| In the final weeks of our 3-month trip through South-America we visited the Southern Part of Brazil. We entered Brazil at Corumbá, a small town in the Brazilian Pantanal at the border with Bolivia. For every serious nature lover, the Pantanal is a must. Vast plains of pampa's and swamps with lots of birds, Jacaré's (local caimans) and good chances of seeing monkeys, anteaters, anaconda's or even a jaguar or tapir. Our highlights included Hyacinth macaws, Giant Anteaters, coati's, toucans and armadillo's. We stayed in a Fazenda, Quatro Cantos, in the middle of the Pantanal 9 hours driving from any city. We can highly recommend it. |
| Rio is undoubtly one of the biggest cities of the world in every aspect. Its fantastic location between the sea and rainforest covered mountains, its atmosphere and very vibrant people make it a very pleasant destination. Although we'd heard some bad stories about theft and robberies we didn't have any problems. As long as you use your common sense and don;t walk around with flashy camera's and alike, there's nothing to worry about. |
| Just north of Salvador I visited the little fishing town Praia do Forte. It's relaxed and laid-back with one main street lined with shops and restaurants, ideal to escape the busy Salvador for a couple of days. There are nice beaches with natural tide pools that allow snorkelling and you can hire mountain-bikes to explore the surroundings (eg the old Portugese Fort, castello d'Avila, and Sapiringa Forest Nature Reserve) |
| Regarded as the most impressive falls in the world, they truly are magnificent. The falls are in part on Brazilian territory, but the majority can be found in Argentina. Visiting the falls nowadays is like visting a theme park, but luckily it is still totally worth it. Especially on the Argentinian side you can approach several falls very closely from different angles, allowing you to litterally soak up the experience. Another possibility is to visit the Itaipu Dam, which, until recently, was the biggest hydraulic power plant in the world. It's mainly interesting because of it's shear size and concommitent numbers: It covers electricity needs for 90% and 30% of Paraguay and Brazil respectively. |
| Salvador is a South-American city with a very strong African flavour. About 70% of the citizens is from West-African origin. Not surprisingly, many African traditions and religion are also embedded in the culture of Bahia. Religion, dance (eg Capoeira), and cuisine all have an African twist. In addition, Salvador has a wonderful old city center with nice squares connected by cobble-stoned alleys. And last but certainly not least: Salvador is home to the biggest carnaval festival in the World. Unfortunately, when I was there, carnaval had just finished... |
© Bart Everts
 |
|
|
|
|
| Physical activities: eg Walking / Rafting / swimming Nature: eg National Park / Reserve City / Cultural site |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
