As I’ve received a fair share of enquiries on travel packages for the World Cup 2014, I have written a blog post on the topic with the title packages for the World Cup 2014. You will find it at our the World Cup Brazil 2014 website, where we deal with all things related to one of the biggest sporting events of the decade.

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The World Cup 2010 is over and it seems the appropriate time for the launch of our new project, devoted fully to the soccer world cup that will take place in Brazil in 2014. Its name is the World Cup Brazil 2014 and its main goal is to provide tourists with reliable and trustworthy travel information related to Brazil during the sporting event.

Our main focus is not the sporting side of the event. What we want is to help tourists decipher the host cities and help them make the most of their time in Brazil. The core of the project is a blog with news and a Host Cities menu where we will develop the information related to each city.

As well as the website, we have created a Twitter profile.

Along with the new The World Cup Brazil 2014 goes a parallel project in the Spanish language: el Mundial de Brasil 2014.

With the new additions to our portfolio we have now nine pages dedicated to provide independent travel information on Brazil:

• Brazil Travel Blog, in English, with general travel information on Brazil
• Accommodation in Brazil, in English, with accommodation listings for the main tourist destinations in the country
• D Airfare, in English, with news on flight deals and texts to help our readers find the best possible airfare to travel to Brazil and within the country too
• The World Cup Brazil 2014, in English, with travel information related to the World Cup 2014
• De viaje a Brasil, in Spanish, with general travel information on Brazil
• Blog de São Paulo, in Spanish, with information on the largest Brazilian city
• Alojamiento en Brasil, in Spanish, with accommodation listings for the main tourist destinations in the country
• D Vuelos, in Spanish, with news on flight deals and texts to help our readers find the best possible airfare to travel to Brazil and within the country too
• el Mundial de Brasil 2014, in Spanish, with travel information related to the World Cup 2014

As well as two Facebook pages and 8 Twitter profiles. They are all individual efforts for which the Brazilian tourism authorities have given us no support whatsoever. In a kind of way, it is a true blessing as complete independence is one of our core assets.

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FIFA is setting up a giant arena at the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro during the world cup. Soccer fans and tourists alike will be able to watch the world cup games in a festive atmosphere. During the matches played by Brazil the giant TV screen will face the ocean so around 100,000 can watch the game.

Access to the arena will be free – six other cities across the world will host similar events. We had already seen at the blog how the World Cup atmosphere had began to mount.

There is more information on the event at FIFA’s Official web site.

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We’re less than two months away from the opening game of the South Africa Soccer World Cup 2010. Before that, on 11 May, Dunga, the Brazilian coach, will announce to the nation the long-awaited list of players who will represent Brazil in the competition.

The matches Brazil will play at the group stage are:

15 de junio: Brazil – North Korea
20 de junio: Brazil – Ivory Coast
25 de junio: Brazil – Portugal

If Brazil makes it first of the group it will play its next game on 28 June. If it only makes it second it will play on 29 June.

Nothing beats attending a football match among a Brazilian crowd so if you have the chance make sure there is a TV set nearby.

I’ll leave you with the ad launched recently by Skol (Brazilian beer), making fun of Argentina –a classic on the eve of a major sporting competition. In the commercial, Argentinians magically become the fondest fans of Brazilian football after being in contact with Skol beer.

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The cities that will host the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil have been chosen. They are Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaos, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and São Paulo.

It is almost certain that the World Cup final will take place at the Maracanã stadium in Rio. São Paulo and Belo Horizonte are fighting for the right to host the opening game.

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I am presenting my very own personal list of 10 moments lived in Brazil filled with emotion. They do not follow any particular order.

1. a huge turtle (up until then you had never stopped to think how large turtles can be) swimming placidly next to you, in complete silence; suddenly a shoal of fish swims by right in front of you while you approach a sunken ship where thousands of colourful fish rejoice. Diving in Noronha has to be one of the most intense experiences you can live in Brazil.
   
2. up to four or five dolphins jumping out of the water simultatenously, while dozens of them follow the small boat from where you contemplate the amazing display. Encountering dolphins in Noronha is joy at its purest.
3. in spite of the pushing and shoving; of the endless queue of tourists all waiting to take exactly the same snapshot in front of the statue, arms opened; in spite of the awful mood of the professional photographers; in spite of the street vendors; when you reach the balcony of the Corcovado mountain and the whole of Rio unfolds in front of your very own eyes, your heart and mind are transported somewhere else.
   
4. the ceaseless rhythm of the percussion, the tune you will not stop humming even after you’ve gone to sleep, the festival of colours and dazzling costumes, the bumba-meu-boi festival in São Luís is pure magic.
   
5. from the top of the sunset dune in Jericoacoara there is a terrific panoramic view of the sea and the dunes. When the moon is full, it will appear right at the same time as the sun goes down, turning the experience into an unforgettable moment.
   
6. think of the wildest rollercoaster your mind can imagine and then take all safety devices out of the picture. That’s what a buggy ride on the Genipabu dunes feels like. Your stomach will turn, you will bid farewell to friends an family endless times, you will swallow tons of sand, and your heart will be tested to the limit.
   
7. everything in the village is special, but watching the sun go down behind the Serra do Mar from the harbour in Paraty is an unforgettable moment that can open the door to never-ending passions.
   
8. an endless succession of dunes and green lagoons, absolutely no one around, the merciless sun being your only companion. A walk through the Lençóis Maranhenses is intense to the extreme.
   
9. there is something unreal about that intense red colour. Because of that, contemplating the scarlet ibises near the Baronesa beach in Alcântara is an activity where the notion of time quickly vanishes.
   
10. the roaring of the waters and its spray are felt from afar, but the real power of the place is only truly manifested when you reach the mighty Devil’s Throat at the Iguazu Falls. Don’t be surprised should you find yourself leaning dangerously towards, such is the power of the enchanment [the observation deck for the Devil's Throat is actually in Argentina, but most of what you see from there it's on Brazil].
    

I want to close my list with a very special emotion, that can be experienced anywhere on Brasil, but only once in a long while. In terms of strong emotions, few things can compare to the explosion of joy that follows the conquest by Brazil of a soccer World Cup. The last time it happened I was lucky to be here to witness it, it was 2002.

Here are all the Top 10 lists published in the blog so far.