So you’ve finally reached the point where you can plan for your well deserved vacations. You’re looking at the finances of foreign exchange, comparing prices, finding the perfect dates, but you still haven’t made up your mind about one small detail: where will you be going?!

Well, we have a suggestion for you. Not surprisingly, we think you should be heading right over to Brazil, of course!

Northeast Brazil

North American and European travelers will find the exchange rate extremely attractive. At approximately 2.20 Brazilian Reais for the US Dollar and at just over R$ 3.00 for the Euro**, you will find Inns and small hotels all over the paradise beaches of Bahia, for example, for prices around U$ 50,00 per night, including breakfast. Popular destinations include Morro de São Paulo, Itacaré and Trancoso. We assure you, you will fall in love with the region. French President Nicolas Sarkozy surely liked the region, spending the new year’s vacation at the luxurious Txai Resort in Itacaré, Bahia. Prices there range from U$ 1500,00 per night, but you don’t need to spend like a head of state, at just a few kilometers, same setting and same natural beauty, you will find small Pousadas(Inns) with everything you need for a perfect trip, at just tens of Dollars per day.

Another very attractive destination, also in the Northeast of Brazil, will be the Rio Grande do Norte beaches. The capital of the state is Natal(Christmas), the symbol of the city are the 3 Wise Men of Biblical origin. The Christian tradition here comes from the early Dutch colonizers and Jesuit colonization by the Catholic Church over this region. Don’t let the religious simbology fool you though, Natal is a city for all peoples, which you’ll promptly discover upon arrival. The Ponta Negra beach is a tiny little beach with the famous “Bald Man” hill at the end, here you’ll find more english speakers than anywhere else on this region, except, perhaps, a little farther south at the Praia da Pipa. Pipa is a very tiny village down south that has apparently been taken over by foreigners in love with the region. There you’ll find every culture, diverse gastronomy, and many, many activities. Just watch the tidal tables if you intend to catch the right waves for surfing!

Flying South

When you think Brazil, you’re probably thinking of sunny beaches and very little clothing. Well, there’s another Brazil that many visitors haven’t heard of: Southern of Brazil. Colonized in large part by Germans and Italians, the south is an entirely different country. In fact, there have been ideas of secession in the past, gladly no longer a strong movement these days. The South is all about romantism, splendid food, wines, home brewed beers and as you may expect, chili weather. When we said German, you probably thought “Oktoberfest”. Well, you thought right! Brazil’s most popular German tradition party begins precisely on October First(no pun intended) through the November XV street in Blumenau!

History fact: We mentioned the Novermber XV street in Blumenau where Oktoberfest begins, so you might wonder why it shows up as a street name everywhere in this country. Well November 15th is Brazil’s Proclamation of the Republic day. In our old capital of Rio de Janeiro, in the year of 1889, we overthrew our Monarch and became a Republic on this date.

Don’t miss our Brazil travel tips for many more interesting destinations. From Texas-style country parties in Barretos, São Paulo, to amazing natural adventures in Bonito, Mato Grosso do Sul, we will bring you enough Brazil destinations to hopefully convince you of your next travel destination!

** Official exchange rates data from March 25, 2009, subject to fluctuation. Please consult with your broker for the precise rates at time of travel.

For ???????? ????? ????????historical reasons, electrical voltage is not the same all throughout Brazil. This fact  may cause a bit of confusion to those just arriving, so we’d like to provide an overview of what you’re likely to encounter in more popular destinations.

Although most modern devices will work with any voltage from 90V to 230V AC, if you have some specialized device you better watch or the supply could get damaged.

All of Brazil is standard 60 Hz AC and voltage may vary from 110 V, to 127 V to 220V.

Belo Horizonte is 110V

Brazil’s Capital, Brasilia is 220V

Buzios, RJ : 110V

Corumbá, MS 110 V AC

Curitiba 110V

Florianopolis: 220V

Maceió, AL : 220V

Manaus 127 V AC

Natal, Rio Grande do Norte 220V

Porto Alegre, far south of Brazil 110V

Rio de Janeiro 110 V

Salvador, Bahia : 110V

São Paulo – you’ll find both voltages, you should ask when arriving at your hotel. Can be 110 or 220V AC. Most hotels have 110V outlets along with 220V for your commodity.

If you are traveling to deep country like Amazon regions or internal Goiás, Minas Gerais and elsewhere you may find unstable electricity at times(from personal experience).

The cold wind and freezing waters of the São Paulo shores did not affect the mood of the athletes. Early morning August 25, 2007 and triathletes from all over the world gather at the sands of Ilhabela for the start of the 2007 edition of the Nissan XTerra Triathlon competition.

To most of us, São Paulo means big business, big city, fast living, 13 million people population and …well, business again. But at just a couple of hours drive(212 Kilometers) from the metropolitan lifestyle of São Paulo capital you’ll find the Ilhabela region. The name of this region is a portmanteau made up of 2 words meaning “ilha”(island) and “bela”(beautiful). The several islands which make up the Ilhabela archipelago configure the ideal location for radical sports : mountains, clear water, lots of green and a peaceful location disturbed only once a year by the intense sports action of the yearly Nissan XTerra Triathlon meet.

This year the Traveler.com.br-sponsored triathlete, Alexandre Manzan, arrived 2nd place just 1 minute behind Canadian Mike Vine. The event is a modern radical style triathlon which requires extreme physical preparation and long experience in triathlon competition. The constantly changing scenario, highs and lows, sometimes strong winds and freezing water(as was the case this year) make a tough challenge for the hundreds of triathletes who enter the event.

For those of us not competing but looking forward to being in touch with nature, Ilhabela is an ideal spot for adventure travel. Camping fields, hotels and inexpensive hostels can be booked through Traveler.com.br or specialized Ilhabela sites such as Ilhabela.com.br.

The transfer can be made easily, from São Paulo(via Litorânea bus line / Phone ++5512-3892-1072) or Rio de Janeiro(via Util bus line phone ++5521-2263-9424) you can catch a bus to São Sebastião and from there a water transport will take you to the Ilhabela island. A new transport departs every 30 minutes from 6 AM to 11 PM daily.

See Ilhabela on the interactive Google maps by clicking here.

Below you’ll find some photos of pro Traveler.com.br athlete Alexandre Manzan during the Ilhabela Nissan XTerra competition on August 25 2007.

The Pan Am games are less than 48 hours from beginning and some problems have already surfaced. Specially on the ticket sales systems. According to most of the Brazilian midia today, tickets purchased through the official web sites still have not been delivered and hundreds of customers have filed complaint with the Games’ administration.

On the popular Orkut.com social site, some groups are crowded with buyers complaining about the non-delivery of their much desired tickets to the aperture ceremony this friday afternoon. Some buyers acquired more than 50 tickets for themselves and friends, although the black market is surely stocking up to sell at the entrances with a nice bonus added.

The main sales offices, run by Ticketronics, are telling customers to contact the Customer Service office from 9am to 6 pm but give no additional information.  According to them some tickets were not delivered due to Correios(Brazilian Post Office) problems. Also according to Ticketronics, the Visanet system(official sponsors, therefore you can only buy through Visa cards) presented problems and caused some purchases to be automatically cancelled.

Some readers report getting no replies from the Official Committee of the Pan Am Games and getting no replies.

Another big complaint is that some customers bought tickets for the opening basquetball and volleyball games and the Organization changed their scheduled times and now they’ll happen simultaneously, which caused the spectators to choose one event to attend and either sell or lose the other ticket.

To this complaint all Ticketronics had to say was that the fine print does say the events times can change without prior notice.