brazil holiday with pics

Got a bit more time now and what a time we had in Brazil, a lot of photos are of my extended family out there and more personal than interesting to other people so won't go into much detail on that front.

Right where on earth do I start ??? suppose the 11.5 hour flight is a good place and met by son and d-in-law at the airport and we went to one the houses she owns with her parents. What an eye opener this place was and a shock

it was on agated estate with guards with machine guns to protect the very very rich property owners places at the entrance, with each residence having their own code and photo match before even getting in. YES WOW wasn't the word believe me.

No expense spared either, the outside eating place was like a small bungalow as well. Won't show it all but gives an idea not to mention the 2 swimming pools, personal gardener- pool attendant etc etc 2 acres of ground with a view like this and humming birds too quick to get pictures of

Her family must be one of the nicest one could meet even cousins etc were really pleased to meet us , but all the Brazilians we met wen't out of their way to make us feel welcome. Maybe because we were foreign but I didn't get that impression.

So now move on to class structure and what a different between the haves and have nots no middle class what so ever. The poor were desperately poor and lived in shacks, told never to go anywhere near them as we could easily dissappear. The country itself I got the opinion they were racing to get up to our western standards but have a long long way to go and curruption is rife, everyone is out to "screw" everyone else.

Think the football world cup and the olympics hopefully will be a big boost but my bet is corruption will raise its ugly head.

OK onto the driving on the roads, well no way would I drive over there, first day we went out we saw 3 people killed in body bags through crashes and the second day saw a car we found out later was a BMW going 150mph flipped into a ditch, the engine was on the other side of the road from what was left of the car body. Life is very cheap out there and you just don't stop apart from at lights as gun crime is as common as smoking. Rules of the road? what are they???

AS i said earlier the rich protect themselves up to the hilt.

Now what about the weather? daytime between 35/40c and night around18c but we did have a couple of storms which went as quick as they came

We went to another apartment they own by the coast for a few days and I have to say the beaches and little bays were beautiful. Some had small eating places and as it was their bank holiday the Samba beat was everywhere

Also went to some island or other (don't ask me to name it), full of history one of the streets below

Just one of the thousands of small bays to visit

Our prime purpose was to see our grandchild and talk family talk especially with another granddaughter on the way, but hope this is just a taster.

Would I recommend it as a holiday destination??? big question with a yes and no answer. A a complete stranger then NO would be what I would say, you would need to know someone there who knows what is safe and what is not, even the police ,well say no more.
My advice is to go with a tour company if you can find one or a boat cruise but you just wouldn't even know about the places we were privilaged to see
.Her family is well respected known and liked and thats all I am going to say on the matter apart from even the national airline upgraded us to business class on the flight back when Flavia (d-in-law) had a word to the booking in desk clerk.

bazza

Bazza

I enjoyed reading about your adventure , sounded both scary and fun .

Brasil has been on the tv recently with Michael Palin .

Thanks for sharing

Beautiful pictures - sounds like a scary place though!

Thanks all may post more pics later but this is just one of the larger beaches at sunset

Great read Bazza.

Sounds like you had a wonderful holiday Bazza - nice shots

Really enjoyed reading of your experiences Bazza and look forward to more of your photos.
Whereabouts in Brazil were you staying?

Hi
We stayed at Braganca Paulitsta and mainly at Jardin Das Palmeris ,about half hour from Sao Paulo and at the coast Ubateuba ( hope the spelling is correct)

300 miles from Rio

Bazza

Fantastic Bazza, what a great adventure, but 11.5 hour flight... wow.

Thanks for posting.