Brazil Tours & Travel

The Roman Catholic cathedral of Brasilia, Catedral Metropolitana Nossa Senhora Aparecida, was designed by the famous architect Oscar Niemeyer. The Cathedral is set behind the National Museum and the National Library, both equally as revolutionary as the rest of Brazil’s 1950s modern capital. While Oscar Niemeyer designed the buildings, Lucio Costa was the urban planner who conceived of the futuristic flying-bird layout of the city, which itself was conceptually the vision of Juscelino Kubitschek, one of Brazil’s most beloved presidents. To visit Brasilia, see Brazil tours.

Many would agree that the heart of Brazil is Rio de Janeiro. The capital of samba and spicy carnival celebrations has a simply magnificent and exotic setting among the mountainous South Atlantic coast. Rio de Janeiro obviously lives up to its nickname “The Marvelous City”. Luckily for the wayward traveler, there are a lot of options when it comes to accommodation. There are hostels all across the city in all of the best districts, putting you near the top attractions and remember for Rio Carnival season, book early as prices go through the roof! This list describes 5 of the best Rio hostels.

Bossa in Rio Hostel

If you’re looking for the most quintessential backpacker experience, this is the hostel for you. It was founded by a pair of backpackers, so you know they are thinking of you when they offer things like free breakfast, Wi-Fi throughout the hostel, pool tables, bars, hot showers, games and a BBQ patio. Bossa in Rio Hostel makes its home in the attractive Santa Teresa neighborhood. It’s is well-connected to other parts of the city. 15 minutes will get you downtown, and 5 minutes will get you to the Lapa neighborhood and its famous aqueduct. Santa Teresa is an artsy area with small streets and old buildings, and boasts the most green space in the city. If you’re arriving during carnival, this hostel is a good option since it’s right near the Sambodromo.

Fatima Macintyre Guesthouse

The Fatima Macintyre Guesthouse is another superb accommodation option in Rio. You’ll find it in Leblon, a few blocks from the beach and close to plenty of nightlife. You’ll be welcomed by Fatima herself, who provides you with the experience you’ll want to have. It’s personal, and its location puts you in good shape to enjoy the whole southern quarter, including famous Ipanema. You can even borrow a bike to head along the shorefront.

Vidigalbergue Rio Hostel

Nearby is the Vidigalbergue Rio Hostel, a quaint place with good service and excellent views out over the ocean from their terrace, where you’ll also take breakfast. Leblon and Sao Conrado beaches are nearby, and the hostel organizes events throughout the week. Want to learn samba? Want to hang out in the natural pool? You can do that and more here.

Che Lagarto Hostel Copacobana

If you want a big hostel experience, check out the Che Lagarto Hostel Copacabana. The hostel is located in the very heart of the city, right near the famous Copacabana Beach where you can learn something about the local beach culture. The hostel is great for partying and meeting other people, and its location puts you close to the main Rio sights and museums, include Sugarmountain and Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado.

Zbra Hostel

If none of the above have peeked your interest, the Zbra Hostel surely will. Zbra is a new hostel with all the modern and super-modern facilities you could hope for, including capsule-like beds with iPod connections. They’re located just a block from the beach and lots of bars and clubs. This place has everything, from an in-house bar to television room and café. They even have wake-up calls so you don’t miss that flight out.

You’re going to want to stay somewhere near the beach if you want the best experience of Rio, but don’t forget to head to the downtown to see all the main sights. Everything around Cinelandia Square is gorgeous, and Rio’s museums are mostly in that district as well.

Gory images of a woman fighting for her life in Brazil appeared on our TV screens. Clinging to a rooftop of her fast-collapsing house, a virtual island in raging floodwaters, showed her holding onto her pet dog, determined not to leave without it. As most of the houses surrounding hers were already engulfed by the torrent, her only passage to safety was a rope thrown to her from a roof of a house seemingly on the banks of violent river descending down a steep hill. At first she clung to the pet, then smitten by a raging current of water and mud she let go of it in order to grasp the rope with both hands and get pulled to safety at last.

Days of heavy rains causing floods, devastating mudslides and enormous loss of life are nothing new in Brazil. The worst floods happen mostly in northeast of Brazil, from state of Maranhão to Pernambuco and Alagoas, but ravage the entire coastal parts of Brazil all the way south to Sao Paulo, not surprisingly effecting most often the poorest communities, and last year was no exception. Rio de Janeiro, city as well as state, too were last subjected to torrential rains causing immense mudslides and tragic loss of life only a few months ago. Undeniably in most instances the worst-hit are always the favelas, the neighborhoods of the poor, built on precarious hillsides, typically without any permits and with little if any attempt by the authorities to mitigate the lurking disasters. The floods of last few days in state of Rio de Janeiro and massive loss of life in its towns of Teresopolis and Nova Friburgo are yet another jolt pointing to the lack of disaster prevention and the harsh reality of poverty in Brazil in general.

Media reports of local residents anger over slow relief efforts, government did appropriate emergency aid for the devastated communities and victims and promises to being more forceful with enforcement of where people can built, but how soon and how substantial can the affected communities and victims expect turnaround in their plight remains to be seen. With summer season of carnivals around the corner, the tragedy of the latest floods will soon be replaced another story and all will likely soon return back to the reality of life in Brazil until the next rains. Images of ravaged towns with cars piled up against mountains of remains, corpses laid in makeshift morgues and fast erected grave sites will be replaced with clips of towns staging lavish parades and all night parties with residents all smiles.

View Teresopolis & Nova Friburgo, Brazil in a larger map

For now Brazil declared three days of national mourning for the 650 plus killed in namely Teresopolis and Nova Friburgo, though reports are not hiding that that the death toll is likely to climb much higher once the final assessment of the typically dense jungle of often half finished houses can actually be made. While Brazil has become one of the top economic powerhouses of the world, with its annual growth equal only to that of China, its currency currently possibly the strongest of all, the skyline of its towns, large and small, aside of its monuments we have learnt to instantly identify, remains to be that of shanty towns engulfing skyscrapers and islands of prosperity.
In light of hosting the 2014 Soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, when the world will really be watching, will the latest devastating floods spur yet more radical action by the new president to deal with all the harsh realities of life in Brazil?