Brazil

[Prawn_86]

Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest and most populous country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Its population comprises the majority of the world's Portuguese speakers. Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in the Americas. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of over 7,491 kilometers. It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana and the overseas department of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean are part of the Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz.

[Prawn_86]

THE Rio Carnival has kicked off in stylized debauchery with organisers handing out 59 million free condoms to lusty party goers

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,28318,25092805-5014090,00.html

I would love to go to Carnivale one year...

[kennas]

Yeah, we were thinking of going this year but had a conference in Melbs to attend. Would be an interesting party. Probably a good chance to get mugged as well.

[EverNothing]

If I ever manage to travel to Brazil in the near future i'll probably actually skip Rio de Janeiro (unless the carnivale is on at the time, free rubbers - who couldn't resist :p) and head straight for São Paulo. Of course the main reason I would ever journey to this South Amercian country would be to venture down the Amazon Rainforest in one of those huge houseboats. Hopefully i'll see an anaconda or two or at least a sloth. Sloths are awesome, they remind me of myself in animal form, haha.

And with the soccer World Cup in 2014 and the summer Olympic Games in 2016 Brazil's going to be fairly busy over the next decade. Can't wait!

[Prawn_86]

Yeh I would love to get to virtually all of South America. Brazil would be good to experience the 'larger' side of things, ie population wise, in the cities then go off into the interior :)

[EverNothing]

I hope the vicious floods and mudslides which are occurring in Rio de Janeiro at the moment aren't going to hinder the nation's tourism to much. Of course I would be a heartless bastard to think about possible economic negatives when almost a hundred people are lying dead in the streets. Let's hope that number doesn't rise. It's crazy to think while we're suffereing through an awful drought Brazil has had it's heaviest rainfall for thirty years over a twenty four hour period. They've received more rain in one day than in the entire month. Damn, and I thought Melbourne had shithouse weather.

I too would split my time between the coastal cities and then slowly drift off into the Amazon rainforest. I would workout before I left to ensure that I came home with a Gisele Bundchen-type.

Oh, yeah!

[kennas]

Yes, sad state of affairs. Lets hope they recover well.

On water:

We could solve the worlds fresh water supplies by tapping Brazil. Just stick some pipes at the front of the Amazon and head them towards Africa and Australia.

Quite incredible to think about the volume of fresh water that flows out to sea. Tapping it would probably effect the ecological balance somehow, but how much I'm not so sure.

Check these stats from Wiki:

The Amazon Basin, the largest drainage basin in the world, covers about 40 percent of South America, an area of approximately 7,050,000 square kilometres (2,720,000 sq mi). It gathers its waters from 5 degrees north latitude to 20 degrees south latitude. Its most remote sources are found on the inter-Andean plateau, just a short distance from the Pacific Ocean.

The Amazon River and its tributaries more than triples over the course of a year. In an average dry season, 110,000 square kilometres (42,000 sq mi) of land are water-covered, while in the wet season, the flooded area of the Amazon Basin rises to 350,000 square kilometres (140,000 sq mi).

The quantity of water released by the Amazon to the Atlantic Ocean is enormous: up to 300,000 cubic metres (11,000,000 cu ft) per second in the rainy season. The Amazon is responsible for about 20% of the total volume of freshwater entering the ocean. Potable water can be drawn from the ocean while still out of sight of the coastline, and the salinity of the ocean is notably lower 500 kilometres (310 mi) out to sea.

[littleange]

Hi there,

I´ve read about that one shouldn´t wear jewellery during their time in Rio. However, I haven´t found any information about facial piercings. I have a labret piercing (lip stud), should I remove this also or do you think it should be ok??

Any help greatly appreciated :)