Country Guide: Brazil

Name: Brazil (in Portuguese: Brasil)

Continent: South America

Capital City: Brasília

Largest City: São Paulo

Languages: Portuguese

Currency: Real

Drives on the: Right

Time Zones: Acre Time (UTC -5), Amazon Time (UTC -4), Brasília Time (UTC -3), and Fernando de Noronha Time (UTC -2)

Adaptor Types: Type C and Type N

Description: Brazil is the largest and most populous country in South America. 60% of the world's largest rainforest, the Amazon, is located within its borders, meaning that it is one of the most diverse countries in terms of flora and fauna. Other than this, Brazil is also well-known for its beaches, success in football, samba music and dance, and the Rio Carnival.

Why You Should Visit: Rio de Janeiro is a city unlike anywhere else in the world - its mountains, beaches and cultural attractions are incredible and it has amazing vibes. Even though it rained most days during our visit in December 2022, we still had a fantastic time and plan to go back sometime in the future. We also loved visiting the paradise beaches of Arraial do Cabo, a few hours away from the city. Other places in Brazil that look fascinating to visit include the Iguazú waterfalls and, of course, the Amazon rainforest.

Fun Fact: Brazil has won 5 World Cup titles, which is more than any other country.

My Blogposts About Brazil

Charlotte's Travel Adventures

- My Dream Travel Destinations (Rio de Janeiro)

- UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Rio de Janeiro)

- Rio de Janeiro: Day One

- Rio de Janeiro: Day Two

- Rio de Janeiro: Day Three

- Rio de Janeiro: Day Four

- Arraial do Cabo

- Travel Tips: Ten More of My Favourite Beach Destinations (Rio de Janeiro and Arraial do Cabo)

- Charlotte's Travel Adventures is 5 Years Old! (Rio de Janeiro)

Clockwise starting from top left: Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro; Botanical Garden, Rio de Janeiro; Arraial do Cabo; Botafogo Beach, Rio de Janeiro; Escadaria Selarón, Rio de Janeiro; Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro

Check out the rest of my Country Guides here!

Travel Tips: Ten More of My Favourite Beach Destinations

I still have a few more free days before starting my new job, and I don't have much planned, so I want to use the time to write my first Travel Tips blog post in a while!

This one is going to be a sort of sequel to a post I wrote in May 2021 about my 10 favourite beaches. At the time I wrote that post, I was living at home with my parents, the UK was still under some lockdown restrictions, and I was unsure when I would ever be able to move back to Chile (something I'd planned to do in 2020), as there were still very strict restrictions out there. During this extremely challenging period, my blog was a source of escapism for me, where I could reminisce about past travels and dream about future ones. The beach post was definitely one of my favourite ones to write, as it brought back some great memories, from childhood holidays to more recent trips.

At the end of the post, I wrote a list of the beach destinations I planned to visit once I was living in Chile, which were as follows:

- Zapallar (Chile)

- Bahía Inglesa (Chile)

- Iquique (Chile)

- Arica (Chile)

- Cartagena (Colombia)

- Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

Fortunately, in early 2022, I was finally able to get out to Chile and have my year and a bit living there with my partner, Claudio. During that time, we managed to visit four out of those six destinations - it would have been five, but unfortunately we both came down with Covid just before our planned trip to Bahía Inglesa, so that remains on our list for future travels in South America, as does Cartagena. 

After my time in Chile, I spent three months of this year working in Malta, so had the opportunity to visit even more fabulous beaches.

And now my previous list of favourite beaches is in serious need of updating! So here's a new list of ten of my faves, but made up entirely of beaches I visited in the 18 months between February 2022 and August this year...

Las Cujas, Chile

This is a beach not too far from Santiago that Claudio found out about on TikTok. The video he saw made it seem like a kind of secluded, "secret" place, which turned out to be far from the truth! But although it was very busy when we visited during the height of summer in February 2022, it was still a great experience to visit this picture-perfect beach with sparkling blue water, surrounded by vibrant green vegetation. We actually went there during my first week back in the country, and it felt like the perfect start to a year of amazing travels!

Read more here!

Iquique, Chile

Our first big trip of last year was to the city of Iquique, in the far north of Chile. This was the first beach destination located in the tropics that I ever visited, but it's not exactly a "tropical beach" per se - it's located on the edge of the Atacama Desert and has a dry, desert climate. That's not to say that the beaches there aren't great places to visit though - quite the opposite! The city has several beautiful beaches, which are ideal for surfing - the most famous being Playa Cavancha, a huge stretch of sand dotted with skyscrapers and palm trees, which reminds me of photos I've seen of Miami.

Read more here!

Arica, Chile

Arica is the furthest north city in Chile, right next to the border with Peru. We went there in June 2022 for some winter sun, as the weather there is sunny and nice all year round, which is not the case for the beaches nearer Santiago. The city has a huge beach, Playa Chinchorro, with big waves for surfing, but one of its smaller beaches, Playa El Laucho (pictured above), is probably my favourite beach in the entire country, as it's so picturesque and also has gentle waves which make it perfect for swimming.

Read more here!

Zapallar, Chile

This beach town near Santiago gets crowded in the summer (it's where many upper-class people have their summer houses) but when we went in the middle of winter 2022, it was so tranquil and peaceful. It has various examples of European-style architecture to look at, as well as some interesting rock formations, and is definitely one of the prettiest beaches in central Chile.

Read more here!

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

It was a dream of mine for many years to visit Rio de Janeiro, so going there with Claudio last December was really an incredible experience. Even though the weather was bad for most of our week there, we still enjoyed swimming and spending time at the city's beaches, of which there are many. Copacabana is a very lively beach and the perfect place to enjoy a caipirinha, but our favourite beach was Ipanema/Leblon. The view from Pedra do Arpoador of the beach and Morro Dois Irmãos is absolutely breathtaking.

Read more here!

Arraial do Cabo, Brazil

Our last day in Brazil was spent on a boat trip around the paradise that is Arraial do Cabo, a few hours away from the city of Rio. On this day, we were lucky to have sunshine at last! During the trip, we visited two beautiful white sand beaches, one on an island and one on the mainland, and we also jumped out of the boat at one particular spot to snorkel around a coral reef, where colourful fish were swimming. This was definitely one of my most special travel memories of all time!

Read more here!

Papudo, Chile

Our trip to Papudo in January was actually another one of my favourite travel memories. This beach town to the north of Zapallar has some stunning beaches (such as the one pictured above) as well as some incredible wildlife to spot. We took a rather extreme speed dinghy trip to a nearby island, where we were lucky enough to see some adorable penguins and sea lions! But most special of all, we saw a beautiful dolphin jumping in and out of the water.

Read more here!

Frutillar, Chile

This beach is somewhere a bit different to the others on the list. For one, it's not by the ocean or sea, but rather by a lake, specifically Lago Llanquihue, one of the largest natural lakes in South America. In addition, it's generally not a beach you'd visit for sunbathing and swimming, as it's located in the south of Chile, which is cold most of the year! But it's absolutely one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been to - it has stunning views of the snowy Volcán Osorno across the water and is surrounded by lovely architecture.

Read more here!

Viña del Mar, Chile

Even though I'd visited Viña in both 2018 and 2020, it didn't make it on to my initial list of favourite beaches, for whatever reason. But anyway, it's going on this one! Viña del Mar is one of Chile's biggest and most popular beach destinations, and it's also one of its best. Not only does it have some beautiful beaches, such as Playa El Sol (pictured above), but it also has some fabulous architecture to check out, including several castles and palaces!

Read more here!

Ramla Beach, Gozo, Malta

Of course, I also have to include a beach from my months in Malta on this list. Although the island of Malta is very rocky and doesn't have many sandy beaches, its sister island Gozo has several. I had a great weekend in Gozo, which is a very beautiful and peaceful place, and especially enjoyed visiting Ramla Beach, which has some of the clearest water I've ever swum in.

Read more here!

It has been fun compiling this list of ten more of my favourite beaches! If I had to make an overall list of my favourite beach destinations from this list and my previous list, my top ten would probably be: Rio de Janeiro, Arraial do Cabo, Arica, Papudo, Algarrobo, Slano, Zapallar, Frutillar, Ramla Bay and La Serena. But I'll probably change my mind sooner or later, as I do about most of my Travel Tips lists, haha!

Hopefully, I'll be updating this list again in the future, because I plan to visit plenty of beach destinations within the next few years. Claudio and I want to do as much travelling as possible before having kids, including visiting Southeast Asia, Australia and Mexico. I'm hoping we can do at least one of these trips in 2024, which would be really exciting!

That's all for today, but I'll be blogging again next weekend, if I have the time. See you soon!

Check out the rest of my Travel Tips here!

Arraial do Cabo

It's taken me a while to write up all my posts about our trip to Brazil - it's been a really busy month - but now I've finally arrived at our last full day! Claudio and I spent this day outside of the city, sailing and snorkelling around paradise beaches.

We had known that we wanted to do a day trip like this during our holiday, but initially it was difficult to decide where to go! Arraial do Cabo, Búzios and Ilha Grande were the options we were debating between, but eventually we decided on Arraial, because not only is it the most convenient one to get to, but also because the photos online look absolutely incredible. We were really hoping that we'd have a day of sunshine, and that the beaches would look just as amazing in real life as they did in pictures. Fortunately, that was exactly what happened!

We booked a full-day tour which included transportation, a boat trip and a buffet lunch, and came to something like 80 pounds for the two of us, which was pretty great value! The minibus came to pick us up at our hotel at around 7am, and once everyone was on board, it was time to make our way over to Arraial, which is about 3 hours to the east of the city of Rio de Janeiro, but which is still located in the state of Rio de Janeiro. We made a stop about halfway through the journey at a motorway service station that was very similar to the ones we have in the UK. (It was surprising to me, as in Chile motorway service stations are not a thing, and we just have to stop at petrol stations!)

The minibus was quite cramped and stuffy, and I felt pretty sick by the time we finally arrived. But I was happy to discover that the weather was sunny and hot. At last!

We made our way to the port and were taken to the boat where we would spend the next 4 hours or so. 

I was really excited for the trip, but as soon as we set off, the motion sickness that I already had from the minibus journey got 10 times worse. Other people on the boat were drinking and partying, whereas I was staring at the horizon and trying not to throw up!

After what felt like a long time, we reached our first stop, Praia do Farol (Lighthouse Beach), which is located on an island. Here we had to ride on little motorised dinghies in order to get to the beach, which was quite fun!

We had rented snorkels on the boat, but we didn't see much underwater at this particular stop. That didn't matter though, because the beach was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. The ocean was turquoise and a perfect temperature, and the sand was white. We only had 20 minutes there, but we could have easily spent hours swimming and sunbathing, given the chance!

One of the best things about this stop was that the swim in the ocean completely cleared my head, and I could enjoy the rest of the boat trip afterwards without feeling sick.

Our next stop was Praia do Pontal do Atalaia back on the mainland. Here we had our first snorkelling success, seeing some white, yellow, and stripy black and white fish of various sizes! There's also a grotto here (Gruta do Amor - Grotto of Love), which we swam to. We had 40 minutes at this beach, but they went by in a flash, and again, we felt like we could have spent much longer there! This was really turning out to be the trip of a lifetime!

But it was our third and final stop that turned out to be the most memorable. This time we didn't take a dinghy to a beach; the boat stopped at a spot some distance from Praia do Forno (Oven's Beach) and we could jump straight out into the water, which was about 15 metres deep!

Claudio and I had a truly amazing experience snorkelling here. Even though we didn't see turtles as we'd hoped (Arraial is well known for its turtles), we still saw some incredible wildlife. There were more fish here than there had been at the previous stop, and what made it even better was that there was a beautiful coral reef of many colours, which we explored together. I've always dreamed of visiting Australia and seeing the Great Barrier Reef, and I'd never expected to experience something similar in a completely different part of the world!

We had just 15 minutes at this particular stop, but those 15 minutes were definitely one of those times that we'll remember forever.

Then the time came to head back to port.

After a late buffet lunch in the town centre, we headed back to Rio, arriving at around 8 or 9pm. It had been an amazing day, but we didn't want it to end yet!

So after dumping our stuff in the hotel, we went to Copacabana Beach for one last paddle in the sea and a caipirinha. While we were there, we had the fun surprise of seeing the "Holidays are coming" Coca-Cola truck pass by, driven by Father Christmas of course! (I hadn't known it really existed outside of the adverts!) It was a nice end to a really special trip.

Both of us were a little sad to leave Rio (especially because there was finally sun in the city on the day we left!), but I'm sure we'll be back at some point in the future. I think it would be really nice to spend at least a month there (preferably a dryer month than December!), visit places like Ilha Grande, Búzios, Paraty and Petrópolis, and try to get fluent in Portuguese. That would be a dream!

Since we got back, a lot has gone on - Christmas, New Year, and even some more travelling! But first I want to write my round-up of the year, which has become a tradition for me on this blog. So that will be coming next, followed by a couple of posts about our recent travels within Chile. 

See you soon!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day One here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Two here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Three here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Four here!

Rio de Janeiro: Day Four

Our fourth day in Rio de Janeiro was unfortunately a lot less exciting than the first three days. This was mainly because the weather forecast lied to us! Despite this, we still managed to have some good moments.

The previous day had been very rainy, as expected, but according to the weather forecast, this day was meant to be dry, apart from a little bit of rain in the morning. So we decided to start the day at the beach!

When we left the hotel, it seemed like the sun was trying to come out, which was a positive sign. But as we got closer to Leme Beach, it started raining. We hoped the rain would go away soon...

One of the interesting places we saw on our way to the beach was the iconic hotel, Copacabana Palace. We'd watched a video about it on YouTube before our trip, and seen just how luxurious it is on the inside. On the outside, it's absolutely huge and really does look like a palace. If you have an unlimited budget, it's surely the best place to stay in Rio!

Leme Beach is actually located along the same stretch of sand as Copacabana, but it is much quieter, and was recommended to me as the best beach in Rio by one of my Brazilian students. It's a beautiful setting, but unfortunately we didn't get to see it at its best, because it really started to pelt it down with rain when we were there.

Eventually, the rain got so bad that we had to put on our raincoats and make our way back to the hotel. This was the real low point of the entire holiday. The walk back seemed to take at least an hour, and to make matters worse, one of my flip-flops fell apart! (Claudio very kindly swapped his with mine.) By the time we got back to the hotel, we were soaking wet and more than a little fed-up. This was meant to be our dream summer holiday in Brazil, but it felt more like being at the seaside in Britain!

After showering and getting changed, I took the opportunity to go down to the lobby and do a bit of work I needed to do, and then we went out to find some lunch and decide what to do next, given that any outdoor activities were impossible. We initially wanted to go to Museu do Amanhã, a science museum, but it closes at 5pm, and we realised that by the time we would get there, we'd have very little time to actually see anything.

In the end, we went to Shopping Leblon, a very upmarket shopping mall. I wanted to find a new outfit, given that some of my clothes were wet from the morning and the previous days, but everything there was too expensive! But one of the great things about the mall were the views from the roof - from there you can see the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, which is absolutely huge, and the Jardim de Alah (Garden of Allah) canal, which flows down to the sea and is what separates Ipanema from Leblon.

By this point, the rain had eased off quite a bit, so we decided to leave the mall and go out and have a wander around the area. But of course, almost as soon as we stepped outside, the rain started up again!

So instead, we decided to go back inside and look for a café to try a Brazilian coffee - definitely an important item on the travel list for a trip to Brazil! We found a nice place called Café Zinn, where the coffee was great, and I think I appreciated it even more because of the rainy day. 

Overall, it was disappointing that we couldn't spend the day doing the things we wanted to, but these things happen. 

The next day was the last full day of our trip, and luckily it was a lot more memorable than Day Four! We took a trip out of the city in order to visit some of the most beautiful beaches in the country... I can't wait to write about our amazing experience there!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day One here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Two here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Three here!

Read about Arraial do Cabo here!

Rio de Janeiro: Day Three

Our third day in Rio de Janeiro was something a little bit different. As Claudio and I had expected, it was a very rainy day, so we decided to skip the beaches and head for the city centre.

The city centre is not the most famous part of Rio, but it has some fantastic sights, and definitely can't be missed!

We decided to start off by seeing Theatro Municipal, which is perhaps the most beautiful building in the entire city. The grand architecture of the theatre and the buildings surrounding it, along with the rainy weather, reminded me of the times I've gone sightseeing in European cities, like Vienna, Bratislava and Paris!

Our next stop was the cathedral, which was something completely different! It was designed in a modernist style, and doesn't really look like a church at all. To be honest, it made me think of a Dalek, but it was actually inspired by Mayan pyramids. 

In fact, the interior of the cathedral is more spectacular than its exterior - once you're inside, you realise just how huge it really is. The stained-glass windows are also very beautiful.

After visiting the cathedral, we walked over to Arcos da Lapa, also known as Carioca Aqueduct. This is a beautiful architectural landmark, which is made more impressive by the fact that it was built in the 1700s. 

Fortunately, the rain started clearing up when we were here, so we could finally take some photos without our rain coats!

The final place we went to see in the city centre is probably its most famous sight - or at least the one that gets posted the most on social media! Escadaria Selarón is a huge set of steps made up of colourful tiles, some of which have paintings on them. There are also various murals surrounding the steps. Interestingly, Escadaria Selarón was actually created by a Chilean artist, Jorge Selarón. You can definitely see the Chilean influence there, and it's hard not to be reminded of Valparaíso and its many colourful staircases and street art.

One of the most memorable sights for me on Escadaria Selarón were these two beautiful cats sleeping next to each other. They looked so perfect!

It was also a nice surprise to discover an Indian restaurant (Hoje Tem Curry) located right on the steps. (I introduced Claudio to Indian food when he was staying with me and my family in the UK, and now we're both big fans!) We decided to go there for lunch, which turned out to be a great choice, as they offer a deal which includes a curry and all the trimmings!

After our delicious curries, we went to take a photo of a nearby street, simply because it reminded me of a street I'd seen in Lisbon in November 2019. The street in question had had yellow and green banners, which had made me think of Brazilian carnivals, and given me Wanderlust to visit Brazil. So it was pretty amazing to finally be in Brazil over three years later, and to see a street with almost identical banners!

By this point, it was the afternoon, and we decided to head away from the city centre and to go to our next stop: the Botanical Garden. This seems to be a less-visited attraction compared to other places in Rio; maybe it was just because of the rain, but we had the place almost to ourselves for the couple of hours we were there. It's a huge area filled with trees and plants from all over Brazil and other parts of the world, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of our entire trip.

The first part we saw was this little garden inspired by Mexico, which was filled with cacti. It's amazing how it survives in the completely different climate of Brazil!

 

One part we really liked was the Japanese garden. It was so tranquil and relaxing to sit under the little shelter there, protected from the rain.

Another beautiful and tranquil aspect of the Botanical Garden are the three waterfalls that you can find not far from the entrance.

In fact, the entire garden is incredibly beautiful and peaceful - it's hard to believe that it's in the middle of a big city!

But by far the most memorable thing about the Botanical Garden were the monkeys! We saw some medium-sized ones leaping about from tree to tree near the waterfalls, and some small ones climbing up and down the tree trunks on the other side of the garden. They were adorable! It was hard to get decent pictures of them, but I'll always have an amazing memory of the experience of seeing them in their natural habitat.

And that concludes my account of our third day in the wonderful city of Rio de Janeiro!

Next I'll be writing about Day Four, which was admittedly the least exciting day of our trip, as we had another full day of rain, but this time we hadn't been expecting it. However, we tried our best to make the most of the situation, and we had some nice moments along the way. A blog post will be coming very soon!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day One here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Two here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Four here!

Read about Arraial do Cabo here!