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Brazil, the fifth
largest country in the world – is a country
of samba, carnival and beach culture. Along with miles
of palm-fringed, pristine golden beaches, the country
also boasts beautifully preserved colonial towns with
fabulous Portuguese architecture and meandering cobbled
streets.
Brazil is also home to some of the world’s most
magnificent natural phenomena – from the world’s
most voluminous waterfalls at Iguazu, to the rich,
diverse and largely unexplored ecosystem of the Amazon
to the incredible wildlife of the Pantanal wetlands.
With an equally diverse cultural and ethnic population,
from Portuguese colonists, Amazonian Indians, and
descendants of African slaves in the north to the
German-Italian communities of the south, Brazil will
captivate your every sense.
Electricity: 110 to 120V, 60 Hz, non-standardized
Time Zone: GMT minus 3 hours in the east, northeast,
south and southeast; GMT minus 4 hours in the west;
and GMT minus 5 hours in the far west.
Dialling Code: 55
Festival Calendar
With so many festivals, we have only included the
most important.
January 6th – 15th - Festa de Santo Amaro (Santo
Amaro, Bahia)
2nd Thursday in January - Lavagem do Bonfim (Salvador,
Bahia)
January 20th - Folia de Reis (Rio)
February 2nd - Festa de Iemanja (Salvador, Bahia)
February - March - Carnival - Rio is without question
the world’s most popular place to celebrate
Carnival. Prices for accommodation can triple and
the streets are packed. The parades and costumes are
beyond compare. The streets are alive with dancing
and music and food stands. One word of caution: it
is so easy for visitors to get caught up in the sights
and sounds surrounding them that you can easily become
a target for petty crime. Carry few valuables with
you.
Late May/Early June - Festa do Divino Esppirito Santo
(Rio)
June - Festival Folclorico do Amazonas (Manaus)
July 17th – 19th - Festa do Divino - (Fortaleza,
Ceara)
August 15th - Festa do Iemanja (Fortaleza, Ceara)
October 12th - Discovery of America Day
November 18th - Feria de la Chinita - (Maracaibo)
December 8th - Festa de Santa Barbara (Salvador, Bahia)
Currency
The name of the official currency of Brazil is the
Real, divided into 100 centavos. The
notes are of different colours, much like the Australian
and Canadian dollar, so they are hard to mistake.
Again, the US dollar is the best foreign currency
to take to Brazil. Dollars can be exchanged everywhere
and at considerably better rates than travellers’
cheques. However, travellers’ cheques are still
the safest mode of currency, so try to carry both.
American Express travellers’ cheques are the
most widely
accepted. Most convenient, however, is the credit
card. Visa, MasterCard and American Express credit
cards are accepted almost everywhere, Visa being the
most widely accepted. You can often avoid the high
“transaction fees” placed on exchanging
travellers’ cheques. As long as you deposit
your travelling money into your credit card account
before you leave, you will escape the interest fee
charged.
ATMs are fouind almost everywhere. You can either
withdraw currency on your credit card by using your
personal pin number, or you can even use your bank
card on the PLUS network.
When changing Reals back to dollars upon exiting the
country, remember to keep your receipts.
Visas
Most nationalities require a 90 day tourist visa.
Health risks
Malaria - If you
are travelling in endemic areas it is extremely important
to avoid mosquito bites and to take tablets to prevent
this disease. Symptoms range from fever, chills and
sweating, headache, diarrhoea and abdominal pains
to a vague feeling of ill-health. Seek medical help
immediately if malaria is suspected. Without treatment
malaria can rapidly become more serious and can be
fatal. If medical care is not available, malaria tablets
can be used for treatment. You should seek medical
advice, before you travel, on the right medication
and dosage for you. If you do contract malaria, be
sure to be re-tested for malaria once you return home
as you can harbour malaria parasites in your body
even if you are symptom free. Travellers are advised
to prevent mosquito bites at all times. The main messages
are: wear light-coloured clothing; wear long trousers
and long-sleeved shirts; use mosquito repellents containing
the compound DEET on exposed areas (prolonged overuse
of DEET may be harmful, especially to children, but
its use is considered preferable to being bitten by
disease-transmitting mosquitoes); avoid perfumes and
aftershave; use a mosquito net impregnated with mosquito
repellent (permethrin) – it may be worth taking
your own, and impregnating clothes with permethrin
effectively deters mosquitoes and other insects.
Yellow fever - Yellow
fever is transmitted through the bite of an infected
mosquito. There is an effective vaccine against yellow
fever, so if you have been immunised, you can basically
rule this disease out. Symptoms of yellow fever range
from a mild fever which resolves over a few days to
more serious forms with fever, headache, muscle pains,
abdominal pain and vomiting. This can progress to
bleeding, shock and liver and kidney failure. The
liver failure causes jaundice, or yellowing of your
skin and the whites of your eyes – hence the
name. There's no specific treatment but you should
seek medical help urgently if you think you have yellow
fever.
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