Formalities

Members of the European Community will receive a 3 months visa upon arrival. Travelers from the U.S.A or Australia should apply for a tourist visa at a Brazilian embassy/consulate outside Brazil before traveling and expect a fee to be charged. Its validity can be extended to 6 months. All you have to do is to present yourself, with your passport, at the federal police office of the town in which you are, fill in a few forms, and pay a small fee.
The solution can also be to leave the country to be issued a new 3 months visa (Americans and Australians will need to get a visa from one of the embassies in any of the adjacent countries before re-entering the Brazilian territory). But the duration of your stay can’t exceed 6 months in the past last 12 months.
An immigration card showing your entrance date is delivered upon entry on the territory. Be careful not to lose it, it is requested upon exit.

Health

Risks:
•Malaria: The risk is omnipresent in the Amazon Basin (the whole Northern region, and therefore, in the neighboring states such as the North of Mato Grosso and the West of the Nordeste). The best is to try to avoid the risks (bite of a mosquito called anopheles) by using mosquito repellant especially right at sunset and/or follow a prophylactic treatment (depending on the length of your stay in the infected area). Check with your doctor.

•Dengue: A type of flu transmitted by mosquitoes in the Nordeste. Apply mosquito repellant regularly on the exposed areas (especially during the warm hours of the day).

•Hygiene and alimentation: The risks can be benign (simple diarrhea) or important (typhoid, dysentery); water from facets is advised against. Choose bottled water or use purifying tablets. Also be aware of unpeeled fruits and vegetables.

•Bilharzias or Schistosomiasis: Check before swimming in fresh water potentially infected.

Vaccinations recommended:
Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio, Typhoid, Hepatitis A and B.
Yellow fever: strongly recommended for the Amazon Basin, some areas of the Nordeste (Northeast) and the Pantanal. An international vaccination booklet, certifying that you have been vaccinated against yellow fever, is usually mandatory (but controls are rare, or non-existent) to visit these areas and it will be required to enter Brazil from a bordering country (Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Guyana).

Personal pharmacy:
Your usual medicine (bring a copy of your prescription in case you loose your medications);
•aspirin or paracetamol against headaches and aches;
•anti-diarrhea (type lope amide) and an intestinal antiseptic (type nifuroxazid);
•an histaminic against allergies, rashes due to insect bites (type loratadine, dexchlorpheniramin or cetirizine);
•mosquito repellant; a large spectrum antibiotic treatment (see doctor);
•sterile compresses;
• Compresses stériles
•disinfectant;
•cream for burns
•Extra for trekkers:Anti-inflammatory cream; elastic adhesive bandages (type Elastoplast®); different size band-aids; new skin (protection against blisters).

Safety

Your security is our priority.
Some activities like rafting, trekking, excursions in the Amazon require respect of security standards. Specialized guides will accompany us and they will be equipped with quality gear.

Brazil has the reputation of being a dangerous country for tourists but this is an exaggeration. Brazilians themselves are often the victims of violence (brawls among or between favelas, abandoned children, new slaves, Indians, drivers, population the most wealthy). For the tourist, a few precautions and a little good sense are usually enough to avoid trouble. The large urban centers, concentrating the world misery at the same time as hordes of tourists, present the most risks. Furthermore, some places are better suited than others, particularly bus or train stations.

We therefore recommend that you be extremely vigilant during your transfers and stay in town, to ban all exterior signs of wealth, to travel light, to never leave bags or cameras on the ground unattended, use the hotels safes when available, always carry a copy of your important documents (passport, drivers license...).
Carry a copy of your individual insurance policy with the policy number and the contact information in case of need.

EMERGENCY NUMBERS

Office, 031 (operator) +24 33 71 82 71
Cellular, 031 +24 99 41 35 39 / 24-hours a day and 7 days a week.

Electricity and batteries

The electricity is not standardized, it oscillates between 110 and 220 V. In Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, it is almost always either 110 or 120 V. Most of the sockets are equipped to receive plugs with round or flat double prongs.

Cell phones

Verify with your operator if your phone will work in Brazil.

Comfort

Some of our circuits (Pantanal, Amazon, Lencois-Marahenses, treks) involve at time rusticity and the unreliability of the local conditions. They don’t involve athletic feat but require a good physical condition physique and some capacity to adapt to the environment and the conditions. In any case, comfort remains one of our foremost priorities in our choice of hotels and of the camping sites.
When we state, for some of the nights, “basic comfort”, it is usually in reference to lodging with local host (or in a shelter) where the ground can be dirt or cement, and in which are offered collective dormitories equipped with basic cots (wooded frame + mattress + blankets). We will rarely find showers and 24 hours electricity.
But be assured that our ground team (inhabitants, hosts) will be at your disposal to accommodate you at best they can.

Accommodations

The number of stars indicated in the program (according to the Brazilian classification), in double occupancy with bathroom. Breakfast included except if otherwise mentioned.
The selection is done with your comfort in mind.
In theory, there is a difference between pousada and hotel.
The pousadas, are similar to guesthouses, they are supposed to be a little more familial and warm.
The hotels are in opposition more impersonal.
This nuance is not always true...

Luggage

For convenient traveling, we advise you to “travel light” and to take only what is strictly necessary, and luggage should be as compact as possible (a big suitcase and a smaller bag). The contents may vary according to the season and your itinerary, but you will certainly spend most of your stay in a T-shirt, shorts and sandals. For trekking, it is essential that you limit the weight of your bag to 30 lb, so as not to overload the porters or the mules.

Sites protection

The ecological equilibrium of some of the areas that you will cross is very fragile. The regularity of the tourist flux, even in small groups, can easily and rapidly disturb it. In everyone’s interest, each participant is responsible for the cleanness and the state of the areas crossed or used for camping. The fight against la pollution needs to be of concern to each one.

Vehicles (private transports)

Depending on the group size, we can use a minibus. All the vehicles are covered by assurance.

Drivers

All the drivers we use are professionals. The have a good knowledge of the area and good mechanical competences.

Guides

Bilingual Portuguese and English-except if notified in the program- and knowing the country. Local specialized guides for some areas (Chapada Diamantina / Amazon / Pantanal).

If airport pick up:

A guide or a driver will await you upon arrival with a board with “your name + Terra Brazil".

The spirit of traveling and trip modifications.

Un-foreseeable circumstances (late plane / train, breakdowns, etc.) can occur and are part of traveling.
In function of the weather conditions and the desire of the group, the itinerary can be modified. What we mean by "a la carte travel" is a total flexibility in relation to the circuit established before departure. An eventual decision to change the program will have to be accepted by the group members. Some price changes may occur.

Shopping

Cotton hammocks, lace, precious and semi-precious stones, Brazilian music and its diverse instruments, Indian handicraft (arcs, arrows, baskets, feather hair-dresses, sculptures, pottery…), bikinis constitute various gift ideas.

Gastronomy

The feijoada is omnipresent. It is composed of feijão (black beans), carne do sol (dried meat), rice, cabbage, manioc flour, pork offal and sausage.

Bahianaise cooking consists of a mix of African and Brazilian recipe, based of characteristic ingredients such as coconut milk, ginger, chili, coriander, shrimps and dendé oil.
The most typical plates are the acarajés (balls of peeled red beans, salt, onions, the whole fried in dendé oil) and the moqueca (type of fish stew, shrimps, oysters or crab, with a lot of dendé and coconut milk).

The cachaça is a popular alcohol, acquired by distillation of sugar cane juice, Brazilian equivalent of Caribbean rum. This alcohol serves as the base for the caipirinha, famous cocktail with lemon, crushed ice and sugar.

The fruit juices prepared in front of us are very varied and delicious.

Arts

Brazilians count among the people most musician of the Planet, music being without a doubt the art form plus developed. The Brazilian music, maybe because of its African roots, constitutes a collective act, a celebration, and a party, all impossible to separate from the dance. Les musical genres like the pagode, the samba, the frevo, the forró and the lambada have their own dance.

Comfort

On some of our tours (Pantanal, Amazon, Lençois-Marahenses, treks) rusticity prevails, as well as the unforeseen possibilities of local conditions. This does not imply that the adventures are restricted to the most adventurous, but they generally require good physical condition and the capacity to adapt to circumstances.
In all cases however, comfort is one of our priorities for the choice of hotels or camping sites. Whenever we mention “basic comfort” for accommodation, it generally means lodging at a villager’s house (or at a shelter) where the floor may be dirt or concrete, and where collective bedrooms equipped with basic cots (bedstead + mattress + blankets) are available. You will not find showers and electricity at all times. However, please note that our teams on site (inhabitants, lodging owners) will be at your disposal to receive you in the best possible conditions.

 

Distance between the principal cities (km)

	Belém	BH*	Brasília	Foz do Iguaçu	Manaus	Porto Alegre	Recife	Rio de Janeiro	SSA**	São Paulo
Aracaju	2079	1578	1652	3089	5215	3296	501	1855	356	2188
Belém	-	2824	2141	3381	5298	3854	2074	3250	2100	2933
Belo Horizonte*	2824	-	741	1508	3951	1712	2061	444	1372	586
Boa Vista	6083	1736	4275	4606	785	5348	6483	5159	5794	4756
Brasília	2141	741	-	1573	3490	2027	2135	1148	1446	1015
Campo Grande	2942	1453	1134	776	3051	1518	3247	1444	2568	1014
Cuiabá	2941	1594	1133	1464	2357	2206	3256	2017	2567	1614
Curitiba	3193	1004	1366	637	4036	711	3078	852	2385	408
Florianópolis	3500	1301	1673	944	4343	476	3375	1144	2682	705
Fortaleza	1610	2528	2200	3846	5763	4242	799	2805	1389	3127
Goiânia	2017	906	209	1374	3291	1847	2332	1338	1643	926
Ilhéus	2370	1112	1271	2397	4739	2800	1131	1315	458	1652
João Pessoa	2161	2171	2245	3682	5808	3889	120	2448	947	2770
Maceió	2173	1854	1928	3365	5491	3572	285	2131	632	2453
Manaus	5298	3951	3490	3821	-	4563	5698	4374	5009	3971
Natal	2108	2348	2422	3859	5985	4066	297	2625	1126	2947
Palmas	1282	1690	973	2298	4141	2747	2058	2124	1454	1776
Porto Alegre	3854	1712	2027	986	4563	-	3779	1553	3090	1109
Porto Seguro	2635	945	1446	2518	4907	2620	1387	1135	734	1471
Porto Velho	4397	3050	2589	2920	901	3662	4712	3473	4023	3070
Recife	2074	2061	2135	3572	5698	3779	-	2338	842	2660
Rio Branco	4931	3584	3123	3454	1445	4196	5243	4007	4457	3604
Rio de Janeiro	3250	444	1148	1472	4374	1553	2338	-	1649	429
Salvador**	2100	1372	1446	2885	5009	3090	842	1649	-	1962
São Luís	806	2738	2157	3418	5335	3891	1573	3015	1599	2970
São Paulo	2933	586	1015	1047	3971	1109	2660	429	1962	-
Teresina	947	2302	1789	3350	5267	3804	1137	2579	1163	2792
Vitória	3108	526	1238	1925	4476	2001	1891	525	1207	882

 

Good season

We advise that you avoid the tourist peaks from December to January, the period of the Carnival and the St. week.
Brazilians, and there are 180 millions of them, are the first tourists visiting their own country. During this period, the tourist destinations – and principally the coast – are swamped.
Hotels and restaurants are full as well as the beaches…
Also, the prices climb and the hotels and pousadas use a system of “pacote”, a flat fee for a set number of nights minimum (for example 5 nights or nothing).