Where Life Flows with the Water

The mythical Amazon Rainforest covers an area of more than 5 million square kilometers of which 80% is in Brazilian territory. It is the largest intact rainforest in the world. More than a thousand rivers flow through the Amazon, accounting for a fifth of the world’s fresh surface water. Rich with life, the Amazon holds 30% of world’s biodiversity with many species yet to be identified by science.

Visiting the Amazon: The Amazon will impress by its vastness of water and forest. Much of its diversity of animals, birds, flowers, fruits, and insects are high up in the trees or hidden in the undergrowth, active at night or below the water. With a good guide and a bit of patience the visitor will slowly discover the enchantments of the forest. For the best encounters with nature and the Amazon biome, we recommend staying in one of the many jungle lodges or taking a boat cruises or doing a canoe/hammock expedition. There are also community ecotourism projects for those who want to get a real feel of life in the Amazon.

Main gateways are Manaus and Belém.  But some amazing places can be reached from secondary gateways such as Porto Velho (Guaporé Valley, Cuniã), Tefé (Mamirauá), Santarem (Tapajós) , Rio Branco,  Alta Floresta (Cristalino area).

The Magical Brazilian Heartland

The heartland of Brazil, covers an area equal to Western Europe (2 million sq km) and its original vegetation is called “Cerrado”. Thought to be one of the South American continent’s more ancient ecosystems, it has crucial links to Brazil’s two great rainforests. Most of Brazil’s big rivers find their source here. Considering its antiquity, watershed function and interaction with the rainforest, it is no surprise that the Brazilian “cerrado” is considered the richest savanna in the world because of its high plant diversity and endemism.

Visiting the Cerrado: The Cerrado is a great place for the active traveler with many opportunities for hiking, rafting and canoeing, vertical sports and caving. There are many great “Cerrado” destinations. Justly famous are the Tablelands (Chapada): Diamantina in Bahia, dos Veadeiros in Goias and dos Guimarães in Mato Grosso. The region hosts impressive cliffs, high waterfalls and vast rolling landscapes. Delight at the varied vegetation: beautiful “veredas” (flooded grassy areas with elegant winepalms), cool natural pools, gardens of many-colored wildflowers and orchards of knotty small trees, bearing strange fruits.

Main gateways to the Cerrado destinations are Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Cuiabá and Salvador. Palmas, Goiania and Teresina are gateways to some of the remoter destinations.

Ancient Badlands of Northeastern Brazil

“Caa-tinga” is the Tupi Indian name for the typical vegetation of the arid backlands of the North East of Brazil. In the prolonged dry season, most of the thorny bushes, scrubs and contorted trees of the Caatinga lose their leaves and you see a thicket of dull grey-white trunks and twigs. This is an ancient country and you find traces of the distant past everywhere: rock paintings and inscriptions, dinosaur and prehistoric mega-fauna fossil sites abound. Long a hide-out for bandits, rebels and visionaries, the Caatinga also earns a reputation as a mystical badlands.

Visiting the Caatinga: Despite its forbidding aspect, the Caatinga is a fascinating place to visit for its flora and fauna, striking landscapes and unique geological formations, important archeological sites and its importance in Brazilian history and culture.

Gateways to the Caatinga are the capitals of the Northeastern states. The World Heritage site Serra da Capivara can be reached from Teresina.  The National Park of Sete Cidades is close to the beautiful Parnaiba Delta, the geological formations of mystical Cariri are within a day from João Pessoa.

The Flooded Outback

The Pantanal is the largest inland delta in the world. Life in the Pantanal follows a yearly cycle of rising and falling waters, dictated by the rains and the course of the great Paraguay river and its many meandering tributaries. The diversity of vegetation, the rich soil and the abundance of water attract and sustain an enormous variety and abundance of wildlife. Most of the wildlife is also encountered in other parts of Brazil, but nowhere are they as easily seen as in the Pantanal.

Visiting the Pantanal: The Pantanal is a must visit destination for nature lovers, who will find a spectacular wilderness area where they will be received with old time hospitality. It is by far the best region in Brazil for wildlife, and one of the few places in the world where you can see in illusive jaguar in the wild.

The three gateways are Campo Grande (which is also the gateway to adventure destination Bonito), Corumbá and Cuiabá (which is also a gateway to the Cerrado and Amazon). Stay at one of the Fazenda (farm) hotels or ecolodges that offer full board and guided activities such as horseback riding, wildlife safaris by vehicle, boat and on foot.

The Forgotten Rainforest of Brazil

The Atlantic Forest is one of the most threatened rainforests in the world. Once it stretched all along the Brazilian coast occupying an area of about 1.1 million square kilometers. Sadly, today less than 10% of this great forest remains. However, the impressive remnants of forest are still strongholds for some of the world’s rarest species.

Visiting the Atlantic Rainforest

The Atlantic Rainforest offers the visitor spectacular mountain scenery, beautiful mangrove-lined bays and exuberant forest full of hidden treasures like bridal veil waterfalls, a delicate orchid or the beautiful golden lion tamarin monkey. There are so many nice properties to stay from where you can venture out into the rainforest. Birdwatchers will discover an enormous variety of birds, including endangered endemics. You can go back in time visiting colonial towns or beautiful country estates. For the adventurous, there are a myriad of activities like trekking, mountain biking, rappel and canyoning, rafting and canoeing and horseback riding.

Main gateways for fascinating trips to the Atlantic Rainforest are Rio de Janeiro, which provides access to 4 national parks within a 3 hours drive, as well as São Paulo, and Foz de Iguaçu. Porto Seguro and Ilheus offer access to the imposing tableland forest where shade grown cocoa thrives.

The Pampas biome is located in the very south of Brazil, and is home of the gauchos. These grassland plains with fertile soils have mostly been turned into agricultural land. The marshy grasslands along the coast are important stopovers for migratory birds.

The gateway to the Pampas is Porto Alegre. From here you can also visit the southern end of the Atlantic Forest (with many araucaria stands) and the spectacular canyons, the Missions World Heritage site  and Brazil’s wine country