BootsnAll Travel Community

Hello,

My girlfriend will be travelling together in Brazil for 3 weeks until early August. Our rough itinerary (with a 4 flight TAM airpass) will be as follows

Rio and closeby: 6 days
Salvador: 3 days
Olinda and closeby: 4 days
Travelling the Northeast by bus from Olinda to either Fortaleza or Sao Luis for 8 days (at least a few days in Jeri, and probably time in Lencois and maybe Natal)

She will then fly back to Rio for her flight home. I will however have another 9 days to play with. I was thinking I could stick around the Northeast for longer, fly back to Rio with her and stay in the area, or I could fly to Buenos Aires.

suggestions? I am fine with bus rides, but nothing over 12 hours. I don't think the falls or Pantanal are options, as I'd like to do those things with her when we hopefully go back in a few years.

Thanks,

Dave

If you only spend 3 days in Salvador, I can almost guarantee you'll want to spend more time there to see more, go to Morro do Sao Paulo, etc. and/or the coast between Salvador and Rio. (inc. Morro, Boipeba, Itacare/Ilheus, Porto Seguro/Arrail D'Ajuda, Abrolhos marine park, Buzios)

Have you looked into Fernando de Noronha? It's an expensive flight into the ocean out of either Recife or Natal, and it's THE most beautiful spot in Brazil. According to me. #8D) So to get full value for your TAM pass, I think you should go there. Especially since you seem to have only 3-4 days "per stop", and Fernando is one of those places where that is just the right amount of time for a proper visit. It's sort of a honeymoony kind of place, but you don't have to propose if you don't want to!

For Olinda, 2 days is enough, though. Fortaleza is ok as a base to do daytrips to other beaches, but it is even better to actually stay a couple of days (or more) at each beach, since Fortaleza is not _that_ interesting in itself.

You will have no reason to spend time in Natal after having experienced the marvels of Jericoacoara and Lencois and everything between.

For your alone days, maybe you can head inland for a bit. If you like hiking, do go to (the other) Lencois, where you can hike in the Chapada Diamantina. It's a beautiful national park, and if you want a rough hike in the absence of your girlfriend, you can do that. If you just want to walk from one relaxing pond and waterfall to the other, that's an option, too. You get there by bus (6-7 hours, I think?) from Salvador, so it may mean some backtracking, I guess. It's worth it, though. Too many people forget that Brazil is not just beaches and the Amazonas!

If you want to see my photos from the places I mentioned, find them at
http://www.pvv.org/~bct/brasil/
http://www.pvv.org/~bct/brasil2/
http://www.pvv.org/~bct/brasil3/

Happy trails!

Bjørn
http://bjornfree.com/

Thanks.

Bahiana77: Yes, Salvador sounds amazing, unfortunately my girlfriend isn't so excited about it (I really can't understand but oh well) AND we do only have 3 weeks in total together, so I think 3 days is all we'll have there.

Bjorn: Thanks again. You responded to another post of mine before...hmmm, or I just found your blog and emailed you. I forget. Anyway, yes, we are planning on spending a rushed 2 days in Chapada Diamantina (overnight bus there and back), partially based on your suggestion from your last reply. About Olinda, I think 2 days is all we will spend there. Unfortunately, Fernando is just too expensive and there are no longer flights available on dates that make sense for us.

Sooo, any ideas for cool places within an overnight bus from Rio? I'm thinking of heading to Buenos Aires, but perhaps 2-3 days somewhere cool outside of Rio would be good as well.

Thanks,

Dave