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Invading Rio's Rocinha
The poverty stricken Rocinha favela bordered by wealthy Zona Sul neighborhoods.Photo © matteo0702, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
This week, everybody in Brazil – and especially in Rio de Janeiro – was talking about the “peaceful” police invasion of Rocinha, the largest – and most (in)famo
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Da Boca do Brasileiro (VII)
Photo © Michael Sommers.
Da Boca do Brasileiro means “Out of the Mouth of a Brazilian” and is the title I’ve chosen for a regular monthly feature of this blog. The idea is to let Brazilians do the talking by recommending their favorite things to see, eat, and do while also providing some insider d
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What to See in Rio: São Conrado, Barra, and Recreio
After Leblon, Rio’s coastal road, Avenida Niemeyer, goes through a long tunnel that burrows beneath the Morro de Dois Irmãos, whose slopes are home to one of Rio’s largest favelas, Vidigal. Although from a socioeconomic perspective the successive beach neighborhoods are considered extensions of th
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Mango Musings
Photo © Michael Sommers.
In recent weeks, my father and mother (in Toronto) and my sister (in New York) have been stoking my sense of nostalgia (not to mention envy) with their rhapsodic descriptions of brightly colored leaves in shades of gold, saffron, and scarlet, swirling off branches and carp
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Notes from the Amazonian Underground
This year has been a memorable one for great Amazonian discoveries. In posts published throughout the last 12 months, I waxed enthusiastic about fantastical phenomena ranging from glow-in-the-dark mushrooms and exploding zombie ants to never before contacted Indian tribes. However, 2011 was also m
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The Best of... Three Bahian Luxury Hotels
Photo © Michael Sommers.
Recently, I was given the tough assignment of reviewing three luxury hotels, along the southern coast of Bahia, for a U.S.-based web site called Luxury Latin America.com.
My mother asked me: “How do you keep all those hotels straight in your mind?”
Aside from the fact that
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Arms and the Fan
Among the two things Brazil is most associated with (for better and for worse) are soccer and violence. The only country to have won the World Cup a whopping five times, Brazil is also a country plagued by violence; according to the Map of Violence 2012, recently published by the Instituto Sangari
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Changing Face(s) of Brazil
Photo © Michael Sommers.
No matter where in the world you live, come the end of the year, you get to thinking about the changes going on in your life and in the country you call home.
Brazil has certainly undergone profound transformations in recent times, some of which were revealed in statistics
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Jungle Lodges in the Amazon
On the way to a Jungle Lodge. Photo © Mike P., licensed Creative Commons Attribution No-Derivatives.
One of the best ways to get to a sense of the rain forest is to actually stay in its midst. While primitive options exist for hard-core environmentalists, there are an increasing number of high-pri
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All About Eden: The Vale do Capão
In the mountains of Vale do Capao. Photo © Michael Sommers.
Sometimes the best things in life are last-minute. Like the way I ended up ringing in the New Year in Bahia’s Chapada Diamantina.
Two days before Christmas, close friends of mine, Edi and Myra, informed me they were going to the Chapada a
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Best Beaches in Fortaleza, Brazil
Praia de Iracema. Photo © Luciano Viana, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
Fortaleza’s beaches are the be-all and end-all of the Cearense capital; too bad that most of their brilliant blue waters are often too polluted for swimming. That doesn’t seem to stop locals and tourists alike from mob
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Road Trip to Chapada, Part 1: Eating Our Way There
Photo © Michael Sommers.
Although I’ve never had a car – or a driver’s license for that matter – I love road trips.
That’s why I was psyched when (as I wrote about last week) it was decided that my friends Myra and Edi, their daughter Alice, their friend Barbosa, and I would be traveling from Salv
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Belém Food: From Paranese Cuisine to International Favorites
Tacacá is Belém’s signature dish. Photo © Marcos Joel Reis, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
Seductive for its exotic colors and flavors, Paraense cuisine is gaining fame throughout Brazil. However, the best place to savor the region’s cuisine is in Belém—either at an atmospheric resta
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Visiting the Resort Towns of Gramado and Canela in Southern Brazil
The alpine charm of picturesque Gramado attracts Brazilian tourists in droves. Photo © Leandro Neumann Ciuffo, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
The landscape surrounding Porto Alegre is pancake-flat, but driving north, the land starts to buckle and rise into a series of hills that gradually
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Visit Brazil's Spectactular Lençóis Maranhenses National Park
One of Brazil’s most spectacular natural attractions, the Lençóis Maranhenses—250 kilometers (155 miles) east of São Luís—is a fantastic desert of immense white sand dunes that bear a striking resemblance to billowing lençóis (sheets). Some of the dunes are 50 meters (165 feet) high. Every year wh
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What to See in Belém, Brazil
Synonymous with Belém itself is the sprawling Mercado Ver-o-Peso which stretches out along the river. Photo © Claudio Careca, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
Belém sits at the intersection of the Rio Guamá with the Baía de Guajará. The river defines Belenense life, and along its banks you’l
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Road Trip to Chapada, Part 2: The Way Home
Photo © Michael Sommers.
Although I’ve never had a car – or a driver’s license for that matter – I love road trips.
That’s why I was psyched when (as I wrote about last week) it was decided that my friends Myra and Edi, their daughter Alice, their friend Barbosa, and I would be traveling from Salv
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Brazil Budget Challenge: Rio on the Cheap
Photo © Michael Sommers.
As Rio de Janeiro revs up to play host to the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, the city has gone gangbusters. New constructions, renovations, and revitalizations are taking place not to mention the much-talked-about bringing of peace to many of the city’s favelas
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Visit the River Port Town of Santarém in Pará, Brazil
View along a street in Santarém. Photo © Keith Rock, licensed Creative Commons ATtribution.
The second largest city in Pará, Santarém is a drowsy yet interesting river port town. By boat it is around 50 hours upstream from Belém, and it’s a worthwhile place to stop if you’re riding up or down the
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Exploring the Amazon: Belém Nightlife, Festivals, Hotels, and More
One of the biggest and most spectacular religious and popular festivals in Brazil begins at the Catedral de Sé. Photo © Celso Abreu, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.
Pará’s river capital is an intoxicating mélange of faded elegance, dilapidation, and revitalization. One of Brazil’s most inte
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