PARATY, Brazil - When North Americans visit this country, they usually come to see Rio’s famous beaches or to conduct business in São Paulo. Few visit this enchanting colonial town, a National Historic Site that lies on the coast between them (205 miles from São Paulo, 154 from Rio). Founded in 1667, Paraty (pronounced par-ah-CHEE) served as an important port for shipping gold to Portugal. Now it is best known for the approximately 300 beaches and 65 islands nearby.
Paraty’s Read more…
Brazil
Two 23-year-old British women accused of lying about a robbery in a travel insurance scam have been freed on bail from a Brazilian jail, legal officials in Rio de Janeiro said on Saturday.
Shanti Simone Andrews and Rebecca Claire Turner were ordered freed from detention late Friday pending a court hearing on Wednesday on fraud charges, the Rio court said in a statement.
A judge had initially denied bail on Thursday because of the prosecution’s fears the two might try to flee Brazil.
Andrews Read more…
Brazil
Efforts were being made today to try to free two British women being held in an overcrowded Rio de Janeiro jail on suspicion of staging a robbery insurance scam, their lawyer told media.
Shanti Simone Andrews and Rebecca Claire Turner, both law graduates aged 23 on a round-the-world holiday, were arrested early this week after going to Rio police to declare possessions worth $2560 had been stolen on a bus ride from southern Brazil.
Police, suspicious because the women had taken three days to Read more…
Brazil
This Circus Oz acrobat won’t leave home without her coffee plunger and pillow.
Q What was your first international trip?
A I was 18 and my sister and I travelled to the US. We backpacked across the country for seven weeks, visiting all the big cities. We travelled by Greyhound bus, which was an experience. They would always sell more tickets than there were seats and when the doors opened, there would be a stampede to get a seat.
Q Do you still enjoy city holidays?
A No, these days my Read more…
Brazil
Representatives from Argentina, Cuba, Brazil, Ecuador and Venezuela began a two-day meeting to work out a unified criterion to boost tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean on Thursday.
”We seek to have the Amazon rainforest (formed by Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil) declared one of the seven nature wonders of the world,” Venezuelan Tourism Minister Pedro Morejon said during a press conference at the state-owned Humboldt Hotel in the National Read more…
Brazil
HERE’S a novel idea: When in São Paulo, eat Brazilian food.
Well, perhaps not so novel for gastronomes who travel to Milan for osso buco, the French Riviera for bouillabaisse or the Yucatán for cochinita pibil. But for the Brazilian business capital’s restaurant-crazy natives — who can’t stop raving about the Italian bistro Due Cuochi Cucina and are quite sure Aizomê serves the best sashimi outside of Japan — that may be an odd concept.
The abundant praise for São Paulo’s dining scene has historically Read more…
Brazil
Bigger than Jesus … Rio’s Christ the Redeemer statue.
A little-known Brazilian farming town with sugar cane wealth is set to upstage Rio de Janeiro by erecting a statue of Christ that will eclipse its famous equivalent atop Rio’s Corcovado mountain.
The Christ statue in Sertaozinho, northwest of Sao Paulo city, will be 57 metres tall when perched on its 39-metre pedestal, Brazilian daily newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo said Tuesday.
Rio’s iconic statue overlooking the beach-side city measures Read more…
Brazil
BÚZIOS, Brazil — When they heard that I was going to Rio de Janeiro, several people told me I had to see this tropical peninsula. “You’ll fall in love with it,” said one. “It’s like being in the South of France,” said another.
Being a big fan of the Côte d’Azur , I opted for two days here. I wasn’t thrilled about cutting into my time in Rio, but once I saw this quaint seaside resort community , I knew that I had made the right decision. It was as close to paradise as I have ever been. Read more…
Brazil
The beach is best for the citizens of this fascinating Brazilian city. And with the New Year celebrations on their way, why wait for the carnival? Simon Calder enjoys a caipirinha or two
Click here for 48 Hours In…Rio de Janeiro map
Why go now?
Midsummer in the sunny south of Brazil is always a seductive proposition. This remarkable city combines sun, sea, sand and samba, which are constantly celebrated by the citizens – notably on New Year’s Read more…
Brazil