If you think a trip to Brazil is an invitation to the best party ever, you are correct! Colorful, sizzling, breathtakingly beautiful, and populated with friendly people (and amazing animals), Brazil is the place for good times, good food, good drinks, and good energy.
We begin with the Amazon, a vast rainforest and river teeming with magical creatures like pink dolphins, bioluminescent mushrooms, and — yes — piranhas and anacondas. (Shout-out to the friendly capybaras!)
Brazil’s cities offer something for everyone — the capital city of Brasília’s futuristic architecture, Sao Paulo’s international food scene, and Rio’s seductive combo of city sights and sparkling beaches. (There’s a reason we’ve been singing about the tall and tan, young and lovely girl from Ipanema for decades.)
While you’re surely ready to dance the samba and drink a few caipirinhas, did you know Brazil is also the place for award-winning cheese? Or a spring-fed pool that feels like champagne? Or ‘chestnuts from Para’?
In this episode, we explore Brazil’s rainforest and urban jungles, dig into the fascinating (really!) story of Brazil nuts, and meet one of the world’s finest Emperors. Then we recommend five great books that took us there on the page, including a tragi-comic family saga, a literary mystery mixed with magical realism, a gritty Rio crime novel starring a bookish detective, a graphic novel about beginnings and endings, and a Gothic-tinged coming-of-age story.
Read the full transcript of Brazil: Sugarloaf, Samba, and Sao Paulo.
Perhaps you’d like to listen to some Brazilian music while you dig into these links.
And some photos to set the scene…
Ditto the incredible insects that live in the Amazon. Look at the beauties in National Geographic — and 10 cool creepy crawlies found in the rainforest.
National Geographic: Sights and Bites: What to Eat While Touring Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Lonely Planet: The Best Things to Eat and Drink In Brazil.
Culture Trip: The Essential Dishes To Eat In Brazil.
Travel+Leisure calls Sao Paulo Brazil’s most stylish city.
Take a sip: The History of the Caipirinha — Anthony Bourdain swore it was the perfect drink for any occasion.
Statement 2: In Brazil, you can get out of jail faster if you read books. NPR has the story.
Statement 3: The last Emperor of Brazil was deposed so quietly that some people in the room didn’t realize it had happened. Read all about Pedro II on Wikipedia.
The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao by Martha Batalha
Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey
The Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza
Brush up on your Spinoza philosophy.
Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Bá
Flesh and Bone and Water by Luiza Sauma
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