Brasil Tropical Residence, Fortaleza

Advantages: Breathtaking nature, cheap, multi-cultural
Disadvantages: high criminality, bad health institutions (hospital etc.),

...and animal friend. The pantanal is an immense wet area in south america and half as big as France. You can travel to the pantanal in the dry season between april and september, of course with a landrover only. For people with a bigger portemonnaie an airplane is the right way to travel there. And another tip of unbelievable wonderful nature: the south of Brasil, the state Rio Grande do sul, with the national parc Aparados da serra. The main attraction in there is the itaimbezinho, a phantastic canyon, whose walls are 700 m tall; two waterfalls are there besides of amazing impression. Another attraction of this national parc is the canyon da fortaleza, 30 km long and 900 m deep. Simply breath-taking! A fly to Brasil costs from Frankfurt/Germany direct to Rio de Janeiro about 900 Euros (2 ways). The cheapest way to spend the night... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: breathtaking scenery, beautiful people, lots of fun....
Disadvantages: long, long bus journeys, quite expensive for a backpacker

...tropical island, with four long sandy beaches, a laid back atmosphere during the day and a fun atmosphere at night, typically Brazilian!. As we were there in May (essentially winter, but still very hot) we were able to get a beautiful pousada (guest house) for around $8 per night each with a massive breakfast thrown in too. We stayed here three weeks and then it was on to our last stop: Rio de Janeiro. Again we'd heard all the horror stories, but we stayed in a hostel in Copacobana, two streets from the beach and we had no problems. Rio has been described elsewhere, but suffice to say it is a beautiful, fun, vibrant city and I fell in love immediately. We followed our usual rules (no wandering around at night, no valuables on the beach etc) and had nothing but a warm reception from everyone we met. So, is Brazil dangerous? Yes, it has... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: BEAUTIFUL,, FRIENDLY, CHEAP
Disadvantages: SOMETIMES CRAMPT..

...I am Brazilian so I am sorry if this short piece about Brazil is a little biased. I am writing it to say that Brazil is a really, really great country. I know that the country has had an awful lot of economic problems and crime problems in the past - let me just say that a lot of the little things that annoyED me about Brazil have gone. The city of Rio de Janeiro is simply beautiful - it is such a charming AND friendly place. The streets are clean and the air is clean and the people are always willing to help and give advice to a traveller. There are lots of things that will keep you occupied whilst in Rio as well as the rest of the country. I also reccommend Sao Paulo and Recife for fun!!!... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful