BRAZIL
Information about my trip
Money
Being accepted almost all the currencies, the US$ has the best exchange rate, absolutely inconvenient the
travelers cheques that further to be exchanged in a few places only, are subject to
a 20 $ commission for each TC exchanged. The Casa de cambio generally doesn't apply
commission contrarily to the banks; the credit cards (above all the VISA) are
very diffused.
Accommodations
If you travel without hotel bookings,
you absolutely need to buy the Guia Quatro Rodas that lists all but really all the available
accommodations in the various places with relative prices. In the price of the room is always included the breakfast and practically any hotel
have quadruple rooms. In Rio if you want to stay in the Copacabana zone it is worthwhile to choose a hotel in an inside street considering that
near the sea the prices come almost doubled.
Food
I remained more than satisfied by the Brazilian
food, very varied and savory, what I have appreciated more is the very well
barbecued meat that can be tasted in the churrascarie, in these local ones for a fixed price (normally very
low) you can taste a lot of types of barbecued meat on the spits, then the waiters pass for the varied tables cutting the meat directly from the
spits into the dish; very diffused are also the kilo restaurants, you can fill the dish from a sideboard and pay to weight.
Very good the fruit juices, the national drink: the Guaranà that remembered
me a little bit the taste of the cherry and then naturally the Caipirinha. Between the varied dishes I appreciated quite a lot the
pan de queijo: sandwiches with a I mix of cheese, a cheese of which I don't remember the name cooked to the grate on skewers, naturally the national dish: the feijoada, soup of beans and meat. In the
Amazon and in the Pantanal can also tasted the piranhas to the grate or in soup but unfortunately
I have not succeeded in trying them. Also I have liked quite a lot the Brazilian pizza
(cooked as in Italy in the oven to firewood).
Getting around
As already mentioned for the transportation we used almost exclusively the
airplane; the Brazil Air Pass is the most practical and economical way to travel
within Brazil, is available only to foreigners and Brazilians residing abroad
holding a round trip ticket to Brazil:
Also having made 15
domestic flights fortunately we had no problems of baggage or loss of the
coincidences; considering that the airplanes are almost always full it is
essential to confirm the varied flight at least the day before the departure. Is necessary to choose with attention the flights considering that
a lot of domestic flights foresee intermediary stop (also 3-4) that they lengthen notably the times of flight, in
each airport then before embarking is necessary to pay (cash) the airport taxes, with a middle expense of R$
9 to person for the domestic flights and R$ 60 for the intercontinental flights.
Even if I have not tried them directly the connections with the buses are very efficient, instead the railway net is practically nonexistent. The taxis are very convenient even if in the
biggest city is necessary to make attention avoid cheats and to try to have the taximeter used.
Links
http://www.noronha.com.br/ Information about Fernando de Noronha;
http://www.ipanema.com/ Information about Rio De Janeiro;
http://www.turismorn.com.br/ Information about Natal and Rio Grande do Norte state;
http://www.brazilinfo.com/index_en.htm Information about hotel e travel agency;
http://www.brol.com/ Information about cities, points of interest, Brazil Air Pass, hotel and travel package;
http://brasilemb.org/tourism/divebr.htm Information about diving in Brazil.