[world_nomad]

INTRODUCTION

I spent four months in Brazil in 2015. In those four months, I became conversationally fluent in Portuguese and I grew to love the music, the food, the culture, and the warmth of the Brazilian people. And of course, the women too. I only discovered game a couple months before arriving, and I used these four months as a training ground. I traveled and went out solo, went out on dates in Portuguese (despite not speaking the language well), and generally got out of my comfort zone in many ways. Given my time there, I thought I’d relay my experience and also take the time out to organize the already-existing datasheets in the forum. I’m also happy to answer any questions you guys have.

Accommodation

I traveled backpacker-style and stayed in hostels during the majority of my stay in Brazil. To find hostels, I booked primarily through hostelworld.com.

Language

I found the value of learning Portuguese to be massive. Outside of the main tourist areas in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, English is not widely spoken, although you can generally find someone who speaks English if you are looking for help or directions. Even with fluent knowledge of Spanish, I found it difficult to communicate even on a basic level with store owners, taxi drivers, etc.

The Brazilians open up to you more when they see you have been learning Portuguese. They are used to the average tourist who only knows a few words, so it is a welcome surprise. Granted, they might make fun of your “sotaque” (accent), but always in good fun.

Lastly, with Brazilian women, in over half of my notches the interaction was conducted primarily in Portuguese. Only a couple of these girls knew even intermediate English, so it would have been vastly more difficult without Portuguese.

Resources I used to learn Portuguese

Pimsleur
This is primarily a listening / speaking exercise with 90 30-minute lessons. You learn basic conversation skills but the downside is that the Portuguese used is too formal for basic conversational settings.

Where to download: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Podcasts

Ta falado (especially for people with a knowledge of Spanish)

• This podcast has 24 pronunciation lessons and 20 grammar lessons
• It focuses on the differences between Spanish and Portuguese, but it gives English translations as well
• I especially like it because they enact dialogues of different social situations and use relatively informal language
• Note: For intermediate speakers of Portuguese, they also have a podcast called “Conversa brasileira”
  

Where to download: Download directly on your phone or go here

Other beginner podcasts: BrazilianPodClass, Portuguese Pod 101, Brazilian Portuguese Pod, Brazilian Portuguese 101 by Semantica

Movies (watch with Brazilian or English subtitles)

• Cidade de Deus (City of God)
• Tropa de Elite (Elite Squad) / Tropa de Elite 2 (Elite Squad 2)
• 2 Filhos de Francisco
• Cidade dos Homens (City of Men)
• Pixote
  

Where to downlod: Torrent sites

• Subtitles can be downloaded at http://www.opensubtitles.org/en/search or by using a subtitles video player
  

Telecommunications

One thing I always recommend when arriving in a new country is getting a prepaid SIM card. This will allow you to get a data plan and have access to whatsapp, google maps, etc. at all times. To do this, you need to make sure your phone is unlocked. Usually this is a simple process but you do need to google “How to unlock [provider’s] phone” and follow the directions.

Once you arrive in Brazil, simply google the closest “Vivo” or “TIM” stores. Go to the store, bring your passport, and buy a pre-paid SIM card. If you have an iPhone, you will need to buy the micro-SIM card and get it cut to fit the nano-SIM card. Once you put money on it, you will be able to buy a data plan. You can then recharge it when you run out of money by going to any supermarket that has a sign with your service provider and asking for “recarga celular” (pronounced: he-car-gah cel-u-lar).

Cuisine

I really enjoyed the food in Brazil, but I grew up on a similar diet. At most local restaurants, you can get the menu executivo for lunch which consists of rice, beans, salad, fries (sometimes), farofa (toasted cassava flour) and your choice of meat.

Must-trys

• Feijoada - national dish, only served a couple times a week
• Picanha - very popular cut of beef
• Coxinha - chicken croquette
• Pastel - pastries with a variety of different meat / cheese fillings
• Pao de queijo - fried cheese dough
• Acai - native fruit that can be enjoyed alone or mixed with other toppings
• Cachaça (pronounced: ca-sha-sa) - the national liqueur. There’s no chance you escape Brazil without trying a caipirinha (cachaça, lime juice, and sugar). It’s also quite interesting to do a cachaça tasting if you have a chance. But don’t try and drink the cheap stuff without a mixer, it tastes pretty awful.
• Agua de coco - Fresh coconut water out of a coconut. Make sure to get it cold or “gelada” (Pronounced: zhe-lada)
• Guarana - Energy soft drink common in Brazil
  

Picture of Feijoada, the national dish of Brazil


Women

There are many beautiful women in Brazil. There is certainly a sizable subset of the population (especially in North and Northeast Brazil) that would be considered unattractive. But if you go to the beach in Rio or Florianopolis, you will see some body types that are extremely rare in the Western world -- particularly those with a small waist and a humongous ass. Sometimes it really defies nature.

The women are generally very friendly, playful and sexual. There is a lot of strong eye contact made in the streets. Brazilians are extremely interested in gringos (foreigners) and want to get to know your story. They are not afraid of their sexuality, and often times you can kiss a girl in a bar within 10 (or 5, or even 1) minute of meeting her. And the Brazilian women kiss very passionately. But my favorite thing about Brazilian women is how affectionate they are. They can often steal your heart away.

I am a short guy, who blends in with the Brazilians quite well, so I did not get much exotic value in terms of looks alone. My success with girls in Brazil was largely a function of strong persistence with dating apps, knowledge of Portuguese, and being very aggressive.

I wouldn’t say I hooked up with any stunners or girls out of my league, but I found the women to be very open. My conversion rates were higher than average; if you got a girl out on a date and things went well, there was a good chance you would get the notch. The vast majority of my hook-ups were one-night-stands. Since I was staying in hostel shared dorm rooms, I often had to get creative and had some interesting hook-up experiences (e.g., beach, side of the road).

Transportation

I traveled primarily by bus. In order to get to the city’s central bus station, you want to ask for the rodoviaria (pronounced: hoe-doe-vi-a-rea).

For flying domestically, the major airlines you want to search are LATAM, Azul, Gol, Avianca.

Datasheets (organized alphabetically)

• Belo Horizonte [2]
• Belo Horizonte vs Porto Alegre
• Blumenau
• Brasilia
• Brasilia and Curitiba
• Brazil
• Brazil (for black men)
• Cascavel
• Curitiba [2] [3]
• Diamantina
• Florianopolis [2] [3] [4]
• Florianopolis vs Porto Alegre
• Florianopolis and Fortaleza
• Fortaleza [2]
• Foz do Iguaçu
• Goiania [2]
• Joao Pessoa
• Manaus [2] [3]
• Minas Gerais
• Northern Minas Gerais
• Porto Alegre [2]
• Rio de Janeiro [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
• Salvador [2]
• Santa Cruz do Sul
• Sao Paulo [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
• Trancoso
• Vitoria [2]

State-by-state breakdown (organized from my favorite to least favorite)

• I list the major destinations of each state, along with further descriptions for the cities I visited

Map of Brazil



Rio de Janeiro (state)

• Major destinations: Rio de Janeiro, Buzios, Cabo Frio, Ilha Grande, Paraty, Petropolis
  

Rio de Janeiro

Rio is known as “O cidade maravilhosa” (“The marvelous city”) and it truly lives up to the name. The beaches are beautiful, and filled with beautiful women. The food is great. The views from Corcovado (site of Christ the Redeemer), Pão de Açúcar, and Dois Irmãos are truly amazing.

One thing I highly recommend (that many tourists do not do) is to hike up to Dois Irmãos. In order to do so, take the bus or a taxi to the bottom of the district of Vidgal. There will be many moto-taxis at the bottom and tell them you want to go to “a trilha de dois irmãos”. You will go on a 10-minute moto-taxi ride to the top and then you can ask them to point you in the direction of the trail. You will pass my a soccer-field and you only need to hike 30-45 minutes to get the beautiful view of Ipanema beach and the rest of Rio.

View from Dois Irmaos


The major downside of Rio is that I could not get a proper handle on the girls or the nightlife. The girls were very flaky, and I struggled to get on many dates. There are many nicer, high-end clubs in Ipanema / Leblon, but I was traveling on a budget. Lapa on Fridays and Saturdays attracted a large crowd, but it didn’t necessarily have the prettiest girls. In the end though, the other positive factors of the city still created a great experience.

Ilha Grande

Ilha Grande is just a short bus ride (combined with a ferry) or boat ride away from Rio de Janeiro. This island is quiet, relaxed and very scenic. It is not a place you go if you want to party hard -- it’s fairly dead during the week and only mildly active on the weekends. There are many beautiful hikes and beaches to visit during the day. There is also a hike starting at 2:00am to Pico do Papagaio (Parrot Peak) where you can watch the sunrise over the ocean.

View of Ilha Grande


Paraty

Paraty itself is an old colonial town. It has a very picturesque historic center, churches, and town square. They also offer boat trips throughout the bay, Many people use this town as a hub and eventually go to Trinidade, a much more beautiful beach, on a day trip or to stay a couple nights.

I went during a 3-day holiday weekend and the bars / clubs were fairly busy with a mix of tourists and Brazilians. But there are only two / three nightlife options, and it would be pretty easy to get bored of this town.

View of the Historical Center of Paraty


Existing datasheet(s)

• Rio de Janeiro [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
  

Santa Catarina

• Major destinations: Florianopolis, Balneário Camboriú, Blumenau
  

Florianopolis (Floripa)

Floripa is a beautiful city located half on the mainland and half on an island. It has 42 different beaches. Many of the beaches have different “vibes” (surfing, gay, upscale, etc.), and talking to locals can help you quickly find out the reputations of the different beaches. For example, Jurere is upscale (and tends to have the prettiest women), Mole is gay-friendly, Joaquina and Matadeiro are filled with surfers. There is a pretty hike to a beautiful secluded beach called Lagoinha do Leste.

There are a few major downsides to Florianopolis. The island is extremely spread out and public transportation is a disaster. To get to certain beaches can take over 2 hours and you may have to do up to 3-4 bus transfers. For this reason, I highly recommend that you rent a car if you want to explore the island. Another downside is that the weather is good enough to support tourism less than half of the year, and in the offseason it turns into a ghost town.

The nightlife on the island seemed to be concentrated in two major regions. The mega-clubs / upscale-clubs were in the North in Jurere. The more mid-level nightlife, where regular brazilians and budget travelers would end up, was in the center of the island in Lagoa da Conceição. I went out in Lagoa de Conceição a few times and was not very impressed with the venues or the quality of the women (both brazilians and tourists).

View of Lagoinha do Leste Beach in Florianopolis


Existing datasheet(s)

• Florianopolis [2] [3] [4]
• Florianopolis vs Porto Alegre
• Florianopolis and Fortaleza
  

Bahia

• Major destinations: Salvador, Chapada Diamantina, Morro de São Paulo, Porto Seguro, Itacare, Trancoso
  

Salvador

Salvador certainly has a bad reputation, but I do not think it fully merits it. You do have to be on your toes about crime / security, especially late at night in the area of Pelourinho. But I found the city to be pleasant during the day and lively at night.

The historical area of Pelourinho is very colorful and picturesque. Watching the sunset from the top of the Elevador Lacerda was beautiful. Going to Barra beach, walking down the promenade, and visiting the lighthouse (Farol da Barra) is worth your time.

One of the special things about Salvador is the African influence and the unique blend that creates with the Brazilian culture. The music especially has a unique rhythm, with special genres such as Samba-Reggae. Salvador has a famous samba band called Olodum that sometimes performs / marches through Pelourinho (once a week, at night). Hundreds of people gathered in the streets to dance along with them, and it was one of my favorite experiences in Brazil.

In terms of nightlife, many of the popular bars and clubs can be found in Rio Vermelho. I went out on a Thursday to Rio Vermelho with three other Brazilian friends. While in the taxi, we see a club that has a line out the door with about 40 women and only 5 men. We immediately go to check it out; it’s all-you-can-drink from 10pm-2am. The only difference is that it costs 90 reais for men and 20 reais for women. The highlight of the night was that I made out with a cute girl that was sitting on a bar stool, and I’m about 75% sure she was a dwarf or midget. We also negotiated a special rate with the taxi driver so that he would drive us through McDonald’s drive-through on the way home. It was a fun night.

View of Farol de Barra in Salvador


Chapada Diamantina

The National Park of Chapada Diamantina is an enchanting place. You can literally spend weeks here exploring all of the different trails, caves, waterfalls, mountains, valleys, etc. Most people stay in one of the towns inside the park, such as Lencois, and do day-trips to visit nature. These towns are basically small hippie towns and leave much to be desired in terms of nightlife.

Must-dos if you have the time are to go to Morro do Pai Inacio, Cachoeira da Fumaça, Cachoeira do Sossego, Poço Encantado / Poço Azul. I didn’t get to do it but the Vale do Pati 3-5 day trek is also supposed to very special.

View of Morro do Pai Inacio at Chapada Diamantina


Existing datasheet(s)

• Salvador [2]
• Trancoso
  

Ceará

• Major destinations: Fortaleza, Jericoacoara
  

Jericoacoara

If you mention the words Jericoacoara (commonly “Jeri”) to the average Brazilian, often times their heart melts and they will spend the next minute telling you how special of a place it is. After spending a week there, I find it tough to disagree.

Jeri is a small beach town that was originally a hippie village. What makes the town so special is that it is surrounded by massive sand dunes, even right next to the beach. It is a daily tradition for people to climb the massive sand dune by the beach at dusk to watch the sun set over the water.

It is common for tourists to to rent a dune buggy for the day and be driven around to some of the famous spots in the area. The dune buggy experience was one of my favorites in Brazil -- the driver blasted Brazilian funk music and drove us around the dunes like a maniac. We made pit stops at the beautiful Lagoa Azul and Lagoa do Paraiso, freshwater lakes known for their beautiful colors and hammocks resting in the water. Kitesurfing and windsurfing are very popular here; I took a stab at 3 days of kitesurfing lessons and had a blast learning (and often getting dragged all over the water).

I was in Jeri during the winter holidays (North American summer). College students get 1 month off during this time. Every day of the week there was one major party and on the weekends there was often a couple. The parties varied in types of music: from reggae to samba to forro. Forro is a traditional type of music (with a dance style similar to salsa) that is very popular in North and Northeast Brazil. The basics are not too difficult to learn, so it is a great opportunity to ask women to teach you how to dance. Jeri treated me quite well, it was the first time I’ve ever gotten laid with 3 girls in 1 week. But I imagine it would be quite dead during low season.

View of Lagoa do Pariso in Jericoacoara


Existing datasheet(s)

• Fortaleza [2]
• Florianopolis and Fortaleza
  

Rio Grande do Norte

• Major destinations: Natal, Praia de Pipa
  

Praia de Pipa

Praia de Pipa was one of my favorite beach towns I visited in Brazil. The main beach is called praia do amor and has a beautiful cliff face. One of the nearby beaches is known for its spinner dolphins, which do flips in the water. You can even rent a paddleboard and ride out to the dolphins. I was there during the winter holidays, and the nightlife proved to be quite a bit of fun for such a small town.

View of Praia do Amor in Pipa


Part 2 of this post continued below...

[world_nomad]

Paraná

• Major destinations: Foz do Iguaçu, Curitiba
  

Foz do Iguaçu

I visited Foz do Iguaçu as a day trip from a previous visit to Argentina. The Iguaçu Falls, a series of large powerful waterfalls, is a breathtaking sight to behold. The falls were voted as 1 of the 7 natural wonders of the world and a section known as “The Devil’s Throat” is the most impressive vantage point. If you have the time, visit the falls from both the Argentina side and the Brazil side. The Brazil side views the falls from a higher angle whereas the Argentina side views it mostly from below.

Although I didn’t have a Brazilian visa at the time, we were able to sneak across the border from Argentina without any problems. All you needed to do was to take the local bus from Argentina that said Foz do Iguaçu (with a Brazilian flag on it), stop to present your passport when exiting Argentina, and not get off the bus when the bus driver quickly asks if anyone needs to present their Brazilian visa. I do not think it would be possible to do the opposite however (sneak from Brazil to Argentina without the Argentina visa).

View of Iguaçu Falls from Brazil


Existing datasheet(s)

• Curitiba [2] [3]
• Brasilia and Curitiba
• Foz do Iguaçu
  

Minas Gerais

• Major destinations: Belo Horizonte, Ouro Preto
  

Belo Horizonte

Belo Horizonte (colloquially known as BH [pronounce “bee-haga”]) is a city towards the center of Brazil. It was a change of scenery, given the majority of places I visited in Brazil were on the coast. Praça da Liberdade is a nice town square with many museums, and many people gather at Praça do Papa to watch the sunset (especially on the weekends). If you come to BH, make sure to take out a day to go visit Inhotim. Inhotim is an expansive contemporary art museum that is laid out almost like a huge park. You will end up walking miles and miles but it is worth it to see all of the interesting modern exhibits.

BH is known as having the most botecos (bars) per square foot -- there is no shortage of little places to eat or get drinks. One of the main strips of botecos that attracts many Brazilians and tourists alike is called Savassi. The restaurants are very trendy and of good quality. I did not go clubbing at all in my time here so I cannot comment on the club scene.

Mineiras (woman from Minas Gerais) were my favorite women in Brazil. From a looks standpoint, there are some very exotic black / white / native mixes there. Minas is more traditional compared to many areas of Brazil and thus the women are more conservative. Because I was there only for a week, I feel like I missed out on a couple lays. But I found the women there to be extremely pleasant, fun to interact with, and affectionate.

View of Belo Horizonte from Praça do Papa


Ouro Preto

Ouro Preto is a small colonial town 1.5 hours south of Belo Horizonte. It is easiest to explore the town by foot and it has many beautiful historic churches. However, you can cover everything you need to see in 1-2 days. The nightlife is supposed to be very lively because a large university is located in the town. However, I was there when the university was on strike so it was a bit dead. Ouro Preto, despite being small, is known to have one of the craziest carnivals due to the fact that the attendees are almost all university students.

View of Ouro Preto


Existing datasheet(s)

• Belo Horizonte [2]
• Belo Horizonte vs Porto Alegre
• Diamantina
• Minas Gerais
• Northern Minas Gerais

Alagoas

• Major destinations: Maceio

São Paulo

• Major destinations: Sao Paulo, Campos do Jordão, Ilha bela
  

Existing datasheet(s)

• Sao Paulo [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
  

Pernambuco

• Major destinations: Recife / Olinda, Fernando de Noronha
  

Recife / Olinda

I spent very little time in Recife / Olinda, so I can’t say too much about them. The cities weren’t particularly pretty, although Olinda had a nice town square. A major downside to Recife is that no one goes into the water because the waters are so shark-infested. Many people make a pit-stop at nearby Porto de Galinhas, which is known as one of Brazil’s more beautiful beaches.

Other notable states I did not visit

• Many of these states I heard a lot about, and wanted to visit, but didn’t have a chance to
  

Distrito Federal

Brasilia

• The planned capital of Brazil is most known for the city layout and the architectural works of Oscar Niemeyer
• Not known as a tourist-friendly city, everything is very expensive and very spread out
  

Existing datasheet(s)

• Brasilia
• Brasilia and Curitiba

Amazonas

Manaus

• Acts as the gateway to the Amazon. You are in the middle of the rain forest and cannot take roads to travel anywhere. Many people do 3-7 day tours of the Amazon where you ride on a boat and go explore the Amazon. You can also do a river tour from Manaus to another major city
• Also known as the easiest city to get laid in Brazil, and this has been corroborated by various sources. A photographer friend of mine stayed for a week in a hotel there, and he told me: “I’ve never had that much sex in my life.” As one poster called it, it’s like the Philippines of South America

Existing datasheet(s)

• Manaus [2] [3]

Espírito Santo

Existing datasheet(s)

• Vitoria [2]

Goiás

Existing datasheet(s)

• Goiania [2]

Maranhão

• Home of Lençois Maranhenses, a national park filled with sand dunes with fresh-water lakes in between the dunes
• This place is very difficult to get to cheaply and requires a lot of public transportation
  

View of Lençois Maranhenses


Roraima

• Contains the highest tepuy (Spanish for table mountain) on the triple border of Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana - 2,800 metres tall
• This tepuy was the inspiration for the animated movie “Up”
  

View of Mount Roraima


Mato Grosso do Sul

Campo Grande

• Main gateway to the southern part of the Pantanal and to Bonito
• The Pantanal is one of the world's largest and most diverse freshwater wetland ecosystems
• See animals such as caimans, piranhas, giant river otters, birds and jaguars(most sought after)
  

Bonito

• Heart of ecotourism in Brazil
• Snorkeling, cave exploring, hiking, etc.
• Very well known within Brazil
  

Mato Grosso

Cuiaba

• Main gateway to the northern part of the Pantanal
  

Rio Grande do Sul

Porto Alegre

• The part of Brazil with the largest German influence -- they even have a town called Novo Hamburgo (New Hamburg) where they still speak German
• This is where Gisele Bundchen is from
  

Existing datasheet(s)

• Cascavel
• Porto Alegre [2]
• Belo Horizonte vs Porto Alegre
• Florianopolis vs Porto Alegre
• Santa Cruz do Sul

Paraíba

Existing datasheet(s)

• Joao Pessoa

Fun fact about Brazil

• They have a big psy-trance following, and underground raves can be found throughout Brazil
  

I hope this post inspires you guys to get off your ass and go to Brazil!

[Cortés]

Great post man, its great to see something about Brazil thats not just a Rio or SP datasheet. A few questions- 1) Aside from Rio, SP, and Foz do Iguacu, and maybe Salvador, what cities have the most tourists/ are the biggest tourist traps? Is it Floripa? from what I hear its a popular tourist spot. 2) What cities do you have the most "Gringo value"? 3) From decent to large sized cities, are street parties frequent? like every night? 4) Could you tell us a little more about Maceio?

Again, great thread man, Im planning on riding a motorbike thru Northern Brazil for 6 months, mainly hitting Pernambuco, Paraiba, Ceara, Alagoas, etc. Also, since you dont have much about Pernambuco, has anybody been to/know anything about Jaboatao Dos Guararapes? Its a relatively big city outside of Recife which has a nice beach and all, I would like to check it out as theres little info any where on the internet about it so it could possibly be a hidden paradise?

[world_nomad]

(08-02-2016 04:46 PM)Cortés Wrote:  

Great post man, its great to see something about Brazil thats not just a Rio or SP datasheet. A few questions- 1) Aside from Rio, SP, and Foz do Iguacu, and maybe Salvador, what cities have the most tourists/ are the biggest tourist traps? Is it Floripa? from what I hear its a popular tourist spot. 2) What cities do you have the most "Gringo value"? 3) From decent to large sized cities, are street parties frequent? like every night? 4) Could you tell us a little more about Maceio?

Again, great thread man, Im planning on riding a motorbike thru Northern Brazil for 6 months, mainly hitting Pernambuco, Paraiba, Ceara, Alagoas, etc. Also, since you dont have much about Pernambuco, has anybody been to/know anything about Jaboatao Dos Guararapes? Its a relatively big city outside of Recife which has a nice beach and all, I would like to check it out as theres little info any where on the internet about it so it could possibly be a hidden paradise?

1) Aside from Rio, SP, and Foz do Iguacu, and maybe Salvador, what cities have the most tourists/ are the biggest tourist traps? Is it Floripa? from what I hear its a popular tourist spot.

Floripa has tons of tourists during its high season, which I would say is from November - March. It is definitely overpriced for what it is, but it is still very pretty. However, if you go to the big name clubs there (such as p12), be prepared to drop a lot of money.

2) What cities do you have the most "Gringo value"?

I would say gringo value increases the further north you go. Honestly, not that many travelers even make it to Salvador, and even less so to the other spots further up the coast such as Recife / Olinda, Maceio, Joao Pessoa, Fortaleza. I have not been but, from reading other datasheets, it seems gringo value would be highest in: Manaus, small towns in Minas Gerais, small towns in lesser known states such as Mato Grosso do Sul, etc.

3) From decent to large sized cities, are street parties frequent? like every night?

I would not say street parties are necessarily that frequent all over Brazil. During Carnival, you can find street parties everywhere you go. Rio de Janeiro is the city most known for street parties, such as Pedro do Sal on Mondays, Baixo Gavea on Thursday, and Lapa on Friday / Saturday. In Salvador, there was a street party on Sundays in the promenade in Barra. But, the more typical thing you will find, is that during the weekends, the people at bars spill over into the streets, creating a similar environment to a "street party".

4) Could you tell us a little more about Maceio?

I only spent a few nights in Maceio. The city itself leaves much to be desired, and the women are not that pretty. But you can do a nice day trip to very pretty beaches nearby, such as Praia Frances and Praia Gunga.

[Designate]

Thanks for putting this all together. There were a few Minas Gerais threads I had missed.

This gets me excited my own Brasil journey that will soon be happening. I will be adding to this list.

Saúde amigo!

[Dantes]

Plus 1 for a well organized report.

Brazil is still a great country filled with natural beauty and sexy women

Minas Gerais girls are the best in the country.

[Vronski]

(08-02-2016 04:46 PM)Cortés Wrote:  

1) Aside from Rio, SP, and Foz do Iguacu, and maybe Salvador, what cities have the most tourists/ are the biggest tourist traps?

Salvador is indeed a tourist trap. It's like a giant "Black Disneyland" theme park for white tourists, and all that pseudo-cultural rasta BS is not only annoying, but also grotesque.

Sao Luis has also a beautiful restored historic district (Projeto Reviver) and quite nice beaches, and is much more enthralling, authentic and interesting - and still off the beaten path.

[manly5000]

Quick question for anyone who has gone to Brasil multiple times (or anyone who knows) -- When I went there in 2014 I had to present a bunch of information like bank statement, itinerary, passport, etc. plus pay the fee to get the tourist Visa. However, I was given a 10-year multiple-entry Visa (180 days max per year). To go back to Brasil do I have to go through any part of this process or deal with the Consulado do Brasil again in any way, or am I good to just get on the plane and go?

Obrigado irmaos.

[Nascimento]

Great effort in putting this together, really.

It's about time for me to go again.

Side note: City of God is a must-see film. It's one of the best of all time.

[britabroad]

confirmed got the hottest girl of my life in brasil and city of god my 3rd favourite film of all time. would consider emigrating there later on but awful for starting business

[Vinny]

I have no time to read the whole datasheet. But this is something I would like to read just before going to brasil.
Huge and beautifully arranged.
+1

[world_nomad]

Thanks guys. The forum has helped me immensely, and I thought it was time to give back in some way.

@Vronski - I agree with you about Salvador. The women all dressed up in the traditional outfits selling you stuff all seems a bit staged. I did find the traditional mass in Pelourinho with the drumming to be quite cool though.

@manly5000 - You do not need to redo any part of the process. You just need to show up to the plane with the Brazilian visa in your passport. If you got a new passport since you got the Brazilian visa, you will need to bring your old passport with the Brazilian visa in it.

[Chaos]

+1. Great datasheet.

I was in Rio for one month during xmas and new year and I can't wait to come back for revenge.

How long did it take you to learn a conversational level of Portuguese?

What annoyed me most about my whole Rio experince was the language barrier.
I could have spoken Finnish instead of English and the outcome would have been the same.
Some level of Portuguese is a must. No way around it.

I'll be there soon again.

[Cam Newton]

Fantastic resource! Well done.

I assume you were in Jericoacoara in July. Is this correct? Also, where did you stay in Jeri? Airbnb, hostel, etc..

Cheers,
Cam

[world_nomad]

(08-09-2016 07:23 AM)Chaos Wrote:  

How long did it take you to learn a conversational level of Portuguese?

I already was fluent in Spanish, so that definitely helped quite a bit. I did about 1 month of self-study, where I got through the first 15-20 lessons of Pimselur and almost all the episodes of Ta Falado. I found Ta Falado to be the most helpful resource.

After about 1-1.5 months in Brazil, I was able to go on dates in Portuguese and speak at a conversation level. But I was definitely putting in the time to interact with Brazilians.

(08-09-2016 09:22 AM)Cam Newton Wrote:  

I assume you were in Jericoacoara in July. Is this correct? Also, where did you stay in Jeri? Airbnb, hostel, etc..

It was around the July / August time-frame. I stayed in Hostel Tirol in the middle of the town. I met many cool backpackers there, but there are obvious benefits to having a private room somewhere.

[mundele]

Awesome sheet, it's defnitely a big help to set up my itinerary.
What do you guys think about the following?

08/07: Fly to Rio
09/07: Rio
10/07: Rio
11/07: Rio
12/07: Paraty Ilha Granda
13/07: Paraty
14/07: Rio
15/07: → Morning flight to Iguaca falls and visit
16/07: → Fly to Manaus
17/07– 26/07: Manaus
27/07: → Fly to Belém
28/07 – 03/08: Belém
04/08: → Fly to Rio
05/07: → Fly back home