Expert: Ken Rapoza Cruz - 12/2/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hello,

I'm from USA. I don't speak Portuguese but played capoeira for some years in Istambul, Turkey so I'm familiar with the culture, food.. I'm trying to plan a trip to Brazil and Buenos Aires starts from mid-January till around February 9~10, 2009. I'll be traveling by myself. I was planing to spend 5 days in Sao Paulo, 3 days Salvador, 4 days Rio, 2 days Iguassu and finally 4 days in Buenos Aires. First of all what do you think about the number of the days for each destination? I have been checking the plane tickets and they're pretty expensive. I am not sure if paying big bucks to plane ticket and staying few days will make sense. Of course it's up to me but what do you think?

I was thinking about this route: Sao Paulo(GRU) -> Salvador(SSA) -> Rio(GIG) -> Iguassu(IGU) -> Buenos Aires(EZE) -> Sao Paulo(GRU).

But after Rio, I may fly to EZE then go to Iguazu(UGR- Argentinean side) then gross the border into IGU and go to GRU.

I read that Argentinean side of the waterfall has better view. Even if I'll follow the first route I may stay 1 night at BR side and 1 night at AR side. Which route do you think will be better/logically?

My mind is so busy with planing. Please share your opinion. I'll be happy to hear from you.

Muito obrigado in advance :)
And one more thing: when I'll be in Rio, I want to watch a football game in Maracana. I'm Fenerbahce fan. You know Fenerbahce is the Turkish team which used to have Zico as coach and still have Roberto Carlos, Alex de Souza, Deivid de Souza, Marco Aurelio and Wederson. Aurelio went to Spain tho. Ok, whatever, do you know how can I get information about the schedule?

Thanks, obrigado, saol (Turkish) :)

ANSWER: So looks like you will ahve about a month. Okay, first, I wouldnt spend any time at all in Sao Paulo. It's not a tourist city, unlike you like massive cities. What will you do there? You dont speak the language. Its not like the Sao Paulo symphony orchestra is a must see, or its local theater company is to die for, know what I mean? Sure, it's got its ups and downs, but take it off your list. Go to Rio and stay there for about five days. From Rio, go to Salvador and take a tour for the beaches of Bahia, the good ones like Airaial da Ajuda are about an hour away. You can probably get your Salvador hotel to get you on a bus tour with other hotel guests to visit these spots for a day or two.

After that, go to Iguassu Falls Brazil. Thats maybe a day. Then do Argentina Iguassu falls then Buenos Aires, then back to the US.

I don tknow your likes and dislikes so I cant recommend an itinerary for you.

Enjoy your stay!

Maracana games you can reserve through Brazil Nuts travel. they speak English.  Tell them everything you want and let them reserve it for you. In Rio, you can take a guided tour with this guy named Carlos Roquette. Pick your wish, he can help you find it:

www.culturalrio.com.br.

He speaks English.




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello Ken again :)

I have been thinking about my trip and I think I'm gonna cancel my Iguassu and Buenos Aires part of the trip. So it will be Sao Paulo, Rio and Salvador.

Instead of trying to visit so many places in a short time period, I've decided to put some quality time on less place and enjoy my time.

In order to do that I think a road trip may be nice. My friends will have 1 week off. I am thinking to spend 3~4 days in one city and rest of the 4~3 days on road. Stoping by at the small beaches, having lunch/dinner at the small local restaurants, staying at the hostels on the way. Could you please recommend a rental car driving route? For instance will it be fine to drive Rio-Sao Paulo? Or maybe Salvador-Natal? And another question, let's say we decided to do Salvador-Natal trip, do you know if we can get the car from Salvador and leave it in Natal? Or do we have to bring the car back to the starting point?

Obrigado, saol :)

Answer
Good idea. A road trip is good, but unless you have an offroad vehicle and dont mind the bumpy shitty roads in the northeastern part of the state, I would recommend driving along the Sao Paulo - Rio de Janeiro coast, with a must-see stop in Paraty, a great seaside village. Do a google on it. It's a long drive, figure four hours from Sao Pualo city to Paraty. Bu tyou stop in Paraty for the night (you wont want to leave), then head off to Rio, maybe even for a stop in Angra dos Reis.  You are going to need a road map, which I dont have in front of me right now.

I dont know about rental agreements. Each company is different. The multinationals, like Avis and Hertz will let you return the car to their stands in other cities, but others like Localiza, might not.

Youre going to want a multinational so you can have English to fall back on in case of emergency or to answer questeions.