I’m ashamed to admit that Brazil wasn’t on my travel radar until I received funding to attend a conference in Fortaleza in June 2018. Naturally, I had to take the opportunity to sneak in a two-week visit to a few places around Brazil while I was there. In hindsight, I could have used a full year to see everything I wanted, and even then still not have enough time.
Planning a trip to Brazil was far more stressful and overwhelming than my PhD was at any point. The country is huge and, with time and monetary budgets, this can make it really difficult to decide what to see. Originally, I really wanted to visit the Amazon, but upon realising how poor flight and boat connections were to get deep into the Amazon, I decided to keep the itinerary to coastal areas.
To get a taster of Brazil and see a lot of places across the country in a short time, a lot of local flights are involved. However, you could easily fly into Rio and explore the area there without ever getting over it.
What We Did
Highlights
I could have easily spent the entire two weeks living in Rio’s Cultivar feasting on pão de queijos without batting an eyelash. But that would have been very glutinous of me. Luckily, there’s a beautiful hike you can do from Praia Vermelha through a humid rainforest up Morro da Urca to walk it off. There’s a gondala from there you can use to get onto Pão de Açucar. If you have to visit one beach in Rio, I’d go to Praia Vermelha – it’s not clogged with high-rises like Copacabana and it’s surrounded by beautiful mountains.
Paraty and the surrounding Atlantic rainforest was by far my favourite place of the whole trip, followed closely by the canyons of Chapada Diamantina.
Paraty, State of Rio De Janeiro
Paraty is a beautiful old 17th-century Portuguese colonial town that was a port during the Brazilian Gold Rush. During high tide, the town’s streets flood and the filth gets washed away. There’s a free walking tour that will give you a great overview of Paraty’s history.
Around Paraty are some really beautiful places to explore. We took a boat tour of some islands and beaches. If you want to do this, you can book a tour at the harbour in Paraty – you can negotiate the price down in person (~$30pp). If you aren’t sure what you should be paying ask the local guides at the free walking tour. However, I think you can skip this because there’s plenty else to do.
Let’s start with the waterfalls. Check out Cachoeira do Tobogã, or the Tarzan waterfall which you can slide down. Others in the vicinity are Cachoeira da Pedra Branca, Penha, Sete Queda, Pouso Ingles.
The other great waterfall is hidden in the jungle by a town called Graúna. It’s not on a map, but to get there from Paraty drive north towards Rio on the BR 101 until you get to a sign that says “Graúna” on the left. Drive along a tarred road until you pass through a village. At the edge of the village, park your car. The road is in really bad condition and is all but impossible to navigate in a sedan. On foot, follow the terrible road up the mountain until it turns into dirt and goes around a sharp curve. Keep following it until you see the forest on your left and a small sign saying “Cachoeira”. Or just ask the locals for the way (if you don’t speak Portuguese, just say “Cachoeira” and look confused). They’ll point you in the right direction.
Ok, moving on to beaches and Atlantic rainforests. My favourite experience of the entire visit to Paraty was the hike to Praia do Sono. Not only did I befriend the cutest stray dog in the whole entire world, but I also loved the mix of walking through jungle and descending into multiple beaches along the way. To do this hike, drive towards Trindade and then down to Laranjeiras where you can park and walk 3km to Praia do Sono. If you want, you can hike onwards another 3km to Ponta Negra – a cute little beach and fishing cove. We went to Praia de Antigos and had a whole beautiful beach surrounded by rainforest to ourselves.
From Trindade, you can visit the stunning beach Pedra da Praia do Meio or walk along the sand and some hiking trails to Piscina Natural do Caixadaço. We only had a few hours here before the sun set after hiking around Praia do Sono, but you could easily spend the better part of a day. If you don’t want to walk (the hike is quite slippery and tiring), you can take a speed boat from Praia do Meio. We communicated with the captains using hand signals and holding up our fingers, but I think the cost one way was R$6.
How to get to Paraty
From Rio, Paraty is a 4.5hr drive. We rented an automatic sedan car from Localiza using rentalcars.com in Copacabana, Rio, and dropped it off at the Rio International airport. For four days, we paid $102 and used our credit card for the damage/theft waivers. Honestly, I expected all sorts of nonsense fees to get slapped on and was bracing myself for a fight. But that was the smoothest rental experience in my life – it went so quickly, the car was immaculate, and they didn’t try any funny business. I appreciated the car because it allowed us to stay outside of Paraty and explore on our own time. But if you are visiting alone, you can easily get a bus down to Paraty from Rio.
One word of warning: I would download the Waze app on your phone and use it for navigation as you go. Not because you will get lost on the way – Paraty’s a straight shot south of Rio. But because there are speed traps absolutely everywhere, I mean everywhere, and very few speed limit signs to be seen. I’m impressed we didn’t get a single fine given we passed about 150 speed cameras on that drive alone.
Where to eat
Quiosque Sao Franciso in Praia Grande is an amazing fish restaurant down by the beach. Otherwise there’s Paulinho and Cheiro do Camarão in Praia do Corumbe.
Where to stay
While there are a lot of options directly in Paraty, they were a bit pricey and not the vibe we were looking for. We ended up staying in probably one of the nicest places I have ever stayed in the Atlantic Rainforest – a glass bungalow at Casa Tambor. At $48 for two people per night, it was on the pricier side, but it was worth it a million times over.
Chapada Diamantina, Bahia
Chapada Diamantina is a hiker’s paradise – some of the most beautiful valleys and swimmable waterfalls are hidden here. If you want to visit, you should base yourself at Lençóis, an incredibly picturesque former mining town. There are dozens of easily accessible hiking trails and waterfalls in walking or short driving distance. We only spent two full days here, but you could probably kill a week or two.
From Lençóis you can hike to Ribeirão do Meio (a waterfall you can slide down if you dare), Poço Halley, Serrano, and Cachoeirinha. They are all really close to town and you can easily find your way using Maps.Me.
From Lençóis there are tours to Cachoeira da Fumaça (a 2-3 hour roundtrip hike to a very breathtakingly-tall waterfall overlooking a picturesque valley), Morro do Pai Inácio (a quick hike up to a very panoramic viewpoint from a plateau overlooking a canyon-esque valley), Gruta Azul (an extremely blue pool in a cave), amongst other natural wonders. Unfortunately, the tours weren’t running when we visited.
So we ended up renting a car in Lençóis last minute for the day. If you find yourself in the same situation as us and you can’t speak a word of Portuguese, you’re going to have to have a lot of faith here. There’s a car rental company called Diamantina Locadora at Shopping Diamantina, Sala 02, Lençóis (the main road you arrived by). It’s not on Google Street view, but trust me – it’s there. Now, the entire website is in Portuguese. You can translate this into English using Google Translate. You can not, however, translate your entire communications with the rental agent and the 10 page contract if you don’t speak a word of Portuguese. Just trust me when I say, they won’t mess with you. You can sign the contract. To converse with the agent, use Google Translate. I ended up using the WhatsApp chat helper on their website to reserve a car (copying and pasting from Google Translate) the day before, and when I got there, typing everything out on Google Translate. The agent was kind enough to reply to me using Google Translate. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked. To return the car, bring it back full with fuel (there’s a gas station across the road) by the designated drop-off time (the office closed at 5pm). In the end, the rental and gas cost less than the organised tours for two people. And we managed to see both Cachoeira da Fumaça and Morro do Pai Inácio in one day! Just as an FYI, to get to Cachoeira da Fumaça, you drive to Palmieras and then follow a decent dirt road to Caeté-Açu.
If I were in Lençóis for a longer time, I would try out a multi-day group trek to the base of Cachoeira da Fumaça or even better, head to the top of the falls by foot on my own. From Google Satellite view and from AllTrails/Komoot, there appears to be a decent, well-defined 17km trail leading from Lençóis to Caeté-Açu (the hippy town where the hike to the top of Cachoeira da Fumaça starts). I’d hike over in a day, spend the night, hike out to the falls in the morning (2-3hrs) and return the same day to Lençóis via the trail I came on, or stay an extra day in Caeté-Açu. I feel like this would be an excellent option for skipping the need for an expensive tour or a car. There are buses to Palmeiras outside of Caeté-Açu, but they’re infrequent and don’t get you all the way down.
How to get Lençóis
You can easily get to Lençóis from Salvador using RápidoFederal buses which leave the main bus terminal twice a day (13:00, 23:00) and take about 6 hours. And it will only set you back about $18. You can book your tickets here. The buses are quite comfortable, although we got really unlucky when the spare driver sat next to us and snored the whole way on our return night bus. So maybe book your seat closer to the back of the bus. The buses are also heavily air-conditioned so bring something to cover up.
Where to stay
There are plenty of places to stay in Lençóis on a budget. We stayed at Pouso da Trilha Hospedagem. For two people, two nights with an excellent breakfast, we paid $57.
Overrated Sites
There’ll be those who disagree, but visiting Christ the Redeemer in Rio was completely unnecessary in hindsight. Not only was it cloudy when we went, and so obscuring the view of the city below, but it was also nothing more noteworthy than taking a few photos with the statue up close. Save your money and enjoy the statue from afar down below in the city. Had it not been for the recent mass muggings on the trail up to the monument from Parque Lage, I would have likely done that instead of using the pricey railway to get up. You can also probably hail an Uber and drive up most of the way for less money and then walk the last bit. There is a paved road going up the mountain.
If you’ve been to one of the world’s other famous waterfalls, including but not limited to Niagara Falls or Victoria Falls, then you don’t need to go to Foz du Iguacu. Spoiler alert: it’s a waterfall. It’s also very far away from anything else in Brazil. We ended up spending more time at Foz du Iguacu (the massive waterfalls on the border with Argentina) than necessary. The waterfalls were impressive for sure, but I preferred the waterfalls I found off the beaten track as compared to this touristy site. If you must go to Foz, then you just visit the Argentinian side of the falls by bus (multiple) from Foz. You only need a day. Also, as of 2018 at least, they do accept credit cards for payment in Argentina at the falls.
In Foz, there’s a monument to designate where the corners of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay touch. It’s called Marco das Três Fronteiras. It’s also a complete rip-off. When I walked in I saw the bizarre Jesuit missionary at the entrance, the R$25 entrance fee, and then walked straight back out. It’s a tourist trap and it’s difficult to find signal to call an Uber to make your escape. You can see the three corners for free over in Argentina.
There’s nothing else of interest in the vicinity, so I’d skip Foz. I would rather have spent more time around Paraty, Rio, or the sand dunes at Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses.
Getting Around
There’s really good public transport in all the cities that can get you quite far and there are e-hailing options for the last mile stretches. We used both Uber and 99. But mainly we walked every where.
Long-distance buses and local airlines connect the cities. If you have a lot of time, the busses would be a nice way to see more of the country, especially since they’re in good condition. Otherwise, the local airlines are relatively inexpensive – we flew with Gol and found that it was on time and safe.
If you must go visit the Argentina side of the falls, Las Cataratas del Iguazú, you can easily get there by public bus from Foz. There’s a great description here on how to do it by bus. Just note, in Argentina the credit card machines might not be working so you’ll have to pick up cash at the local ATM (which charges a massive withdrawal fee). If you are staying closer to the falls, there is a bus that will bring you from the ticket sales area of the Brazil side of the falls to Puerto Iguazu where you can easily catch an onward bus to the falls.
Useful Tips
We weren’t able to get a SIM card at the Rio airport, but we were able to use the free airport WI-FI to call an Uber to our accommodation. The next morning we walked over to a TIM store at Shopping Leblon in Ipanema where we got a fair rate for data (unlike all the other providers who would insist on only selling you an overpriced tourist SIM card). I would suggest paying in cash so that your credit card doesn’t get billed monthly, or block the merchant on your card after the first transaction.
Useful apps I would have on my phone are, 99, Uber, Waze, an offline version of Maps.Me, and Google Translate.
Packing Essentials
Do not even think about going to Brazil without mosquito repellent. My legs were a battleground and the source for much pointing and staring for locals. We brought along a Steripen just in case the water wasn’t drinkable.
If you are planning on using local flights to get around, I would suggest limiting your items to a carry-on bag only to reduce the potential of losing a bag in transfer. It wasn’t cold when we visited in June so we saved a lot of space by not needing any warm winter clothes.
