Brazil

Posted on: October 29, 2008 at 10:26AM

Hi there, My boyfriend and I are looking forward to our trip to Brazil 2/08, will be there for about 3 wks. Will start in Manaus, then Rio for Carnival and end up in Sao Paolo. So far Delta has the cheapest fares, so will book with them. Gool luck and happy travels

Posted on: October 08, 2008 at 3:52PM

Traveling to Brazil? Dress to impress! Brazilians take pride in their fashion, and dressing like you would, say, in America will definitely make you stick out like an outsider. Wear your best all the time and you won't be bothered as a tourist. Enjoy native cousine and don't be afraid to try new things! I have been to Brazil several times and am half-Brazilian, so I've done a lot of research! Happy traveling.

Posted on: October 08, 2008 at 3:33PM

Best of luck not breaking the bank. Travel to Brasil isn't cheap. I lived in Brasil as a child, and one year, our family vacation was to Foz do Iguacu. It's by far the most beautiful place I've ever been. It's definitely worth it to make that a part of your trip, and make sure you know what documentation you'd need to travel to the Argentina side of the falls and/or over the border into Paraguay. When I went, we didn't have proper documentation and only saw the falls from the Brasil side. There's plenty to do there for a long weekend side-trip from wherever your base is in Brasil. A second suggestion is to learn at least a couple phrases in Portuguese. When I lived there, some tourists would expect their Spanish to hold up. While it's possible to understand some Portuguese if you know Spanish, it's considered pretty offensive to speak Spanish to Brasilians, as their language is Portuguese. Knowing a few key phrases in Portuguese will go a long way. Enjoy your vacation.

Posted on: October 08, 2008 at 9:34AM

Thank you very much, that was all great information. I appreciate it and hope your trip for Carnaval is enjoyable!

Posted on: October 03, 2008 at 11:02AM

Hi, I recently traveled to Brasil and will be going again in February for Carnaval. At the moment I'm studing portuguese ( from a teacher from Brasil) to understand things better, but I caught on pretty quick since I have a good understaning of Spanish to begin with. Although speaking portuguese is definately different than Spanish. I hung out with people that grew up in Sao Paulo, so they helped me out getting around and where the best places are at. As far breaking the bank, Sao Paulo is a pretty expensive place to begin with so I don't know what to do with that one. I spent most of my money on food, eating out at restaurants eating in the Japan section of town on Sundays when they have a nice street fair. Sao Paulo has the largest amount of people from Japan outside of Japan. There are nice exhibits to go to in Sao Paulo, that weren't too expensive, I went to a Bossa Nova exhibit. This was located in the big outdoor city park, Parque Ibapuerra. It's pretty easy to get around with the subway metro system and busses. I am a foodie and cook for a living so I love to try new food and Sao Paulo definately has a large seletion of international cuisine to choose from. My brother lives down there now, and he tells me if you want to go down to the beach you can easily take a bus that I think costs around $8 to go the beach that is only about 1 and half hours away. I went back when it was slightly too cold to go swimmin. For plane tickets you can generaly spend about 1 thousand dollars at least to about 1400. Although my other brother said last year that one of the airlines (I think American), was selling tickets to Latin and South America for abound 700. One of those special promotions. I flew on Delta and they tend to have lower airfares for Brasil. And once you got your plane ticket. Check out the visa requirements you have to do it within 3 months of going. I would allow a good two months just in case anything happens at the visa office. Hope you have fun and Brasil is well worth traveling to.