Today we pay homage to the state of Bahia on the ocassion of the celebration of the 1st Tourism Fair of Bahia.

With you, 20 images that represent 20 reasons to visit Bahia.

1. Sunset | Praia do Forte

2. The “Quadrado” after sunset | Trancoso

3. Festivals | Arraial d’Ajuda

4. Time standing still | Boipeba

5. The Caribbean | Morro de São Paulo

6. This is where Brazil started | Porto Seguro

7. A tropical castle | Castelo Garcia d’Ávila, Praia do Forte

8. Crystal-clear waters | Boipeba

9. As soon as you spot the “fitas” you will know you are in Bahia | Salvador

10. Relax, you are in Bahia | Santo André, north of Porto Seguro

11. Historic heritage, where gold shines | church of San Francisco, Salvador

12. Environmental preservation | Projeto Tamar in Praia do Forte

13. Religious architecture right by the green sea | Santa Cruz de Cabrália, north of Porto Seguro

14. Where tourism hasn’t left its mark yet | Caraíva

15. Palm trees | Arraial d’Ajuda

16. Religious feelings | Arraial d’Ajuda

17. Perfect beaches | Bainema beach in the island of Boipeba

18. Amazing nature | a spectacular gameleira tree in Praia do Forte

19. Any minuscule piece of land, tiny as it might be, it’s fit for the national passion | Caraíva

20. The smile | Salvador

The links on the names of the destinations will take you to the information we have on them at the BRAZIL TRAVEL BLOG. Bahia is a Brazilian state that concentrates a sizeable number of tourist attractions. You can spend an entire trip to Brazil touring them. We haven’t mentioned the Chapada Diamantina as we haven’t visited the region.

We’re heading to Salvador de Bahiaa this week. The 1º Salão Baiano de Turismo, the Bahia Tourism Fair, is taking place from 17 to 19 May. As it was the case for the veteran Tourism Fair of São Paulo, the event will provide and excellent chance to talk about tourism, learn more about the myriad Brazilian destinations and rethink the way Brazil sells itself.

We have been invited by the Secretary of Tourism of Bahia to take part on a round table along with Ricardo Freire (from the most important Brazilian travel blog, Viaje na Viagem) and Alison McGowan (from Hidden Pousadas Brazil). We will debate on a topic close to us all: the independent traveller.

If you are going to the fair, the round table will take place on 18 May at 17:00. You will find all the info related to the fair at its official website.

We are delighted with the iniative of Bahiatursa (the official tourism agency for the state of Bahia), placing the independent traveller at the core of the discussion.

Sailing on a small boat through an igapó, the flooded forest, it’s a magical experience. The flooded forest is made possible by the changing levels of the Amazon river (at “cheia” and “seca” on the Amazon region we gave more details of the phenomenon).

We have published quite a few blog posts here at the BRAZIL TRAVEL BLOG on the Amazon. Here’s the index of blog posts on the Amazon.

After a period of closed doors due to renovation work, the mythical Maracana soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro reopens its doors to visitors. Construction work is far from being finished, but visitors will be able to have two different experiences of the stadium:

• a guided visit to the construction work under progress (more details, in Portuguese, here). It is done on the first Saturday of each month and you have to confirm your presence by writing to visitaguiada@maracanario2014.com.br
• a visit to the Torre de Vidro (Crystal Tower) (more details, in Portuguese, here). The tower is the part of the stadium where you will find the hall of fame and other memorabilia. From the top of the tower there is an splendid view of the stadium. Visits are carried out between 9 and 19 horas, from Monday to Sunday bank holidays included. There is an entrance fee of R$20.

New images of the stadium

The architecture studio responsible for work at the Maracana has just released new images of how the stadium will look like when it’s finished. Click on the image below.

The Maracana stadium will be host to seven world cup games, including the final. Work is expected to be completed by February 2013, several months behind schedule.

The following video introduces the official project for the new Maracana stadium.

More information on Rio de Janeiro and the World Cup.

This blog’s main entry on Rio is destination: Rio de Janeiro. We have also an entire blog devoted to the forthcoming world cup: The World Cup Brazil 2014.

The local authorities of Porto Alegre have received the project for the revitalization of the Guaíba riverside. The image shows the stretch beginning at the Usina do Gasômetro leading to the first curve on the Beira Rio Avenue. The idea is to change the face of the bayside turning it into a leisure space that can be enjoyed by citizens and tourists alike.

Although we’ve visited Porto Alegre several times it has always been as part of a business trip. We wish we will soon find the time to pay a proper visit to the capital of Rio Grande do Sul. It deserves it.

Today’s blog post consolidates texts from all our sources on Brazil, including this Brazil Travel Blog but also D Airfare and the World Cup Brazil 2014. This is a summary of blog posts published during the month of April.

—————————————
Brazil Travel Blog

We opened the month in Rio de Janeiro where we had a look at restaurants in the favelas, a new tourist attraction.

We heard news about one of the youngest national parks in Brazil at Restinga de Jurubatiba National Park open for visitation on 4-wheel drive or boat.

From Noronha came the news of the set up of a new infrastructure for tourism. We wondered whether that could lead to two different island experiences.

We paid a quick visit to the Brazilian capital to see Google’s homage to Brasilia on its 52th anniversary.

We put and end to the month with a word of warning on the dengue fever epidemic declared in Rio de Janeiro, an event we feel shouldn’t lead you to panic.

—————————————
D Airfare

We began the month issuing an alert on Bolivian airline Aerosur, as it is on the verge of bankrupcy and has suspended flights.

The yet-unborn American’s Miami to Manaus will become a daily flight on its launch date in June.

Uruguayan airline Pluna is suspending temporarily its Montevideo to Campinas flight.

A couple of announcements from Central American airline Taca: Taca to fly from Costa Rica to Brasilia and to cancel its Lima Brasilia.

A recent report showed that 85% of Brazilian airports are on a worrying or critical situation.

Qatar Airways, one of the best airlines in the world, ran a promotion offering 25% discount on its fares.

Tam and Aeromexico signed a code-share agreement.

—————————————
The World Cup Brazil

For those wanting to join the fun while at the same time avoiding bankrupcy, there will be Two Fifa Fun Fests in Rio de Janeiro and one in Porto Alegre.

The money-making machine is working at full steam, and an excellent proof of that is the fact that the World Cup 2014 generated US$910 million for FIFA during 2011.

We introduced readers to the Brazilian government’s official website for the World Cup.

—————————————

The authorities of Rio de Janeiro have just declared a dengue epidemic in the city, something of an annual event.

This year’s epidemic seems of a smaller scale than in preceeding years:

• 12 deaths have been registered as well as 50,000 cases. Readers of this blog will remember previous epidemics with hundreds of deaths and hundreds of thousands of cases.
• the declaration of the epidemic comes at the end of April, when the rainy season is coming to an end and the number of cases drops drastically.

Should you cancel your trip to Rio because of the dengue epidemic? In questions of health we’ve always believed that everyone should make their own mind based on their tolerance to risk. To those affected, it doesn’t matter much whether the number of victims is large or tiny. We personally wouldn’t cancel our trip to Rio but like I’ve just pointed out, that’s a decision based on our own personal tolerance to risk – which might be different from yours.

We encourage you to read 10 facts about dengue fever in Brazil, a text we wrote with the help of a medical specialist on the issue. After reading the text, you’ll be better prepared to make your own mind.

——————————
RELATED POSTS:
a word of warning on accommodation in Rio de Janeiro during June 2012

For those who were not surfing the internet on Saturday, here’s the beautiful homage Google paid to the 52th anniversary of Brasilia in the form a doodle (you can see it here) formed by the silhouettes of some of the best-known buildings in the city.

Here at the BRAZIL TRAVEL BLOG we paid our very own homage to Brasilia on the occassion of its 50th birthday: a e-photobook you can view and download for free: Brasilia 50, our free photo ebook on the Brazilian capital. Brasilia features on our list of 10 must-see places in Brazil and for that reason we have covered the destination in detail. The starting point to all the information we have on the capital of Brazil is destination: Brasilia.

For those interested on an alternative take, in English, on what Brasilia means 52 years later: An irreparable mistake, Brasília, 52, may only be feasible in 150 years.

——————————
RELATED POSTS:
Brasilia 50, our free photo ebook on the Brazilian capital
map of Brasilia
hotels in Brasilia
a new shuttle bus from Brasilia airport to town
sighsteeing in Brasilia
Brasilia wonders: JK bridge
Brasilia wonders: Santuário dom Bosco
Brasilia wonders: the Esplanada dos Ministérios
World Heritage Sites
Website on the Cultural World Heritage Sites in Brazil

It wasn’t that long ago that we mentioned how the national park of Fernando de Noronha was going to be run by a private company: news from Noronha: paradise to be run by private company and off goes a year of accumulated garbage.

The first results of that move can now be seen, with the construction of the first catwalk leading visitors to the different points of interest on the main island (there is more detailed information, in Portuguese, as well as photographs at Nova estrutura turística do Parque Nacional Marinho Fernando de Noronha é pioneira no país).

If all the announcements made become a reality, the experience of visiting the national park will be improved bit time for many visitors. Of particular importance is the construction of three Information and Control Centers (one on the high end of Sancho Beach, another one at Sueste Beach and the third one at Leão Beach). Visitors will find at those centers maps, restooms, lockers, bike and diving gear hire.

The question I added to the title of the post occurred to me while reading the following dialogue at the Facebook profile of the company running the park:

The tourist observes:

The beaches of Boldró, Conceição and Porto are covered with garbage, beer cans and so on.

The responsible for the company replies:

Those beaches belong to the Environmental Preservation Area and are not under our responsibility. Get in touch with the administration of the Noronha District, who are responsible for garbage collection and maintenance of the beaches.

Just picture the scene. The tourist arrives in the most expensive destination in Brazil. Pays two hefty taxes, the new entrance fee to the National Park and the environmental tax. The benefits deriving from the National Park entrance fee soon become obvious. While the use being made of the money paid on the environmental tax becomes a mistery (we gave some hints to help you decipher the mystery at the dark side of Fernando de Noronha)

During their stay in Noronha, the tourists will move between two different domains. One clean and well-preserved and the other one leaving a lot to be desired. It will have a smashing time visiting the National Park but God forbids they should have an accident while on the other side of Noronha (a Brazilian tourist suffered a traffic accident in Noronha. As the local “hospital” is not prepared to deal with serious cases, a hospital airplane had to be called in from the continent. Problem is, when the plane reached the island, several of the lights signalling the airport’s runway were not working and the plane had to return to the continent. The tourist died the following day as a results of his serious injuries: Turista de SC morre em acidente em Fernando de Noronha).

There will be two types of beaches. The ones within the National Park, full of facilities, and the ones outside the National Park, where cans of beer might form part of the landscape.

And the tourist will not understand a thing.

It is time for pressure being put on the administration of the island of Noronha to reveal where the money collected through the environmental tax goes. And it is also time for the local administration to ensure tourism in Noronha doesn’t become a tale of two different experiences. The most beautiful and expensive Brazilian destination deserves a little more care.

Our main blog post on the Brazilian paradise is destination: Fernando de Noronha.

——————————
RELATED POSTS:
the dark side of Fernando de Noronha
Noronha: ready to fork out a further R$130?
five days in Noronha for R$900 total – how we did it
pay your tax online… not!
news from Noronha: paradise to be run by private company and off goes a year of accumulated garbage

See map on a larger window

Restinga de Jurubatiba National Park, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, one of the youngest national parks in Brazil, will open for visitation using 4-wheel drives or boats. The buggy or 4-wheel drive ride will visit 13 km between the lagoons and the sea. The boat trip will go from Paulista lagoon to Carapebus lagoon.

The Brazilian authorities are trying to establish the rules governing the visitation of the park. The companies providing tourist services will be based in the town of Quissamã. The park will be open for visitation from Thursday to Sunday and during bank holidays too. Visitors to the park will not have to purchase any packages.

In spite of its youth the park faces serious threats deriving from economic and human activity around the park (Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba, no Norte do Rio, tenta sobreviver numa área de pressão social e econômica). We hope
sustainable tourism will help the park face the threats.