Brazil – World Travel

The-Northeast Barra-Grande Brazil

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:59:57 +0000

Deliciously off the beaten path, Barra Grande is a remote, tranquil fishing village at the northern tip of the Peninsula de Maraú. It has the same charm and tree-shaded magic that originally attracted bohemian types to similar sand-street villages further south, but it hasn’t yet experienced a tourism boom. With a fair number of pousadas and restaurants, Barra Grande makes a great base for checking out the rest of the peninsula. Much of the village closes in winter.

Separating the peninsula from the mainland is the island-riddled Baía de Camamu, Brazil’s third-largest bay. One long, dirt road (often impassable after rain) heads down the peninsula, providing access to stunning beaches with crystal-clear water, such as Praia Taipús de Fora (7km, rated among Brazil’s top beaches), and a handful of very small fishing villages. Pricey excursions to Lagoa Azul, viewpoints, bay islands and down the Rio Maraú are offered by local providers.

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The-Northeast Caravelas Brazil

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:59:57 +0000

Caravelas is a calm fishing town on the banks of the mangrove-lined Rio Caravelas. Though it has a friendly, down-home Carnaval and a pleasant enough atmosphere, the primary reason visitors come here is to visit the Parque Nacional Marinho de Abrolhos and other offshore reefs.

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The-North Ilha-De-Marajo Brazil

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:59:57 +0000

The 50, 000-sq-km Ilha de Marajó, slightly larger than Switzerland, lies at the mouths of the Amazonas and Tocantins rivers. It was the ancient home of the Marajoaras indigenous culture, notable for their large ceramic burial urns. Today, Marajó’s friendly residents live in a few towns and villages and on the many fazendas (ranches) spread across the island. This is a world apart, where bicycles outnumber cars and water buffalo graze around town. Legend has it the buffalo are descended from animals that swam ashore from a French ship that sank while en route from India to French Guiana. The island is well-known for its buffalo cheese, buffalo steaks and buffalo-mounted police force.

Only the island’s eastern shore is easily accessible to tourists, and has three small sleepy towns: Joanes and Salvaterra have the best beaches and most interesting accommodations, while Soure has better restaurants and all the services. A number of fazendas are open to visitors, and make for interesting though somewhat pricey day-trips. Much of the island’s interior is wetland, and is home to tens of thousands of birds, including the graceful scarlet ibis (guará in Portuguese), with its long, curved beak.

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The-Northeast Mangue-Seco Brazil

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:59:57 +0000

Mangue Seco is a tiny, beautifully rustic riverfront village at the tip of a peninsula formed by the Rio Real, which delineates the Bahia/Sergipe border. The town itself is just a scattering of simple dwellings along sandy paths, a tiny church and plaza, a modern lighthouse (yielding lovely views for intrepid climbers) and a few friendly guesthouses and restaurants. The town ends at the edge of an enormous expanse of tall white sand dunes, beyond which the wide flat sands of the Bahian coast stretch to the south. Mangue Seco’s remote location causes most visitors to come on guided day tours, preventing rapid growth and leaving nights decidedly quiet. Guesthouses can arrange dune-buggy trips through the sand dunes (R$50 for up to four people). It’s about a 1½km walk to the ocean (or a R$10 dune-buggy ride), which has a handful of simple barracas strung with hammocks.

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The-Northeast Porto-Seguro Brazil

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:59:57 +0000

The state’s second most visited destination, Porto Seguro swarms with Brazilian package tourists who come from all across the country for partying and beach action. Not surprisingly, there’s well-developed infrastructure here, with hundreds of hotels and colorful buildings (none over two stories) that lean toward a colonial aesthetic. This is, after all, the region where Portuguese sailors first landed in the New World, and you can see relics from those early settlement days. Aside from history, Porto Seguro is really only for inveterate nightlife seekers who don’t mind the crowds. Otherwise, most travelers linger in town only long enough to change money and catch the ferry toward Arraial d’Ajuda.

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The-Southeast Sao-Sebastiao Brazil

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:59:57 +0000

One of the only towns on the Paulista coast that has preserved a portion of its colonial charms, São Sebastião sits on a dramatic channel dividing the mainland from Ilha de São Sebastião (popularly known as ‘Ilhabela’), a 15-minute ferry trip away. Prices are moderate by local standards, but for good reason. There are no beaches at hand, and the town is also a major oil depot, with huge tankers somewhat diminishing the natural beauty. Still, it makes a fine stopover if you’re traveling to Ilhabela or along the coast. And the windy channel is ideal for windsurfing. For information, check out the tourist office (3892 2620, ext 4; Av Doutor Altino Arantes 174; 10am-7pm Mon-Fri, 10am-8pm Sat & Sun) on the waterfront in the small colonial center of town.

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The-Southeast Vassouras Brazil

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:59:57 +0000

Vassouras, a quiet resort 118km north of Rio, was the most important city in the Paraíba valley in the first half of the 19th century. Local coffee barons, with titles of nobility granted by the Portuguese crown, built huge fazendas (farms) in the surrounding hills. With the abolition of slavery in 1888 and the resulting decline in coffee production, the importance of Vassouras diminished, but several historic buildings from the boom days still survive in the pleasant town center.

The area’s biggest attractions are the coffee fazendas several kilometers outside of town, some of them on the scale of French châteaux and with gardens to match. To visit these, you really need your own vehicle – without it, you’ll run up some hefty cab fares or calf muscles!

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The-Southeast Belo-Horizonte Brazil

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:59:57 +0000

Known to locals as Bay-Agah (that’s Portuguese for BH), Belo Horizonte was named for its beautiful view of nearby mountains. If you climb into the hills south of town at sunset and survey the vast checkerboard of streets below, the city can still be strikingly beautiful. Still, many people give Belo a miss altogether, based on reports that it’s smoggy and overdeveloped. There’s some truth there, but the city has considerable other charms.

The longer you stay in Belo, the more it grows on you. Walk down the buzzing cosmopolitan streets of the Savassi neighborhood on a Saturday evening, eat at one of the fine restaurants in Lourdes, stroll through the densely packed market stalls at the Mercado Central, attend a concert at the Palácio das Artes, or visit the brand-new Inhotim art museum west of the city, and you’ll see that Belo has countless dimensions. Add to all this the friendly, welcoming nature of Belo’s people and you’ve got a winning combination. Stick around a few days – you might grow fond of the place.

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The-Northeast Caraiva Brazil

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:59:57 +0000

Without electricity, cars, banks or even decent phone lines, the village of Caraíva is remote and beautiful, a combination that has attracted hippies and others looking for a quiet pace of life. The village is strung along the eastern bank of the mangrove-lined Rio Caraíva and a long deserted beach kissed by strong waves. Noisy generators light up the dozen-or-so shops and restaurants lining the sand streets, and most importantly keep the forró hopping on Friday night. In the low season, the town all but shuts down.

Boat trips upriver, south to Parque Nacional de Monte Pascoal or Corumbau, and north to Praia do Espelho and Praia do Curuípe are easily organized through pousadas or with Passeios Rio e Mar (9191 3317; 3hr boat trip per person R$50). Horseback riding along the beach to Barra Velha, the Pataxó Indian village, is also an option if walking or boating the 6km isn’t appealing. When going to the village, bring lots of water and small bills. On April 19 the village celebrates the Festa do Indio with traditional games and dancing.

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Santa-Catarina Ilha-De-Santa-Catarina Brazil

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:59:57 +0000

Ilha de Santa Catarina has a vibrant and varied coastline, from the calm, crowded bays of the north, to the wild, cliff-hugging beaches of the south. But it’s not just the beaches that make this island so enchanting. A forest of protected pines protect the east coast, while the dunes near Praia da Joaquina create a lunar landscape. The spine of mountains, luxuriant with the Mata Atlântica (Atlantic rain forest), drops precipitously down to the lovely Lagoa da Conceição. The gateway to the island is Florianópolis, political capital of Santa Catarina and cultural capital of southern Brazil.

The north of the island borders on being overdeveloped, and the shores of Lagoa da Conceição are crowded with restaurants, hotels and pubs. The best beaches lie along the east coast, especially for surfers. In general, further south means less developed.

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