When to go to Brazil and why?
You might think it’d be easy to talk about a country you live in. Well, it isn’t. When you’re up to your neck in it like me, it’s not easy to put yourself in the shoes of someone who’s coming for the first time. You have to go back in time, recall when you were just a tourist, and especially remember the reasons that led you there, after having come such a long way.
So here I am again, a travel lover who has chosen to go to Brazil this year. I’ve read all the guides, consulted the travel agencies – especially The Voyageurs Collection with its complete collection of original itineraries through the country –, and of course, did a lot of research on the Internet. Normally, everything is ready; the only thing left to do is lock my suitcase.
You’ve picked the right season. That means not the south in winter (basically, you should avoid it from April to August). However, the other regions in Brazil are mild, and you can go there all year round. That’s for the weather. For the atmosphere, if you’re somewhat of a stick-in-the-mud and not really into beaches, the off-season tourist months: September, October, November, and March, April, May, and June (except in the south), are perfect. You can travel around the country without too much congestion, and accommodation and plane tickets are cheaper. So, there are some advantages. But of course, summer (from December to the end of February) is the best time if you want to discover the country’s and its people’s true colors. The beaches and nights come alive, and the festive and good-natured atmosphere warms up until the carnival. Afterward, the enthusiasm drops, never entirely, but still you feel a break, something between exhaustion and the lack of desire to start the year. For make no mistake about it, the carnival is the real Brazilian New Year. Never try to do something important in the summer, you will be told that it’s better to wait until after the carnival.
Of course, the atmospheres over such a vast area (almost 17 times the size of France) are quite different. Whether in Rio, Bahia, or elsewhere, the festivals change. It’s normal; there’s not one Brazil but several. The consistent feature is spending your evenings sipping cold beers and listening to loud music. You can find that everywhere from north to south. Bars, beach huts and café terraces, which are often very simple, are everywhere. Brazilians don’t’ need any sophistication to celebrate. A street corner, plastic chairs on a sidewalk, a car trunk that spits out megatons of decibels, anything will do, they’re happy as long as the beer’s cold and there’s a lot of noise.
After a few evenings like that, busy tourists have to get back on the road. If they want to plunge into nature and awe at its wonders, they will find what they’re looking for. Here too, the landscapes over such a large area are very diversified. But beware, the distances are so vast that you risk missing the essential if you try to do too much. So, I advise you to take it easy. Explore the tropical forest on the coast south of Rio, and the coves, beaches, and nearly deserted islands all along the coast, but are easier to access from the big cities. Then, there’s the whole north and west, the Amazon and the Pantanal (Mato Grosso), which you can visit by boat when you have the choice.
This country is almost infinite, so you shouldn’t try to overdo it and know when to stop. Otherwise, you will get exhausted. Nor should you fantasize too much, be careful not to listen to Bossa Nova on every street corner, which has even become old-fashioned. Only gringos or irreducible nostalgics and intellectuals who meet in well-targeted bars are really into that. On the other hand, the samba is still trendy, but once again, it’s not the same as in the carnival. The samba has multiplied and evolved into lots of rhythms that often have little to do with each other. So, hold no illusions, decibels in car trunks on street corners won’t be Bossa Nova, but rather real deviations like Pagoda, Arrocha, Funk! Ordinary people also like Sertanejo, a kind of local country music sung by little cowboys from the Sertão backcountry. The lyrics are mushy, the lament is always the same, and you don’t laugh, it’s the style of music that sells best in the country.
Fortunately, you can still avoid all that and find a nice bar with excellent music, and that serves something else besides beer. Phew! It’d be a shame with so many tropical fruits to miss the delicious cocktails, including the famous caipirinha. Everyone knows this cocktail made with cane alcohol and limes. And as far as we know, caipirinha has also almost become a gringo drink. Brazilians prefer variants with other fruits and liquors, such as vodka, and even sake recently.
Finally, you must remember that Brazil is a developed western country, nothing is really picturesque, it’s a modern country where everything works almost regularly. What makes it so charming is that despite all this, the country does not take itself seriously. Generally speaking, people are easy-going, helpful, smiling, simple. They don’t like complicated things or constraints; they never try to explain things; that’s how it is. And above all, you have to live in the present. You never put off until tomorrow a pleasure that you can enjoy now, no matter how small it may be. And finally, here you always have to rely on the unexpected and magic, things rarely happen and end as planned. Still, underneath this apparent chaos, there’s an energy that makes the country work, and quite well in the end.
Patience and a smile are, therefore, essential assets for a successful trip to Brazil. The rest is “tudo bem” (everything’s fine).
