Brazil: a guide for beginners

By Chris Moss 1118AM GMT nineteen March 2010

Salvador"s fair is some-more of a people"s celebration than Rio"s Photo CORBIS

Brazil, the solitary Portuguese-speaking nation of Latin America completed autonomy primarily not by a republican transformation but interjection to a aristocrat who favourite the beach. In 1808, Rio de Janeiro became the majestic capital, with King John VI and his son Dom Pedro in residence. When the aristocrat returned to Lisbon the aristocrat stayed put. Calls from Lisbon in 1821 were ignored, giving Brazilians a clarity that they were no longer at the beck and call of Portugal. On Sep 7 1822, on the banks of the River Ipiranga nearby São Paulo, autonomy was proclaimed. The commonwealth usually came in to being in 1889, when Pedro II was deposed.

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Top five attractions

Salvadors carnival, that is far some-more of a peoples celebration than Rios blurb extravaganza; Brasilias modernist architecture, recognised by Niemeyer; the wildlife of the Pantanal wetlands, where jaguar can still be seen; an Amazon riverboat journey from Belem to Manaus, that is still epic and is about as poor and accurate as cruising gets; and the prolonged sandy beaches of the north-east, from Maceio to Natal, with the surreal dunes and lagoons of the Lençóis Maranhenses.

Best city

Rio de Janeiro, since the all things to all travellers it has a little of Salvadors African culture, a spirit of São Paulos lack of simplicity and a singly approved beach culture.

Tour Highlights of Brazil with Southern Pantanal and Bonito

A 12-night tour, together with Rio, the Iguaçú Falls, Salvador, the Pantanal and Bonito.

Price from �2,875 formed on dual people travelling, together with transatlantic and inner flights, breakfast, all transfers and the services of an English-speaking guide.

Contact 020 7730 9639; steamondjourneys.com

Souvenir to buy

Havaiana flip-flops are cheaper here than elsewhere, as are bikinis.

Quirky Brazil

Fifty-five million condoms were handed out by the supervision for the fair last month.

Read

A Death in Brazil by Peter Robb (Bloomsbury). A investigate of Brazils dim side, covering slavery, corruption, and the significance of fair and cocktail culture.