Welcome to Enchanting Journeys

Enchanting Brazil… the time to go is now

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes” – Marcel Proust

Real travelers love South America. It is as though the continent was built for travel; a place that excites, thrills, challenges & infuriates. Setting for big adventures, cultural treasures, la vida musicals, captivating landscapes. With an intoxicatingly rich history, which has spawned a number of exquisite temples & monuments, your journey through this mind-stirring region will blaze in your memory long after you have left its shores. 

And Brazil is an incredibly varied & exciting vacation destination. Landscapes rivalled by few & coveted by millions…….a seductive country with dazzling beaches, tropical islands & picturesque colonial towns. Sprawling across half of South America, Brazil has captivated travelers for at least 500 years. Come, discover Brazil with us……..

An incredibly varied & exciting vacation destination, pulsating with a spectacular mix of people, traditions & landscapes. From the snow-capped peaks of the Andes to the undulating waterways of the Amazon, South America spreads a dazzling array of natural wonders.

Be mindful of what you are getting into: South America can be a lifetime addiction. You would not realize this when you first hike on Andean trails & be awed by the pre-Colombian sites, but you come back for more. You will fall in love with the incredible wonders of this continent: its mist-covered peaks, thundering falls & vast rainforests. Add to this, the human-made treasures: buzzing indigenous markets, picturesque colonial towns & vibrant cityscapes. This is just the beginning, and in South America there really is no end.

You can hike past ancient temples first laid down by the Incas, contemplate the awe-inspiring power of Iguazu Falls, or spend the day watching wildlife from a dugout canoe on one of the Amazon's countless igarapes (narrow waterways). You can barrel down Andean roads by mountain bike, go white-water rafting on class V rivers and surf amazing breaks off both coasts. And once you think you have experienced it all, head to the dramatic landscapes in Tierra del Fuego, go eye-to-eye with extraordinary creatures in the Galapagos, & scramble up tableland mountains in the Gran Sabana for a panorama that seems straight out of the Mesozoic era.

Sweat yourself dizzy on an Amazon canoe ride before ending the day caiman-watching on a black-water lagoon. Brave a white-knuckle bus ride down Peruvian slopes & be astounded by endless Andean vistas. Endure Patagonia’s wind-driven rain while chasing life-affirming sunsets or simply lose yourself (& possibly your belongings) in the break-neck chaos of Buenos Aires or Salvador.

South America's diversity doesn't end with geography. You will find colonial towns where cobblestone streets lead past gilded churches & stately plazas little changed since the 18^th century. You can haggle over colorful textiles at indigenous markets, share meals with traditional dwellers of the rainforest & follow the pounding rhythms of Afro-Brazilian drums corps. It is home to an astounding variety of living & ancient cultures, and experiencing it first-hand is as easy as showing up.

This is one of the world's great music destinations. Nothing compares to hearing the rhythms of Colombian salsa, Brazilian samba, Argentine tango & Andean folk music in the place where they were born. Buenos Aires' sultry milongas (tango clubs), Rio's simmering garrafeiras (dance halls), Quito's salsotecas (salsa clubs) - all great places to chase the heart of Saturday night. Yet this is only the beginning of a great musical odyssey that encompasses Peruvian trovas, soulful Ecuadorian passillos, fast-stepping Brazilian forro, whirling Venezuelan merengue, steel-pan Guyanese drumming, Paraguayan harp music & more. Simply plunge in - though you might want to take a dance class along the way!

The real reward, however, is the South American spirit. It seems like the entire continent approaches life with the enthusiasm of an old-fashioned road trip: windows down and stereo blaring. There is as much music as there are adventures to be had. Samba spices up the sandy streets of Brazilian beach towns, panpipes liven Andean markets, Argentine folklorica (folk music) trickles out of truck radios in the pampas, and the jolting rhythm of cumbia makes those Andean bus rides even more absurd. South America is a continent that engulfs you & change your state of mind, your outlook on life. As soon as you step foot on South American soil, the transformation begins.

This is a continent of lush rainforests, towering volcanoes, misty cloud forests, bone-dry deserts, red-rock canyons, ice-blue glaciers & sun-kissed beaches. As landscapes go, there aren't many other places on earth that offers so much variety.

And now, let us talk about Brazil, one of the world's most captivating places, a country of powdery white-sand beaches lined with palm trees & fronting a deep blue Atlantic, stretching for more than 7000 km, verdant rainforests & wild, rhythm-filled metropolises, with its attractions extending to otherworldly landscapes of red-rock canyons, thundering waterfalls & coral-fringed tropical islands.  

Tropical Landscapes|Captivating Beaches| Joie de Vivre & the Rhythms

Brazil's attractions extend from frozen-in-time picturesque colonial towns to otherworldly landscapes of red-rock canyons, thundering waterfalls & coral-fringed tropical islands. Then there is Brazil's biodiversity: legendary in scope, its diverse ecosystems boast the greatest collection of plant & animal species found anywhere on earth. Its verdant rainforests boast an astounding array of wildlife & there are countless places where you can spot iconic species in Brazil, including toucans, scarlet macaws, howler monkeys, capybara, pink dolphins, sea turtles & thousands of other living species.

Sprawling across half of South America, Brazil has captivated travelers for at least 500 years. It’s larger & more famous attractions are the Amazon & the Pantanal. Wildlife watching is simply astounding here, as is the opportunity for adventure, though you need not go to the jungle to find it.

There is horseback riding & wildlife-watching in the Pantanal, kayaking flooded forests in the Amazon, ascending rocky cliff tops to panoramic views, whale-watching off the coast, surfing stellar breaks off palm-fringed beaches & snorkeling crystal-clear rivers or coastal reefs - all are part of the great Brazilian experience. No less entrancing is the prospect of doing nothing, aside from sinking toes into warm sands & soaking up a glorious stretch of beach, with a caipirinha - Brazil's national cocktail - in hand.

A country revered for its football prowess & rich musical traditions, Brazilians are a diverse bunch & full of the carnival spirit - as magnificently displayed at the annual festivities in Rio de Janeiro & Salvador, where visitors can join the mayhem at samba-filled parties. Brazil's landscape is as diverse as the people who inhabit it.

Some of the world’s most exciting cities lie inside of Brazil’s borders & travelers need not come to Carnival to experience the music, dance & revelry that pack so many calendar nights.

Brazil's most famous celebration, the Carnaval, storms through the country's cities & towns with hip-shaking samba & frevo, dazzling costumes & parties that last until sunup, but Brazilians hardly limit their revelry to a few weeks of the year. Festas (festivals) happen throughout the year & provide a window into Brazil's incredible diversity. The streets are carpeted with flowers during Ouro Preto's Semana Santa (Holy Week), while in the north, Bumba Meu Boi blends indigenous, African & Portuguese folklore. For a taste of the old world, hit Blumenau's beer & schnitzel-loving Oktoberfest, the largest outside of Germany. Several cities, such as Recife, Fortaleza & Natal even host Carnaval at other times of year.

Wherever there is music, that carefree lust for life tends to appear - whether dancing with cariocas at Rio's atmospheric samba clubs or following powerful drumbeats through the streets of Salvador. There is the dancehall forro of the Northeast, twirling carimbo of the Amazon, scratch-skilled DJs of Sao Paulo & an endless variety of regional sounds that extends from the twangy country music of the sunbaked sertanejo to the hard-edged reggae of Maranhao.

Given the country’s innumerable charms, the only drawback to traveling in Brazil is a logistical (& financial) one: you simply won’t want to leave.

Few tourists venture far from Brazil's spectacular coastline, but a trip into the interior reveals a different but equally captivating country. History & a unique experience amidst an idyllic scenery are just the beginning....... Take the plunge now & yep…… Brazil is waiting & The Journeys is ready to take you on well, a journey (or journeys) of discovery.

  Come…be inspired & discover the World 

We are in the process of updating our Offerings of experiential journeys to Brazil. Please contact us in the interim if you want to explore options & we will be happy to offer suggestions based on your personal preferences…