Manaus: Jungle, Amazon, you do a random 3 day boat expedition with aligator catching, piranha
fishing, jungle trekking, looking for tarantulas and sleeping in hammocks on the boat.
Then you can take a 4 day boattrip down the river to Belem. Good experience, more sleeping in hammocks (from Belem to
Manaus - 6 days due to upstream). Possible to make a stopover in Santarena.
Belem: Not really much to see and to do.
Sao Louis: Capital of Reggae, very good old town and good live music.
Lencois de Maranahensis: Wicked desert with loads of sanddunes and lakes in between. best to
see in rainy season. take a warmduscher tour from Sao Louis.
Jericoacora: Hip beach, very chilled and cheap, two roads, couple of pousadas, that s it. Sandboarding
and Kite-and Wind-surfing. Wicked horseriding on the beach.
Fortaleza/Cumbuco: one of the best spots to learn kite-surfing. can recommend two Austrian instructors
(Hucky and Rossi) staying in Cumbuco (a 30 min cabride from Fortaleza). They got uptodate equipment, 12h course cost 210 Euros, equipment
rental 30 Euros/day.
For all the guys out there -- go to Cafe del Mar in Fortaleza, you will not regret it. Every night party, 10:1 ratio,
but watch out for putas.
Natal: Beachbuggy rides can be done from there, otherwise shit city.
Praia de Pipa: Beautiful beaches, surf and swim with dolphins. 2 bars, where it s busy every
night, not too big, not too expensive, all in all brilliant place to stay.
Porto de Galinhas (Chickenbeach): Stay in Maracaipe (3 km out of town), cause better beach, good
surf and cheaper pousadas. There is one bar in Porto de Galinhas, where everything is happening every night on the beach.
Recife/Olinda: Everyone is pretty much staying in Olinda, the beautiful old colonial town. One
of the best spots to spend carnaval. pre-carneval in Olinda and carneval in Recife, perfect combination and cheap apartments
to rent.
Salvador: Capital of Bahia, Capoeira, good old town, good nightlife, a bit dodgy at night, heaps
of culture and african cults to see.
Carneval there is massive. All Axe (type of music), big trucks with xxx-mega-wat moving through the streets pumping the
beat. Can get a bit dangerous by 6 Millions dancing off and going crazy (loads of fights and pickpocketing), but buying T-Shirts
for security reasons (so called blocas) is too expensive (100 Euro for 2 days) and too Warmduscher anyway. All in all
a fuckin big good party, but lacking a bit of variation in music, costumes and security.
Lencois/Chapada Diamantina: Best trekking in Brazil (but much better ones in other countries
like Chile or Argentina) - waterfalls, rivers, sleeping under clear sky, nice vegetation.
Itacare: Surfspot. Really small chilled village, many secluded beautiful beaches, loads
of people, who end up there for weeks and months. One main street, one Reggae-Pub and a Forro place. Nighlife is always
the same, can make you go crazy after a week, but otherwise really cool spot to spend some time.
Trancoso/Caraiva: Another set of gorgeous beaches, tranquil place, little village, not much nightlife
except for weekends, no waves at all. Very close to Porto Seguro and Areal de Ayuda.
Buzios: Vacationspot for the hot and rich from Rio (3 h north of Rio). One of the most expensive
places in Brazil (twice as expensive).
Rocks in December, January, February and on weekends - everything is happening on Rua de Pedras.
Buzios itself is spread in 3-4 little towns with various beaches and good 24 h minibus connections. Good place
to stay is Praia de Geriba (only spot with surf, which is not really good anyway) - found a cheap pousada there called Pousada
de Surf with good folk.
Saquarema: Best waves in Brazil, but otherwise nothing there. No travellers, no nightlife, nada.
Still a very charming fishertown and very friendly people ... if you surf, go there, but bring friends !
Rio de Janeiro: Loads to do, easily to spend a week or two without getting bored. Here a few
things you shouldnt miss:
1. Hanggliding over Rio
2. Favela tour
3. Checking out the hot bodies on Copacabana and Ipanema beach
4. See Jesus Christ and sunset from Sugar Loaf
5. Checking out the nightlife in Leblon
6. Dont miss Southamericas puta-club Ayuda (Help Club)
7. !Off the beaten track! - Rio s ONCE most elegent theatre Cinema Iris
8. Getting robbed
9. Getting saved on Copacabana out of the ripcurrent by a helicopter
etc ...
A good spot to stay would be the Mellow Yellow Backpackers
(www.mellowyellow.com.br) in Copacabana, 2 blocks from the beach, the only one with a spa !
Ihla Grande: Havent been, but heard its good. Maybe someone else can post it
Sao Paulo: Not much a city for tourists (like Rio). The center is ugly and dodgy. S.P.
is wicked for shopping, food and nightlife. Best is to have/make friends there, who can visit.
Ihla de Miel: Beautiful island, but pretty dead except for semana santa, x-mas and new years
eve.
Curitiba: Not much happening in the city, but it s famous for the train ride leaving from there
through the jungle ...
Florianapolis/Santa Catarina: Wow, where to start. I spent a month there. Perfect combination
of good beaches, surf and nightlife (Florianapolis and Lagoa de Conceicao). Cheap restaurants and loads of apartments. And
then there is cRaZY backpackers, run by Junior and Leticia in Barra de Lagoa -- dont miss it!
Foz de Iguacu: Loads of Water ... Highlight of Brazil, beats Vic Falls and Niagara. The better
side is to watch the falls is definitely the Argentinian side, but both are worth a visit. From there you can head on to Ciudad
del Este (Paraguay - best place to shop for electronical shit in SA, due to no taxes and everything is original, but smuggled,
thus no import tax) or to Puerto Iguazu (Argentina).
