General Info About Brazil

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We do recommend that you try to venture beyond the thousands of miles of beach to explore Brazil’s other remarkable attractions: the folk religions of Salvador, the colonial towns of Ouro Preto and Olinda or the wilderness of the Pantanal, one of the best wildlife preserves in South America. Rio might draw you to Brazil the first time, but the country’s unexplored corners and breadth of attractions will make you want to go back.

Brazil was a Portuguese colony for more than three centuries (much of it at the center of the great Atlantic sugar and slave trades), and evidence of Portuguese culture abounds in everything from language to food. After declaring its independence in 1822, Brazil went on to become a kingdom, an empire and, finally, in 1889, a republic. The country is shared by descendants of native Indians, European immigrants, Africans slaves, Japanese farmers and even Confederate refugees from the U.S. Civil War.

Brazil’s territory is as varied as its people: dense jungles, semiarid scrub land, rugged hills, jagged mountains and a beautiful coastline. Hills and mountains dominate most of the southern coastline, while jungle covers nearly all of the northwest and west of the country. The Amazon River cuts across the entire country from west to east, while most southern rivers drain to the interior of the country, finally emptying into the Atlantic between Uruguay and Argentina.

Pantanal
According to Portuguese-English dictionary, PANTANAL is a "large swamp or marsh". In reality the definition is not precise . The term Pantanal is applied to a large land mass which becomes partially submersed during the raining season, covering an area of about 210,000 square kilometers in Central-Western Brazil, Eastern Bolivia and part of Paraguay. The largest portion of Pantanal, about 140,000 square kilometers lies, in Brazil, stretching over two states-- Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. By comparison, Florida Everglades has only 10,000 square kilometers.
The vegetation of the Pantanal is mainly a mixture between three of the most important Eco-systems of South America; the Chaco with its dry forest formations to the south, the savanna-like Cerrado to the east and the Amazon jungle to the north. As a result of the topography and the seasonal climate the landscapes consist of swamps, seasonally flooded grass and woodlands, and various types of forest (evergreen, semi deciduous, gallery etc.). This mixture has caused the Pantanal to house the highest concentration of wildlife in all of the Americas.
In the Pantanal region occur around 700 species of birds (compared to about 500 in all Europe). It is one of the most important breeding grounds for typical wetland birds such as heron, stork, ibis and pink spoonbill that are found in enormous flocks. The magnificent Jabiru with its red neck and black head; the biggest stork of the Americas is known as the symbol of the Pantanal. Quite evident are also the 26 species of parrot including the endangered blue hyacinth macaw, the world's largest parrot more than one meter long. Of other characteristic birds can be mentioned the rhea – the South American version of the ostrich. The large quantity of birds of prey – represented by 45 species – indicates a well balanced ecosystem."
"The Pantanal is a huge plain of marshy areas. The flooding period justifies the myth about its origin that says that it used to be a huge inside ocean, the Xaraés ocean. This hydrographic complex yet includes, countless of bays and lakes with the most diversified areas, linked or not by booklet and runways which are small perennial or even periodic rivers. During the river flooding or rains, it takes place an extraordinary linkage among rivers, river arms and the bays. The river water finally becomes only one: The Xaraés ocean. During the drainage period the region, enriched by humus, becomes the most and more rich concentration of natural foods which will sustain its entire flora and fauna. It is the period that the most large and vigorous grazing land of the world becomes green."

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