Technical rehearsal season has started for Rio de Janeiro samba schools. These free parades at the Sambódromo are one of the highlights of pre-Carnival in Rio, with major samba schools from the Special Group and Access Group A bringing thousands of participants to the Marquês de Sapucaí Avenue.
The next technical rehearsal will be this Saturday, Jan.21, when Inocentes de Belford Roxo and Porto da Pedra will parade at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. respectively.
Photo: Beija-Flor rehearsal on Jan.8, 2012. Marina Herriges/Riotur.
Riotur, Rio de Janeiro's official tourism company, has launched Carnaval de Rua Rio 2012, the guide to the city's 425 free Carnival parades in the streets.
The guide includes pre-Carnival, which starts in January, and post-Carnival, both of which have gained a lot of attention in the last few years.
Even though information about Rio de Janeiro Carnival is available in English on the city's official online guides, this recently launched guide, available in Portuguese, is the most complete. Go to "Pesquisar Blocos" and enter names of the blocos, or Carnival groups, or dates for the most recent updates.
Here on the About.com Guide to Brazil Travel, stop by for gradual updating on all the information about Rio's best blocos and street parades, and enjoy the amazing universe of the city's free Carnival.
Photo: Banda de Ipanema, one of the most popular blocos in Rio de Janeiro street Carnival. Paulo Mumia/Riotur.
Santa Catarina, home to Brazil's top Oktoberfest, has a dash of German-style partying every summer with Sommerfest in Blumenau and Festa Pomerana in the neighboring town of Pomerode.
About 8,000 people came to the first night of Sommerfest (every Thursday through Feb.9) last week, according to the administration of Parque Vila Germânica, the festival venue.
Meanwhile, Pomerode, whose slogan is "Most German Town in Brazil", is getting ready to kick off its annual summer festival. The 29th edition of Festa Pomerana is starting this Thursday with lots of German food, games and music as well as locally brewed beer. The event is a good pretext to visit the town's picturesque attractions, such as the Immigrant's House.
Photos: Sommerfest last Thursday by Rogério Pires/Parque Vila Germânica. Casa do Imigrante courtesy of the Pomerode Tourism Secretariat.
Spotting wild animals in their natural habitat, a desire cherished by so many travelers in Brazil, is not a given on every trip through the country's forests. It takes respectful knowledge of animals and their habits to make the most of the opportunities to view them without disturbing them.
Such experiences are being offered by Wild Planet Adventures on their 2012 journeys through the Pantanal and the Brazilian Amazon. "On the Jaguar's Trail: From the Pantanal to the Amazon" is a 15-day trip, available from June to October 2012, which will also be available in a shortened 11-day itinerary.
The expedition includes travel by jeep, on foot, horseback and by boat and showcases three distinct ecosystems spanning the Pantanal wetlands to the Amazon's rainforests.
In a release about the trips, Wild Planet Adventures founder and owner Josh Cohen says that "we see on average 1.5 jaguars per day and sometimes as many as seven. Jaguars frequently hunt caimans along the riverbanks and are often seen at very close range for extended periods."
Travelers will visit the Taiama Ecological Reserve in Pantanal and stay at the Cristalino Jungle Lodge, one of the top Amazon Jungle Lodges in Brazil, with over 46 square miles of private forest reserve (photo above) which is home to 600 species of birds, including hyacinth macaws.
Besides jaguars, other mammals travelers can spot on the journey are tapirs, giant anteaters, monkeys, otters and capybaras.
The program begins and ends in Rio de Janeiro. The cost is $6,698 per person (flights not included) for expeditions scheduled June 10-24, July 8-22, Aug. 3-17, Sept. 2-16 and Sept 30-Oct 14, 2012.
For an additional $299, a minimum of two guests can go at a date of their own choosing. The 11-day itinerary starts at $4,998 per person (flights not included).
Trip extensions can possibly be scheduled to Iguassu Falls, the Meeting of the Waters and Anavilhanas National Park.
For more information, visit the Wild Planet Adventures website.
Photos courtesy of Wild Planet Adventures.
