Brazil... Do you really know what to expect from your visit?

Before I moved to live here, I thought that Brazil was only a country of beautiful beaches, samba and of course... heat.

I thought that the country was summarized in three capitals, Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. That all Brazilians spoke Portuguese with exactly the same accent all over the country and, since I speak Spanish, to communicate in a similar language would be a piece of cake.

I imagined that here I would find a parade of men and women of enviable bodies (most of them afrobrazilians) strolling along the beaches, practicing Capoeira or dancing in the Sambadrome. Far from the truth!.

What I was imagining exists, but this view belongs only to a postcard, it is just a tiny part of what you can find when you get to the giant of South America.

Brazil is a country full of surprises with a wide variety of landscapes. It has beaches, mangroves, savannas, grasslands, desertic areas and more. During the winter it is too cold and even it snow in some areas.

Snow in Santa Catarina state

                              


In terms of ethnic groups, according to the National Research by Household Sample (PNAD) of 2008, 48.43% of the population (about 92 million) described themselves as White; but only 6.84% (about 13 million) as Black;  Nothing to do with the image I had of Brazil!

Of course, depending on the city you are visiting, increased levels of certain ethnic groups can be found. For example, while visiting Salvador de Bahia (first capital of Brazil by the way), you will find a high concentration of afrobrazilian population. Traveling towards the South, you can find large groups of people with extremely white skin, blond hair and blue eyes .

                                        ANA HICKMANN

During my first trip to Brazil and to ignoring these issues, I was surprised to discover that, in São Paulo there is a huge number of Asian-descendant Brazilians (specially Japanese). I was shocked to hear a large group of people with remarkable asian features communicating among them in a perfect Portuguese.
    

Brazilian softball team

Another thing that is worth to mention is the impressive variety of regional accents for spoken Portuguese. Some pronunciations are completely different from one another. However they are all correct and, of course, respectable.

Ah! You have to forget the idea that all Brazilians are passionate soccer fans, although a few resist the magic of watching the national team matches.


Having so many interesting things to offer, owner of an immense natural and cultural wealth, being the fifth country with greater territorial extension it was a pity that Brazilian tourism industry was not as powerful as it should be, as it deserves to be.  Hard to believe but true, Brazil does not appear in the 10 most visited countries lists and was barely placed as number 44 in tourist destinations by country lists in 2011 (Malaysia occupies number 67 by territorial expansion but is placed as number 9 in that list).


 But things are changing so fast. Events as 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, 2014 World Cup and Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games are doing that more and more people consider it as a "must go" destination. 

This year you can find more accessible tour packages, a greater number of flights are now available, there is also more touristic information, every day there are more direct international flights available, not only to São Paulo, Rio and Brasilia, but also to other important cities of the country. This was more than necessary due to the enormous territorial extension of the country.

Now it is common to see an increasing number of Brazilians learning another language with the specific purpose of giving convenience to tourists.

Recently, Brazilian Government has seriously turned his attention to this matter. It has allocated significant financial resources and has placed emphasis on training all the people related to the tourism sector not only in what refers to the language, but taking care of every single detail that could positively mark the visit of all foreigners who will visit this beautiful country in the next few years. And this is, from my point of view, the best strategy to boost such an important economy sector.