Dear Olivia and Jason,
Brazil is such a fabulous beast of a country – huge, muscular, heaving with diversity, color and sound. I love it and particularly love the beautiful coastline and wide Atlantic beaches, the primary rainforest with its feet in the sea, the fishing villages and colonial towns, the offshore islands that provide harbors and sandy coves. We have designed a trip that is at once urban – you will start in Rio and end in the very African city of Salvador – and then gently cruise among the islands of Angra dos Reis and spend a couple of nights in the town of Paraty, one of my favorites anywhere.
Day 1: Arrival
Upon arrival at Rio de Janeiro’s international airport, you will be met by your guide, Pedro, who will accompany you for the rest of your travels. The remainder of your day is open so that you can relax from your overnight flight, enjoy the beach, visit a museum, or indulge in spa therapy. We have a choice of hotels which we will discuss with you to find the right match.
Day 2: Touring Rio
This morning, meet Pedro for the day’s activities. I suggest beginning your day with a visit to the famous Christ Statue before the crowds arrive. Later, because you are interested in the arts, Pedro will take you for an insider’s visit of Rio’s local design and art scene, visiting galleries, ateliers and design shops (textiles, furniture, decoration). This excursion will offer you a glimpse of Brazil’s internationally recognized talents.
About mid-afternoon, you will visit the Botanical Gardens, a very pleasant park and fascinating tropical environment. You can also visit the Lage Park next door, which, with its beautiful old mansions immersed in the rainforest, offers a striking blend of natural and manmade elegance.
You will end your first full day in Rio with a glorious sunset above Sugar Loaf Mountain.
Day 3: Angra dos Reis
This morning, drive to a local airstrip, Jacarepagua, where you will board a helicopter and fly south along the coast to Angra dos Reis. This is one of the most stunning flights you can take, and you will be astounded by the seemingly endless beaches that stretch out along the coast. As you move further south and into the area of Angra, the Atlantic rainforest becomes thick, reaching right down to the sea and creating a forested coastline scalloped here and there with sandy coves and crescent beaches. Land in Angra and transfer to the port where you will board your yacht. Set sail.
Day 4 and 5: At Sea
Your three days in the region sailing down towards Paraty will be spent circumnavigating the many small, forested islands for which the area is known, some of which are uninhabited and others that hide beautiful private homes. The clear blue-green waters are wonderful for snorkeling and there are good dive sites, particularly for shipwrecks, in the vicinity of the largest of these islands, Ilha Grande. Pull aside a floating fisherman’s farm for a feast on oysters and a cold glass of wine; stop by a simple al fresco seaside restaurant for a lunch of grilled fish. Your time is your own, and you will be enchanted by the constantly changing scenery.
Day 6: Paraty
Today you will disembark in Paraty with its lovely old town of cobbled streets and colonial mansions, one of which has been reconstructed into your hotel for the night. Casa Turquesa has just a few rooms, each of which is beautifully decorated in a colonial style to match the period. You have shopping at your fingertips and some really good restaurants to explore.
Day 7: Paraty
Today, you will join your naturalist, Javier, and head down the coast by speedboat into the Saco do Mamanguá, a fjord-like cut that ends at a well preserved mangrove channel, rich in flora and fauna. If you are looking for some physical activity, you can be dropped at the start of a hiking route that will give you a couple of hours of good exercise over the crest of the hill and down the back side. We will have lunch prepared for you in a gorgeous hidaway tucked into the forest and overlooking the sea. When you are ready to return to town, call the skipper and he will speed you back.
Day 8 & 9: Paraty – Salvador
You will charter back this morning to Rio and then connect with a commercial flight to Salvador, the capital city of Bahia located on the northeastern coast of Brazil.
With an Old Town – the Pelourinho – recognized as a World Heritage Site, Salvador is uniquely beautiful. As the most important slave port during the height of the trade, today it has the largest population of African descendants outside of Africa. It is a city filled with music, with costume, with magic both literal and figurative. The sound of drums is always in the air, distant or near, a reminder of the West African heritage of its people. Many of Brazil’s greatest writers and musicians come from here – think of Jorge Amado, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil. It is a heaving, thrumming, electric city.
There are plenty of restaurants, bars and shops and the nightlife, too, is legendary. But we will also encourage you to step out with our wonderful historian who will spin tales for you of the Old World and the New World that have met and melded in this spot.
Day 10: Departure