The Sugarloaf Mountain is a place located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The mountain is the heights peak in the entire sea covered area. It protrudes into the Atlantic Ocean and has a total height of 1,299 feet above the sea level. It got its name sugarloaf as it resembles the original shape of a huge pile or a heap of sugar that has just come out of a sugar refinery. Some school of thoughts as says that the name is a derivation of a ‘high hill’. The Ariel view of the mountain is also breathtaking.

The mountain is a monolith and is made up of granite and quartz. The most interesting thing from the visitor’s point of view is the glass trolley or cable car that can take almost 75 passengers between the peaks of Pao de Acucar and Cara de Cao in every 20 mins. Originally the cable car was laid and built in the year 1912, however, was rebuilt in 1972 and 197. The view from the glass cable is magnificent.

Another best outdoor activity that the tourist indulge into is rock climbing. It is a very common sight to watch the rock climber climb the Babylon Mountain and the Urca’s mountain. It is said that both the peaks together form the largest urban climbing areas in the world. The Sugar Mountains have such an attraction in them that they have even appeared in the some of the Hollywood movies. The famous of all is the James bond released in the year 1979.

The São Paulo Museum of Art, also called Museu de Arte de São Paulo in Portugese, is a museum of art situated on Paulista Avenue in the São Paulo city, Brazil. It is widely popular for its control centre, a 1968 glass and concrete composition designed by Lina Bo Bardi. The focal body is held up by two side beams over a 74-metre self supporting space. It is noted as an attraction of the city and a chief symbol of contemporary Brazilian architecture.

The São Paulo Museum is a non profit private foundation. It was initiated in the year 1947 by Pietro Maria Bardi and Chateaubriand. The museum made a distinction from other museums for a lot of significant schemes involving art education and musicology in Brazil, and also for its initiative position as a cultural centre, too. It was also the first Brazilian museum that showed interest with the artistic propensities of the Post World War II.

The São Paulo Museum is globally known for its collected works of Western art, which is said to be the greatest in Latin America and in the whole Southern Hemisphere. It also serves as the home of categorical collections of Brazilian art, drawings and prints, as well as tinier collections of Asian and African art. The whole collection of art work is recorded as a Brazilian National Heritage. Among the most notable and significant art works are paintings by Goya, Rembrandt, Matisse, Renoir, Van Gogh, Modigliani, Monet, Dali, and Picasso. Among the best sculpted works are an atypical Renoir, and works by Rodin and Degas. The museum also includes a cinema, a restaurant and an auditorium.

The Teatro Amazonas or The Amazon Theatre is an opera house found in the middle of Manaus, within the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil. It is the site of the yearly Amazonas Opera Festival or the Festival Amazonas de Opera held in every month of April. It was constructed in the time of the Belle Epoque, the period when much wealth was created in the rubber boom. The construction of the Teatro Amazonas was first proposed in the year 1881 by Antonio Jose Fernandes Junior, an associate in the House of Representatives. His idea was to make Manaus among the most significant centres of civilization and to create a gem in the heart of the Amazon forest.

In the subsequent year, the State legislature granted some limited funding. However, this was deemed inadequate. In the year 1882, Jose Lustosa Paranagua, the president of the Province, granted a greater budget and started a contest for the arrangement of plans. By the year 1884, the construction was all set to start under an Italian architect Celestial Sacardim. He designed the theatre in Renaissance style in order to be uniquely artistic and to put in electric lighting.

The Teatro Amazonas is featured in Fitzcarraldo, a film directed by German director Werner Herzog in the year 1982. The opera-fanatic Brian Sweeney “Fitzcarraldo” Fitzgerald goes to the Teatro Amazonas opera house in order to listen to Enrico Caruso sing the Verdi’s Ernani at the start of the movie. He appears just at the last part of the opera and the interiors of the opera house were displayed in some scenes. While it is supposed that the opera house was built to draw Caruso to present at the opening, there are some uncertainties that he really did present there. Teatro Amazonas is features in a book entitled “A Company of Swans”, as well.

Five hundred and forty five kilometres from the shore of the Brazilian state of Pernambuco is a tropical island called Fernando de Noronha. This island is the largest in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, which consists of 21 islands. It is the only island that is occupied and holds one of the most gorgeous beaches in the world.

In order to fully enjoy the numerous natural attractions and experience a little bit of the island’s colonization history, a trip to the Noronha entails at least five days. There are a lot of activities and tour alternatives, which please all kinds of people and offer to them the chance to witness all the natural attractions of the island.

The Beaches of Noronha are split into two sectors: the Inside Sea named Mar de Dentro, and the Outside Sea named Mar de Fora. The Inside Sea is the one en route for the shore of Brazil. It has 10 beaches and 2 bays, one of which is so special that access is limited, called the Dolphin Bay. The Inside Sea becomes a popular area for surfing from November to April when the windy season comes. But for the majority of the year, the sea is tranquil and calm and guarded from the Eastern winds.

The Outside Sea is the one en route for Africa. This sector has 4 beaches, 1 creek, and 2 areas for meditation, and swimming pools on rocks. The Outside Sea is rough, but in some areas a tad bit tranquilized by the reefs, which grasp the waves in between the rocks. This division is filled with water spouts, which are very big areas that are full of colourful fish, similar to an enormous aquarium.

The stunning Copacabana Beach is what always enters people’s minds when they think of the beautiful beaches in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is vast, crescent shaped and very lengthy. It is absolutely perfect for swimming and sunbathing. It is bordered at one end by the widely known Pão de Açucar also called Sugarloaf Mountain that lies just off the shore, and on the opposite end, by the former Copacabana Fort. The beach itself is actually rather wide in areas and much plainer compared to the neighbouring Ipanema Beach. It switches into the Leme beach on the beach’s eastern area and ends with the Leme Mountain.

This two and a half mile long beach in Brazil is one of the most attractive beaches all over the world. It is made very popular by the indoor and outdoor restaurants, bars, luxury hotels, night clubs, and casinos lined up from end to end. Thousands of tourists flock to Copacabana Beach every day. The Copacabana Beach is lit up every night by huge lights, providing a dreamlike feeling and appearance to the entire scene. In spite of the excellent lighting, it is said to be risky to walk around the beach at night and after dark is much safer to stay near the hotels.

Majority of the tourists and the Brazil locals gather together in the popular Copacabana Palace Hotel at Posto 2 to about Posto 5. Across this hotel is the well known gay area of the beach. It is even marked by a rainbow flag and is raging with activity on sunny days.

The most widely played sport on the Copacabana Beach is soccer. However, you can also find other games being played all over the beach from morning until the early evening.

The Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas in Brazil was built in the 2nd century. It includes a church with a luxurious, ornate, Italian-inspired interior design, including an outdoor staircase adorned with beautiful statues of the prophets; and 7 chapels depicting the seven Stations of the Cross.

The small chapels and the church are very picturesque. They are located on a sheer hill, peeking above the other edifices in the neighbourhood. Each of the seven statues of the prophets is very unique, possessing its own posture and character.

The story behind this World Heritage Site is about two extraordinary men, Feliciano Mendes, the Portuguese immigrant and Aleijadhino, the sculptor. With Aleijadhino being the artist and Mendes being the fundraiser, they built a set of architectural monuments within the city of Congonhas. These monuments were then considered the greatest of Brazilian art.

The Sactuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas is located in the historical Brazilian city of Congonhas, also called Congonhas do Campo. The city is found in the state of the Minas Gerais. It is located ninety kilometres (fifty-six miles) southwards the Belo Horizonte, which is the capital state of the Minas gerais, near the highway of BR-040. Congonhas has a populace of fifty thousand.

The city of Congonhas actually became well-known for the sanctuary and the linked statues which were ordered by Feliciano Mendes, the Portugese adventurer, in the eighteenth century. It was made by Aleijadhino, who is among the greatest artists of baroque art throughout the world. The soapstone statues of the prophets of the Old Testament circling the terrace are believed to be one of his best works. In the year 1985, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) awarded the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas a title of being one of the World Heritage Sites.

In the southern area of the lively city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is a public beach called Ipanema Beach. It permits the tourists to have fun under the sun and enjoy the sand with pleasurable freedom. It was widely known in the past for defining what a posh beach culture is really like. Ipanema beach became popular for innovations of stylish beach wear like the dental floss bikini, tiny tanga bikini, and the G-string crocheted for men.

Each part of the beach is unique and attracts various sorts of people. Some of the interesting spots in the beach are Garcia, Teixeira, Farme Gay, Cap Ferrat, Country and Posto9.

You can indulge yourself in fun beach games such as fresco ball, cycling, rollerblading, beach volleyball, soccer, surfing, swimming and even tanning on the sands, which the Brazilian locals pompously sport. Aside from these activities, there are many other things you can do. At night, the town boosts levels of fun with bars, night clubs and lounges. One of the thrilling happenings in Ipanema Beach that you should not miss is the well-known Carnival. Thousands of tourists enjoy this event that boasts the colourful culture and local liveliness.

Aside from these activities, there are a lot of other things you can do. At night, the town boosts levels of fun up with bars, night clubs and lounges. One of the thrilling happenings in Ipanema Beach that you should not miss is the well-known Carnival. Thousands of tourists enjoy this event that boasts the colourful culture and local liveliness.

Notable shopping areas are Visconde de Piraja and the Hippie Fair every Sunday, if you are on a budget. There are a lot of good places to stay depending on your budget. Ipanema Beach offers a variety of economical motels to five star hotels. Some notable areas that have reasonable price accommodation are Flamengo, Catete and Gloria.

Devil’s Throat at Iguazu Falls in Argentina
Photo by: Luca Galuzzi, Creative Commons

Iguazu Falls, also known as Iguassu or Iguaçu Falls. These waterfalls are situated on the border of Argentina and Brazil. It touches the Parana region in Brazil and the Misione region from Argentina. It is the fall that separates the river into upper and lower Iguassu. The first person who discovered the place was a Spanish guy called conquistador Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca in the year 1541. The fall was once again rediscovered by Boselie during the end of the 19th century.

The Iguassu Falls have a total of 275 falls and is 2.7 kilometers long where it finally combines with the Iguassu River. Some of the falls have a common height of 269 feet. However, the best of all is the Devil’s Throat, which is a u-shaped, 82 meters high, 150 meters wide and 700 meters long fall. The view of this fall is breathtaking. Out of all, more than two thirds of the falls lie in the Argentine Province.

It is said that almost ten days of vacation time must be allotted to cover all the falls and do justice to the place. Since the falls are not evenly divided between the countries, enough time must be given to both the countries. No words or pictures can describe the real beauty of the falls. It has to be seen in person to fall in love with it. The tourists can reach the falls from either the Brazil Province or the Argentine Province. The national park of Brazil and Argentine are now a part of the UNESCO, world heritage site.

View of Iguazu Falls in Brazil
Photo by: Martin St-Amant, Creative Commons

The Amazon Rainforest, which is also known as the Amazon Jungle, is located in South America and covers the Amazon River basin. The Amazon River is considered to be the largest river as far as discharge is concerned. Most of the forest is in Brazil (60%), Peru (13%) and some other countries like Venezuela, Colombia, French Guiana, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, and Suriname. Amazon Rainforest is the largest and biggest rainforest in the world and makes about half of the planet’s rainforest space. According to historians, the Amazon Jungle was created millions of years ago when the Amazon River changed its flowing direction from the West to East direction.

Amazon Rainforest or Amazonia is also considered a mysterious and powerful place containing a huge variety of animal species which comprise of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians. Many medical and pharmaceutical agencies are running projects in the jungle for gaining plant knowledge and doing drug research.

In today’s world, the environmentalists are deeply concerned due to deforestation, destruction and the loss of bio-diversity in the Amazon Jungles. Due to new and developing human settlements, the issue of deforestation has increased many folds. Before the year 1960, access to Amazon interiors was restricted, but due to farming practices in the later years, there has been a lot of damage to the Forests. Also, due to pollution and carbon emissions, the growth pattern in the trees and plants has drastically changed, which is unacceptable.

The Brazilian Carnival in Rio, Brazil is an annual festival that takes place four days before Ash Wednesday, which is described as the beginning of the 40 days fast, called lent. During the days of fasting, some Roman Catholics and Christians do not consume meat. The reason of the carnival is to bid farewell to some pleasures of the flesh and it is dedicated to Christ’s death.

The carnival in Brazil is a little different from its counterparts in Europe because it has a mixture of the Europe and African fundamentals. So much so that even the music, rhythm, and costume, changes a bit from one region of Brazil to the other. A fine example to quote the differences is seen in the southeast part of the cities, where the parade of the carnival is usually led by the Samba schools and only Samba school affiliates’ participate in it whereas in smaller towns, there is no public to view the carnival and hence, the carnival is organized in clubs. In the North east section of Brazil, even the common public is allowed to dance and take part in the parade and enjoy it to the fullest as they are made to feel a part of the big show. The Carnival is all about having fun, dancing to the catchy rhythm and wearing colorful clothes.

The modern carnival originated in the year 1641, it was actually a mimicry of the European style of having fun. However, over the years, it refrained itself and took inputs from different cultures like Europe, North America and Africa.