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Background: Following three centuries under the rule of Portugal, Brazil became an independent nation in 1822. By far the largest and most populous country in South America, Brazil overcame more than half a century of military intervention in the governance of the country when in 1985 the military regime peacefully ceded power to civilian rulers. Brazil continues to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and development of its interior. Exploiting vast natural resources and a large labor pool, it is today South America's leading economic power and a regional leader. Highly unequal income distribution remains a pressing problem.

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By CassieandDave
February 26th 2009

The Pantanal, Rio and carnaval in Salvador South America » Brazil » Bahia » Salvador

Pantanal
Caiman eating parana

After entering Brazil again we went to Bonito; a small town were we relaxed and went snorkeling in the river with hundreds of fish. As we where about to visit the Pantanal we decided to try out some of its inhabitants and had a dinner of Caiman, wild bore and Capybara!!! It was then time to see the animals in the wild, so we went on a 4 day trip into the Pantanal (the largest wetlands area in the world). Here we were able to go Piranha fishing, and within an hour of catching Piranha they had been cooked and were [View Full Entry]

By STE and ADI
February 24th 2009

Carnaval Do Bahia South America » Brazil » Bahia » Salvador

DSC04779

. [View Full Entry]

By himynameis
February 24th 2009

Street Fighter V: Carnaval Carnage South America » Brazil » Bahia » Salvador

The five men were thrusting their arms out in fighting motions 'dancing' to the rhythm of the music when the police came from behind and clobbered them with their batons. The four men in front writhed with pain while the fifth eluded them, stepping back and closing my path. When the beating had stopped, the police motioned the men to move on. Man number five may have thought he had escaped a beating, but he was wrong. As he passed the military policemen, one of them delivered a blow to the back of the head as a reminder. Do not f*** [View Full Entry]

By Crazy Amy
February 22nd 2009

Crazy carnival shinanigans in Salvador South America » Brazil » Bahia » Salvador

Salvador
All set!!!

Yikes! What a night was had last night. My carnival campaign began in Salvador, the city known for it´s debaucherous partying and dodginess. Both of which I was a witness to. It all started with a horrible boat ride from the island of Morro De Sao Paulo. The Lonely Planet had warned me that the trip could be pretty rough but I never get sea sick so I wasn´t worried. In the end it was close to the worst two hours of my life! Rough was an understatement. Passengers were flying all over the boat and I tried so hard to [View Full Entry]

By davinbrazil
February 17th 2009

More violence in Brazil South America » Brazil » Bahia » Salvador

It's been a few days since I've written anything personal, so, if you've been wanting more news about me, then you're in luck, because I got robbed again! Nothing bad though. I was walking back home in my street when a couple of probably 15 to 16 year olds pegged me to a wall, told me to give them money, and without politely waiting for an answer, went straight to my pocket. Luckily, they only stole my cheap Brasilian mobile phone and the equivalent of 2 or 3 euros. Petty thieves. Didn't even show a gun or a knife (which I [View Full Entry]

By LynneandAndy
February 16th 2009

The slave trade South America » Brazil » Bahia » Salvador

Preparing for drumming practice

Ouro Preto As it seems with all our journeys in Brazil, Ouro Preto was accessed via an overnight bus from Rio. We arrived early on a murky morning, with mist clinging to the mineral rich mountains. After checking in and catching up on some sleep, we set about exploring the town in the pouring rain. Ouro Preto literally means “Black Gold”. In the 18th Century the Portuguese exploited some of the biggest gold deposits in the world here using African slave labour. The result of all this wealth meant that Ouro Preto developed into a fine colonial town, with dozens of [View Full Entry]

By Nate and Miri
February 14th 2009

Just chillin in Salvador South America » Brazil » Bahia » Salvador

View from the afternoon

Nathan and Miri: We arrived around midnight at the airport, left the terminal and tried to act like we knew where we were going so that we'd get less hastle from all the taxi drivers and potential muggers (that everyone warned us about) but we obviously had no clue what was going on and eventually found out that the bus to Pelourinho didn't run so late at night and we'd have to take a taxi. We ended up sharing one with a brazilian/swiss couple and got some advice on nearby sights on the way. Driving through salvador was a bit of [View Full Entry]

By davinbrazil
February 10th 2009

Tropa de Elite South America » Brazil » Bahia » Salvador

Tropa de Elite main poster

Today I wanted to talk about a film I saw a few weeks ago - Tropa de Elite. Synopsis: In a Rio de Janeiro riddled with violence, the corrupt conventional police appears incapable of fighting drug cartels and gangs in the favela. This is where enters the BOPE - Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais (Batalion of Special Police Operations). Captain Nascimento of the BOPE wants to retire, but in order to do so he needs to find a suitable replacement. Amongst the contenders to enter this extremely selective force are Neto and André, two old friends who could not stand the [View Full Entry]

By Norwejon
February 8th 2009

Last week in Salvador South America » Brazil » Bahia » Salvador

Diadema(Kråkebolle)

Dear reader, A week has passed and it is time to sum up my experiences from the last week. A lot has happened, I experienced things I loved, and also things I could be without. Kristian and I fly out of Salvador next Wednesday morning and our experiences in Salvador are over for now, while new ones are awaiting us in Sao Paulo. The last week was like this: Monday: Once again the week started out with school. I can by the way mention that portuguese is a hard language to learn, and that the learning curve has really flattened the [View Full Entry]

By davinbrazil
February 4th 2009

Stats, stats, stats South America » Brazil » Bahia » Salvador

Rich white girls' problems
Random shot of a brazilian telenovela

About a week ago, I managed to find a book with really interesting statistics concerning racism and social inequalities in Brazil, so I wanted to share those with you today. The book is called "Miséria da periferia. Desigualdades raciais e pobreza na metropole do Rio de Janeiro", by André Augusto Brandão (Pallas, 2004). The book looked pretty serious so I assume the statistics are reliable. Firstly, according to the author, about 45% of the Brazilian population is black. Wikipedia (so reliable, obviously) seems to disagree with him, but I think it largely depends on how you define black, as [View Full Entry]

Life is so tragic when you have so much money

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