Before You Book

PREPARING TO GO TO BRAZIL

CAPITAL

Brasilia.

LANGUAGE

Portuguese is the official language in Brazil. English and Spanish are generally used for official and business purposes.

RELIGION

Almost all Brazilian’s are Roman Catholics making it the largest Roman Catholic population in the world.

LOCAL TIME

There are 3 time zones in Brazil. The standard time for Brazil calculated from Rio de Janeiro. Brasilia Time (BRT) is 3 hours behind GMT.

ELECTRICITY

220 volts, in Rio and Sao Paulo, 127 volts - sockets are of the two pin type.

PASSPORT & VISA

A valid passport is required by all nationals. All Passengers are responsible for securing proper documentation prior to joining the tour. Please ensure that passport/s are valid for a minimum of 6 months beyond the intended date of return and contain between 2-6 blank “Visa” pages. You should have at least two free pages in your passport. Please access the Travel & Visa Requirements Section on the top of this page for the latest visa entry requirements for the country/ies you are visiting. Passports are required; in addition, travelers are also advised to check with local consulates for full details regarding visa requirements. Please note securing a valid visa for entry is the sole responsibility of the traveler.

LOCAL CURRENCY

The monetary unit in Brazil is the Brazil Reais (BRL; symbol R$) = 100 centavos. Notes are in denominations of R$100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1. Coins are in denominations of R$1, and 50, 25, 10, 5, and 1 centavos.

XE.com is a useful site for currency conversion.

MONEY EXCHANGE, CREDIT CARD & ATM

There is an extensive network of ATMs around the country. ATMs are marked Cartao. Visa cards work with Banco do Brasil, Mastercard works in HSBC, Itau and Banco Mercantil. Increasingly Brazilian ATM machines are accepting Cirrus and Maestro cards, particularly Baco de Brasil but do not rely on your ATM card alone – carry a reserve of cash in case. ATMs only allow withdrawal of $US 15 or equivalent between 10pm and 6am. Many banks close at weekends, although airport banks are usually open 7 days a week.

Occasionally, getting cash from ATMs can be problematic with machines producing a sem comunicação error, which means they won’t give out any cash. Some may find they have still been debited for the sum. Check your bank statement and get in touch with the ATM operator and your bank back home if you are having trouble withdrawing money.

CLOTHING

As a general guideline, clothing should be lightweight, loose fitting, hard-wearing and easily washed. In the hot summer months, cotton clothing is much more comfortable than man-made materials like nylon. Be prepared for cooler evenings - for this reason you will generally find it better to pack several thin layers rather than one thick layer. Water resistant jackets and trousers are essential during the rainy season (January to April in the north, April to July in the north-east, November to March in Rio / São Paulo).

COMMUNICATIONS

Email
As with everywhere, the easiest and cheapest form of communication is via the Internet. You will find Internet cafés in every major town. The average cost is approx. $1.50 - $3 per hour. One might need to show a passport or any ID to use the internet. Connection is generally slower in the smaller, more remote places. In bigger towns some internet cafés are now starting to offer internet phone calls which are cheaper than phone cards.

Phone
There are many public phones in Brazil which take phone cards sold by newspaper stands and cafés. A 5 reis card will do several local calls, but for an international one you’ll need a higher value card. Long distance calls can also be made from a posto telefonico where you are assigned a booth. The trick with Brazilian phones is persistence. If the tone is engaged, try several times and you will usually get a connection.

Post
The postal service is generally reliable, and stamps are available everywhere, but post office queues can be lengthy.

WEATHER & CLIMATE

The south, in Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul, is the most temperate, with a distinct winter between June and September. Even so, temperatures are cool rather than cold. The climate along the coast is warm and pleasant all year. In Rio and Sao Paulo, the rainy season lasts from October to January; further north, it begins around April and lasts for about 3 months. Even in the rainy season the weather is mostly fine with occasional downpours. Summer (December to March) is hot, with top temperatures ranging from 25° to 40° (Celsius). It can also be very humid. Winter temperatures range from around 20° to 30° (Celsius). The Northeast is tropical, and average temperatures never go below 25° (Celsius). In the semi-arid interior summer temperatures often go over 40° (Celsius). Much of Amazonia has a distinct dry season from July to October. Belem is a typically tropical city, with a lot of rain from January to May, and slightly less rain the rest of the time. Temperatures are usually steamy.

Rio de Janeiro: (approx)

Manaus: (approx)

MEALS

Approximate costs for meals and snacks not included are shown below:

• Simple snack - $US 5-10
• Light meal - $US 10-15
• Fancy restaurant - $US 35

DRINKS

Approximate costs for drinks bought in a shop in the street are shown below. Prices in restaurants, hotels, and cruise boats can be as much as double those specified.

• 1 litre of water: $US 1
• Suco (juice): $US 1.5
• Bottle of beer: $US 2

REGIONAL DRINKS

• Choopp (draught beer; Brahma is the most popular brand usually served ice-cold).
• Cachaça (popular local firewater derived from sugar cane and often mixed with sugar, crushed ice and limes to make a   caipirinha cocktail).
• Batida (another, equally potent cocktail, made of concentrated fruit juices mixed with cachaça).
• Brazilian wine (try white wines from Santa Catarina and quaffable red Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon varieties from Bahia).
• Sucos (freshly made fruit juices, usually made at juice bars. Also, the name given to coconut water direct from the shell available on most beaches).
• Guaraná (popular fizzy drink made with energy-giving extract from an Amazonian plant).

FOOD
Brazilian food is divided into quite distinct regions. In Minas Gerais, Comida Mineira describes the regional cuisine, based mainly on pork and spinach with refried beans. Comida Baiana is from the Salvador coast, and uses a lot of fish, hot peppers, and coconut milk. Comida do Sertao comes from the north-east, and features a lot more meat, as well as various beans and tubers grown in the region. Comida Gaucha is found in Rio Grande do Sul and involves vast quantities of meat grilled on charcoal.  If there is a national dish it is feijoada, a stew of pork and beans garnished with oranges. Otherwise, the mainstay is generally beef or chicken with rice and beans. A set meal of this is called prato feito or prato comercial. Given the climate there are a wide variety of tropical fruits like mango, papaya, passion fruit and other exotic items from the Amazon. These are used as the base for ice cream and the fresh fruit juice known as suco. Coffee is the national drink, served strong and sweet in small cups – ask for cafézinho, as café just refers to coffee beans. Tea is often good, especially cha maté, a strong green tea. Fruit juices called sucos are especially good. A local fizzy drink called guarana is also popular. Beer is usually of the lager variety – draught beer is called chopp. The main spirit is cachaca, rum made of sugar cane. It can be rough, but there are some smoother brands such as Velho Barreiro and Cachaca 51. The best way to drink it is in a caipirinha, mixed with fresh limes, sugar and crushed ice.

TIPPING GUIDELINES

10% is usual for most services not included on the bill. Hotels and restaurants usually include a service fee called Taxa de service but where this is not stipulated you can add a gratuity of around 15%

Porters              USD 1 per bag

Chambermaids     USD 2 per day

Tour guides        10% of the tour cost

Drivers              USD 2-4 per person per day

HEALTH & MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS & GUIDELINES

As a general recommendation, it is advisable to check with your family doctor or travel clinic for latest health information.

YELLOW FEVER

Yellow fever vaccination recommendations for Brazil have changed since the review of the available data by World Health Organization (WHO) and yellow fever and travel medicine experts. Presently, as determined by the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), the yellow fever vaccination is not a requirement for travelers to Brazil.  It is, however, recommended for travelers going to the following states/areas:

Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Distrito Federal (including the capital city of Brasília), Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, Tocantins; designated areas of the following states: Bahia, Paraná, Piauí, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and São Paulo. Vaccination is also recommended for travelers visiting Iguassu Falls.

TRAVEL INSURANCE

It is highly recommended that you purchase travel insurance. Your home country health plan may only provide limited coverage while traveling outside of the country. Indus Travels can offer you a complete travel insurance package. Some credit cards do offer travel insurance; however, they do not always provide adequate coverage. Review and understand the terms of your credit card insurance policy. Extra travel insurance can be purchased. Most insurance companies do have exclusions in their coverage. Pre-existing medical conditions are not insurable.