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December 1, 2008
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Brazil BlogBrazil Talk!Favela Tours and Rio Zoo
Filed under: Ask Us - December 29th, 2005 Your Question My wife and I are visiting Rio de Janeiro in April, this will be our third visit. We want to visit the Favelas and also the Zoo. Please can you advise us of any tours for the Favelas and also directions on how to get to the zoo? We are staying at one of the many beautiful Rio Hotels along Cocacabana beach. Our Reply If you are going to visit Favelas, I would strongly recommend that you do that with a tourism company that works with experient favela tour guides. In Rio de Janeiro you will find many tourism companies that offer services like that. Here is a decent website about Favela Tours, with useful information, photos, description of the tour, and also a section where you can direct your questions to the favela tour´s experts. I have been in the Rocinha Slum, wich is the biggest slum in Latin America, and I recommend the tour. You will enter into a new world and I am sure that you will learn lots from your experience. The Rio Zoo is located in Quinta da Boa Vista. To get there you need to take the Subway to Estácio Station. There you will have to transfer to “Linha 2”, go one stop to São Cristovão, walk over the tracks of the Central do Brasil, and you will be at the entrance for the Quinta da Boa Vista. The Zoo is really interesting and well-kept. The zoo is open from Tuesday to Sunday and an admission fee of $2. I hope you have a great time in Rio. Private Tour Guides in Rio
Filed under: Brazil General - December 29th, 2005 Your Question hello, could you please tell me if there is an official register for tour guides/drivers in rio de janeiro? Many thanks. Our Reply While searching for tour guides and personal drivers for you in Rio de Janeiro I came across this website: Tour Guides in Rio. If you are interested in hiring a personal tour guide on your trip to Rio de Janeiro, in this site they offer you a list with the profile of the tour guides available for hiring. You can also contact the tour guides directly for questions and making arrangements. Some of their tour guides can even help you to arrange accommodation and day trips outside the city. I have never used their services so I cannot tell you how good or efficient it is, but they seem to be clear when exposing their services on the site. I hope it helps you to find a tour guide for when you visit Brazil. Enjoy!! Visiting Rio a week after Carnaval
Filed under: Ask Us - December 29th, 2005 Your Question My friends and i are planning a trip to Rio de Janeiro the week after Carnival, and we were wondering what is the atmosphere like after carnival….Is it layed back and casual or is party and a crazy time….Also is there a decline in the number of people that are there that week? Our Reply After Carnaval, the athmosphere that you will find in Rio, will still be good, but there will be no crazy parties involving loud music in the streets, or carnival parades. But since Rio is very visited by tourists from many locations in the world, there will always be some good parties to go. Rio has a good nighlife and there are many bars and restaurants spread out throughout the city. Regarding the decline in the number of people in Rio the week after Carnaval, I can say that the number will certainly decline due to the fact that many tourists are from Brazil, and normally after Carnaval, everyone goes back to work, living the city of Rio for foreign tourists!! The reason why the crazy parties are interrupted is because once the wednesday after Carnaval hits, Lent begins. Lent is very respected by brazilians. Just to let you know, Lent is a forty-day period that prepares the people for the greatest festival in the Christian year - Easter. But I can tell you, with Carnaval or not, I can guarantee that you will have a great time in Rio. The city is beautiful and there is so much to do that you wont even notice that Carnaval is really gone Moving to Brazil - Marica - RJ
Filed under: Ask Us - December 29th, 2005 Your Question hi, my husband and i are interested in buying a property in marica. i have a ton of questions. we have five dogs, and a small goat. are people friendly to animals, to americans who want to live peacefully and quietly there? my husband is a contractor and would like to build or refurbish homes. i am a registered nurse, certified in medical and psychiatry. i would like to know about hospitals, jobs in the nursing field, payscale, etc. we are friendly and kind people who want to share our lives with the people there. it seems to be a beautiful and friendly country. do people speak english? what is the native language? what is the cost of living? how do dollars convert? are people welcoming americans who want to live there? any information you could give me would be greatly appreciated. it is hard to find info on marica on the internet. we have found several oceanfront properties that we are totally in love with. is marica an island or connected to what mainland? nearest city? median income? wages? are there many americans who live there? we are not typical americans. we live quietly on the planet, we are not wasteful, we are very respectful of other people and their ways of life. we are not wealthy, just fortunate. we want to make friends and share our life with others and help in whatever wya we can. thank you for any information you can share with us. Our Reply To find you some information about Marica, I went to the Marica City Hall website. There I found that Marica is a city located only 60km (1 hour away) from Rio de Janeiro. The population of the city is approximately 92,227 inhabitants, being located in area of 362.477 square meters. Marica´s main activities are business, civil contruction, agriculture, fishing, and tourism. Marica is surrounded by beautiful beaches, lakes, waterfalls and it is vey busy during summer holidays. If you would like to see a map of Marica city, just visit http://www.marica.rj.gov.br/, and you will be able to see its exact location, as well the nearby cities.The website if very useful, since it tells you information about news in the city, information about the governament of Marica, tourism in the region, agenda of events, and more. Currently I do not know if there are many Americans living there. To answer some of your questions, I can say that people in Brazil are very friendly to animals. Almost every single house has an animal, either it is a dog, a cat, a bird, or a rabbit; so I don´t think that you will have any problems in bringing your animals to live with you in Brazil. In general, people in Brazil are very friendly, so if you find good neighbors they will certainly help you to adapt yourself here in Brazil. Regarding jobs opportunities, I could say that Brazil is better at offering jobs for people with a university degree. For your husband, since he is a contractor I would suggest he consider opening his own business or affiliate himself with a good company down here. If that happens, he could probably make around 3000 to 5000 reals per month approximately. For nurses in Brazil, I would say that the approximate wage is 2000 reals if your speciality is surgeries and 800 reals if you distribute medicine, at this time I do not know the wage for a psychiatric nurse. Our native language in Brazil is portuguese, but some people do speak english. Almost everyone in Brazil knows a little bit of english, but not everyone is fluent. Since english courses are very expensive and not a lot of people can afford classes, that could even be an option for you if you would like to teach it. Brazilians like talking in english with native people. You will notice this when you get here. People are very easy going and they are not afraid to chat with you. As for now, the convertion of your dollar is more than double when compared to our money brazilian reals. Your dollar is now costing 2.30 reals, so it means that anything you see is less than half price! The cost of living in Brazil is expensive when you talk about clothing, vehicles, gas, eletricity, and phone bills. The only thing that is very affordable is food. I think that if you are coming here to live, you will find things cheaper compared to what you pay in America, but there will always be really expensive things down here that might be cheaper for you in U.S, such as eletronics, which are very expensive here. Brazil is a gorgeous place,with nice weather, friendly people, different kinds of food and drinks, and knowing a little bit about our culture, will make you have no problem for adptading yourself in our country. Valentine´s Day in Brazil
Filed under: Brazil General/ Ask Us - December 29th, 2005 Your Question Could you tell me anything about Boyfriends/Girlfriends’s Day in Brazil (Dia dos Namorados) or direct me to a web site that would give me the information. It would have to be in English. I am writing a short article on Valentine’s Day and would like to include this. Our Reply Valentines´s Day in Brazil is celebrated a little bit different from what you are probably used in North America. Here in Brazil, we celebrate Valentine´s Day on June 12, and the date is majority commemorated by boyfriends and girlfriends. It is not normal to give away chocolates to friends, or parents, or even wifes and husbands. On June 12, it is normal to see girlfriends and boyfriends either having lunch or dinning out together. The environment for this celebration is very romantic, and after eating, they exchange gifts. What is most given in Valentine´s Day in Brazil is either flowers, clothes or perfurms. It is also very normal to see couples ending their Valentine´s Day celebration, going to a movie at night. Carnaval Costumes
Filed under: Ask Us - December 29th, 2005 Your Question I’m trying to obtain some information in regard of Carnival costumes for men and women as a second hand. Is there any second hand shop anywhere in Brazil you can suggest me?If so can you let me know the email address of it. Our Reply Since Carnaval is one of the biggest events in Brazil, the answer for your question was really easy to find. When you come to Brazil, you should visit March 25th Street. This is a very popular street located in the heart of the city of Sao Paulo. There you will find absolutely everything you will need to celebrate carnaval in Brazil. Prices are very affordable and the amount of stuff that you will come across is very wide. If you need information about Carnaval or March 25th Street, you can read about them here at Cities in Brazil
Filed under: Lisa in Brazil - December 26th, 2005 Favelas - Slums A few days ago, I found myself travelling into a favela because the family that I am living with have friends who live there. Once we got there, things quickly changed from paved roads and bare streets, to dirt roads, filled with people walking and children playing. Since we drove into the favela, right away I noticed how the dirt roads were not maintained at all, and there were many rocks, and crevases, as well as garbage build up on the sides of the roads. In favelas, those who live there do not have to pay for the land they use, but they are responsible for building their own homes. They must however pay for their electricity. I had the chance to go into a house in the favela, which was really sad to me because there were 7 people living in this house, and there was a kitchen, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. Since many people in favelas can´t afford cars, this is the reason the streets seem to fill up with people when you enter. Usually favelas have a location within walking distance for people to go shopping for both food and clothing. I felt as though many people were looking at me, and not because I look like a gringa, but because in favelas, they usually know who lives there and who doesn´t. This alone is enough to attract attention. I would recommend if you are wanting to go inside a favela to get the right people to go with you. Some offer guides that have tours throughout the favelas, but some of the smaller ones don´t offer this service. Overall I had a great experience going into the favela. It showed me another world, and made me understand a lot more about what some people go through. I would recommend the experience to everyone as long as you do it safely.
Filed under: Lisa in Brazil - December 26th, 2005 LISA IN BRAZIL Background about myself Well, first off I will give a bit of a background information about myself. I have been here in Brazil since December 1/2005. This is my second time in Brazil, the first time I came I stayed for 6 months, and this time I plan on staying around the same. I speak english as my first language, but I have learned a lot of Portuguese just from being here, and being surrounded with it daily. I am living with a friend, but I am also travelling around to different cities quite often. I will be writing about my experiences down here, and trying to let people know the differences, and the exciting things there are for us tourists! Santa Teresa
Filed under: Ask Us - December 24th, 2005 Your Question I am trying to identify a photo I took in a town en route to Corcovado. I think it was Santa Teresa. The two places I can describe to help you help me are Bar do Amando and a courtyard surrounded by colorful (pink, aqua, yellow) multi-story, very large residences. In the middle of the courtyard stands a stone monument. There was a watercolor artist there with his paintings. We spoke with him and he indicated that this particular courtyard was the subject of many paintings. Is the area Santa Teresa? Can you tell me about the courtyard? Our Reply Santa Teresa is a neighborhood in rio that is found on the slopes below the corcovado. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Rio, and has a trolly system which is rare to have in Rio, so if this is the place you are thinking, and you remember the trolly´s or the amazing view of the harbour and Pao de Açucar your courtyard is in Santa Teresa. Unfortunately I dont know anything about this courtyard, and I did research online and found nothing. There is also a place called “ruin park” which might be the courtyard you are thinking. Also, unfortunately there are many large multi colored residences in Brazil, so I don’t know enough about the courtyard to give you an exact location. Hotels in Caldas Novas
Filed under: Ask Us - December 24th, 2005 Your Question Hi, Our Reply I found a hotel in Caldas Novas which seems to be nice. I wasn´t able to check to see if there were rooms available from Dec 29- Jan 2 because that will be answered for you when you try to make reservations. This hotel was very decently priced compared to some others that I found. This site unfortunately doesn´t have the exact price, but in another site I saw that the price was between $70-$100 reals. Follow this link to see the hotel page, and click on contato which will open another window where you will put your information to see if they have rooms available. http://www.riodaspedrashotel.com.br/ Caldas Novas also has a resort called Rio Quente which means Hot River. These resorts are both accommodations and leisure. If you haven´t got many plans other than sit in the sun you may want to look into staying at the Rio Quente Resort. http://www.aguasquentes.com/ Caldas Novas is the largest hydrothermal destination in the world. Hot water pours from the rocks that once were an active volcano. There are many natural hot springs where you can go and sit in the warm water while enjoying a cold drink. I hope this helps, there are other hotels in Caldas Novas, and a site which I also found helpful was Hotels in Caldas Novas. Here you will see a listing of hotels in Caldas Novas. Have a good new years in Brazil! If you have time, write a short blog on your experience as it is a place I have yet to visit and would love to hear another persons experience.
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