Car Rental Brazil - Exploring Brazil
Brazil is enormous and only the ambitious would think of seeing it all at once. Half the country is covered by the dense, impenetrable, Amazon basin. However, a car is certainly worthwhile if you wish to see more than the beaches of Rio. The Pantanal is the nearest good wilderness area to Rio and Sao Paulo. This vast wetland is teeming with wildlife and hardly overrun by tourists. Giant river otters, anacondas, iguanas, jaguars, cougars, crocodiles, deer and anteaters are all found here and access is rather tricky, making it a real adventure.
At the border apex between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay is the magnificent Iguaçu Falls. Altogether the collective tiers and various falls stretch for 3kms, tumbling 80m on average. There few falls in the world as spectacular, especially after the rains, though August - November is the recommended time to visit when access is safest.
Along the northeastern coast are several curious cities and towns (roughly where the bulge is). Salvador da Bahia, and its surrounding region, is a fascinating and vibrant area, with distinctive ‘African’ flavour. It’s loaded with historic buildings, and is one of Brazil's cultural highlights, dating back 300 years. In its heydey it rivaled Lisbon for importance and opulence. It includes several magnificent colonial buildings, fine beaches and olde Latin American charm.
Nearby, Olinda is one of the best-preserved colonial cities in Brazil and enjoys a lovely elevated location overlooking the coast. It has a lively atmosphere and many well-preserved buildings. Its carnival is also well known.
One of the world’s greatest treasures is the massive Amazon rainforest. This basin is one of the planet’s largest water drainage systems and acts as a huge carbon sink for the rest of the planet. Native Indians (with tribes still being discovered), jaguar, tapir, peccary, spider monkey, sloth, armadillo, caiman, alligator, river dolphin, boa constrictor and anaconda and endless bird, fish, reptile and insect varieties call it home, many of whom are yet to be classified.
Manaus, a curious belle epoche city, lies remotely abandoned in its center, and although a road now cuts a swathe through the jungle, its advisable to fly there. The former rubber boom has left a curious legacy in this town, including the huge Rennaissance-styled Teatro Amazonas, but most visitors now come here as a launching point into the Amazon. Trips can be organized down the river all the way to Belem at the coast.
Chapada dos Veadeiros is a national park in the high country near Brasilia, featuring high waterfalls, natural swimming pools and dramatic cliffs.
