has an air pass on offer. You need to fly then on your int'l route to take advantage of it, I believe. They fly to Brazil daily from NYC, Miami and now Orlando, I think It may or may not be cost effective. They have an extensive intra-Brazil and int'l South American route network. Their competitor is GOL Brazil, which is somewhere between SouthWest and JetBlue in terms of service, etc. It is good and as reliable as TAM. GOL has a user friendly website and you can check fares and routes on line, and purchase your tickets. They sometimes run very good fare sales.

Although we have traveled independently a few times to Brazil, for the trip you are contemplating you may want to use a travel agency specializing in Brazil travel. It shouldn't cost you any more, they often get advantageous hotel rates (sometimes not) but it would make the trip much easier, particularly if you don't speak Portuguese. It is certainly possible to plan out the trip by yourself, and likely not too hard, but an agent may make things much easier.

Have fun. Brazil is an outstanding country and a great place to explore.

Hi
I've posted here often myself. You might check out my reply to "spanish speaking" of yesterday. I am also in my 60's and also visited Brasil in Nov. 08. I assume that you will have travel and lodging provided since you are attending a wedding in SP. I think you will have all of your questions answered when you experience a few days there. Unforunately it will be too late to change any plans. Unless you are prepared to spend BIG bucks, I'm sure you will find SP extremely croweded and noisy and not terribly safe (Thank the Brasilian gov't for that). Although Rio is beautiful and a different environment I think you will have the same experience there. Crowded, noisy, expensive (for us old folks) and not terribly safe. Rio has a lot of the world famous favelos (slums) that apparently are gov't sanctioned. My experience there wasn't idylic and I had been there before and this time with a Brasilian national. Good luck, bsvirginian

To bsvirginian--I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your trip. For your information, we are paying our own travel and lodging. What wedding pays for its guests to travel?? And since we ARE going and already have a flight reservation, I just wanted to get information about places to visit.

The noise and crowds are a part of the flavor of the place one visits. We would like to still see the sights and will make the best of any situation we encounter.

Any suggestions on our itinerary and/or places to stay will greatly be appreciated.

I'm sorry if you thought I was being insensitive. One of the adventures that we encountered everywhere in Brasil (20 days worth) was to find a decent and relatively hotel. 10 days in SP, 3 days in Guadaja, and the balance in Rio. Something that is normal in the USA is to help relatives and such that are traveling from another country since they won't be familiar with locations and such. The everyday people in Brasil live in very small flats with very little room and although we were offered we thought that we would be a burden so looked or separate lodging. I think I found a middle of the road hotel cost to be around $ 75.00 US a night. Food cost is about the same as the USA. Remembering that I've been there before. All hotels had the same breakfast plan no matter how much the room cost. A plus. I frankly found the hotel proprietors in both SP and Rio to be untrustworthy. Hidden costs! Where I got bitten twice was "toll free" international calls as to the company that booked our hotel. From what we learned there is no such thing in Brasil. Of course this was explained only when we checked out. Extreme traffic and noise I guess could be considered part of the charm of travel but not to me. It was incessant and until the wee hours of the morning. I am a professional photographer and felt like I had to hide my photo equipment (and this will be varified by locals) whenever on the street. My equipment is very expensive and I didn't want to lose it. We were also warned to not appear to be a tourist or traveler. To the sharp eye this is impossible. I know this sounds like "sour grapes" but it is recent and meant to be of help. You can contact me via my email if you like and I can provide more accurate details.
[email protected]

We were delighted to experience the majesty and the quiet of Amazonas, in the floating lodge on the Rio Negros. Leonardo, Joshua (our guide) and everyone else was attentive, from our arrival to our departure. And it was a big plus that we could make all of our arrangements on line.


If you are looking for a jungle tour,have a look over the page from www.amazingtours.com.br or email directly [email protected] they have great boat tours.


Hope this can be helpfull!!

I'd advise visiting only a maximum of 3 other locations in 12 days. Remember you will lose most of a day flying between locations.

Brazil is fabulous the people are so friendly, the food is great and quite cheap--be aware that in older style restaurants one meal is usually for two so don't make the mistake of ordering too much. Also there's a great cultural depth in art, architecture and music that's really stimulating.

I bought a great CD from Amazon for learning a few basic phrases of Portuguese--Solcat Portuguese for Tourists. I've since studied the language, but my partner who has a little Spanish found it very helpful.

My suggestion would be after Sao Paulo, go to Rio spend at least 4-5 nights there, then Salvador 3-4 nights and then Manaus 4 nights.

In Sao Paulo for great food visit the Jardim district (great shopping also--look out for the Rio clothes chain Osklen), and Villa Madalena (fabulous outdoor cafes--try the bacalhua: salt cod).

There are some fantastic museums IN SP: MASP, MAM, MAC, Pinacoteca, Monument to South America The central food market is astonishing--so many tropical fruits.

In Rio, the classics are well worth visiting: Sugarloaf, Corcovado. The Botanical Gardens are very beautiful. I'd also recommend taking the tram up to Santa Teresa. There are some good bars up there.

The historical centre is also very architecturally interesting. The Museum at Niteroi by Oscar Niemeyer (voluptuous modernism) is fantastic: the views back to Rio are also stunning. It's an easy ferry ride across the bay to get there.

Then there are the beach suburbs, Copa and Ipanema, I didn't spend that much time there as I come from a country of beaches. But they are definatley worth visiting just to people watch.

Make sure you don't miss a samba school rehearsal. I went to one in Sao Paulo--wow are the dancers amazing! I'd also recommend going to a football match.

While the feedback on Rio can be mixed, don't be put off by naysayers. RIo is a fabulous destination. Beautiful, terrific sights, great beach culture, friendly friendly people and good food in many spots. Yes, there is crime and poverty, but that exists, unfortunately, in many places. Keep your wits about you and you'll have a terrific time; stay in Ipanema, not Copacabana.

If your husband is an avid photographer and likes to take nature, wildlife, and bird shots, I will suggest the Pantanal. You can go to the Northern Pantanal by flying to Cuiaba or the Southern by flying to Campo Grande. There are convenient flights to both from Sao Paulo.

But I would not spend less than 3 days in the Pantanal, so that might mean it is not feasible on this trip given your available time.

I did a lovely Amazon nature cruise but did not see a lot to photograph. In contrast, in the Pantanal, there was so much. Here are some quotes from my trip report.

The wildlife abundance can be illustrated with this specific sighting: A couple of white collared peccaries were trotting around and I was trying to take their picture as a pair."

The other people were excitedly announcing the aracaries up in the tree and I can remember being almost annoyed at the amount of stimuli, thinking, “The aracaries are going to have to wait. I don’t care if there are three of them I have my hands full with this pair of peccaries at the moment.” That was not the only time I experienced nature overload.

Another incident of nature overload occurred on the boat. As the sun rose in the sky and I shed some layers, I knew it was time to apply suntan lotion to my exposed skin. But I was having trouble finding a 2-minute interval of down time when binocs or camera were not needed. Eventually, I just made a mad dash of squirting and slathering the SPF 45. Unfortunately I was not quick enough and missed out on a photo op of a rufescent tiger heron with a fish in its mouth. “Can’t I just have a moment of peace to put on some lotion, for crying out loud?” was my thought.

Finally...
We saw two groups each of brown capuchins and black and gold howlers. We watched one of the capuchins trying to open a nut by banging it on a tree branch overhead for a long time. There was a point where I was torn between watching the monkeys and searching the nearby foliage with my binoculars for the enchanting pale crested woodpecker. We’ve got monkeys in the trees; we’ve got woodpeckers in the bushes; where do I focus? Yet another incident of nature overload.

Have fun whatever you decide.

Thanks to everyone for your responses.

Atravelynn--would it be the wet season in the Pantanl in early November? And if so, is that a bad thing?

We will most likely start seriously planning in a month or two. We do have our flight reservations using frequent flyer miles, so that is taken care of. We will visit Sao Paulo, Rio, and the Iguazu falls for sure and are deciding between the Amazon and the Pantanal. In what order would you visit these places to have the best connections? We would be leaving from Sao Paulo, since we will already be there, and returning there, also to fly home.

Altho I usually like to make my own travel arrangements, my cousin who lives in Sao Paulo cautioned my about making reservations on-line for places in Brazil. We live in San Diego, and there don't seem to be many travel agents here that know anything about Brazil. Any suggestions?

Also, for the domestic air pass--If we don't book our international flight on TAM, does that mean that we can't take advantage of the domestic pass?

Thanks again for all your sugguestion--except for the Amazon guy who keeps trying to steer everyone to his website, which is of no help.

We are in your age group, and have just applied for our Brazilian visas today, in Sydney, for our trip in May. They are VERY particular, and the visas are valid for only 90 days, so don't apply too early! Remember your yellow fever shots too - they asked if we had them.

DH organised our domestic air pass tickets from TAM in conjunction with our United flight from Australia on the net some time ago, and saved money by doing so - he has done the comparison costs on the net. We are going to have a few days first in Rio to recover from the long flight, then fly to Manaus for four nights, Iguacu for three nights and back to Rio for a few more days before the horrendous flight back to Australia, via Washington and San Fran. We do have to have stopovers in Sao Paolo a couple of times, so you should get a better itinerary than we did.

From Manaus, we've booked a three night stay at the Ariau Towers, which has some varied trip reviews, but we are looking forward to the activities one does there, and the experience of living in the tree tops in the Amazon. I've read about the Pantanal too, and it sounds great.

We've been to Rio and Iguacu before, 10 years ago, and loved them both. Few places on earth better for photography, and Rio is such a vibrant city. We caught public buses, dressed with nothing to steal, and just soaked up the vibes.

We booked our accommodation on the net too - by USA and Aussie standards, we thought it very expensive.

You can book a TAM airpass without using them for your international flight, I used LAN for my international leg. Just beware that the flights you lock in intially are difficult to change, so choose them carefully.

To book hotels I have used Expedia online and got very good deals. The prices were substantially less than you would pay for comparable north American hotels.

You can go

Sao Paulo - Foz do Iguaçu - Rio - Salvador - Sao Paulo or
Sao Paulo - Foz do Iguaçu -Pantanal - Rio - Sao Paulo.

I would leave the Amazon for another trip because is too far away. If you try to fit in too many cities you'll spend most of your time going to airports. And beware that planes in Brazil are pretty late sometimes.

Also while in Rio you can visit Buzios that is only 2 hours away with very nice beaches, bars and restaurants or Petropolis which once was the Imperial City of Brazil also 2 hours away in the mountains.

Salvador is a very beautiful colonial town and there are lots of nice day trips you can take to small towns/beaches nearby.

Never been to Pantanal so can't give you many tips. I found this website http://www.pantanaltours.com/brazil/...l_mt/tours.htm their info is in English, I have never used their services but it may be a good start. Try to search on google "Hotel Fazenda (farm hotel)" or "Ecoturismo (Ecotourism)" + Pantanal.

Hotel Formule 1 Paulista in Sao Paulo is cheap and in a nice area but the rooms are very plain. As mentioned before while in Rio stay in Ipanema NOT Copacabana.

Enjoy your trip!

Here's a weather link. Early Nov is better than later. It's the start of the rainy season.
http://www.brazil-travel-guide.com/B....html#Pantanal