Brazil in 10 days

Did you know Brazil is the same size as the contiguous 48 United States?  I was a little surprised at the distances between cities when I started planning our ten day tour.  I quickly learned that it takes some time to travel between cities across the country. Our ten day tour of the country included four cities and one river cruise. 

Here’s what the itinerary looked like: 

Days 1-2 – São Paulo
Days 2-4 – Foz do Iguaçu
Days 5-9 – Manaus (and the Amazon River cruise)
Days 9-10 – Rio de Janeiro

Getting There

I’ve been playing the ‘points game’ (aka travel hacking) for several years now and had plenty of American Airlines (AA) miles to redeem two one way flights.  On the inbound we left from Santiago, Chile (SCL)  arriving in São Paulo (GRU). I booked our outbound flight from Rio de Janeiro (GIG) back to Santiago (SCL).   For the intra-country flights we did a combination of purchased flights, like the one from São Paulo to Iguassu Falls on GOL Airlines and redeemed miles for others like the LATAM flight from Manaus to Rio.   While we booked LATAM tickets the actual hard metal was a TAM plane. It seems even years after the merger of LAN and TAM airlines, they have yet to update the plane livery.

Accommodations

Since we were moving around quite a bit we had the opportunity to stay in a few hotels.  I’ll review them in the order we visited.

First up,  the Grand Hyatt in São Paulo. We just had an overnight stay.  The room was spacious and while it did not have USB charging outlets, it did have a desk area, fridge and most importantly, the bathroom had a bidet feature.  YES!!!  All hotels really need to have them! We had a king room on the 21st floor which had access to the Grand Club.  The club was excellent.   The food and service were top notch and reminded me of the exquisite service experienced in Grand Hyatt Hong Kong.  The club has evening hors d’oeuvres and breakfast in the morning.  The selection of food is nice but really the service is what takes it over the top. The service is outstanding with people anticipating your every need.

The view from our room was lovely we had a city view of the many city sky scrapers.  The location seems to be in a more business-centric part of the city – not sure about what restaurants or shopping are nearby.  The hotel was about an hour car ride from the airport.  We took an Uber to dinner and found the traffic in São Paulo to be atrocious – so please keep this in mind as you’re planning.  Overall: great stay and would definitely return.

Second stop was the Belmond Hotel Das Cataratas in Foz do Iguaçu.  This is southern Brazil, right next to both the Argentina and Paraguay borders.   We stayed here for a weekend, two nights, to visit the falls. Absolutely wonderful place to stay. First, location:  it’s within the Brazilian national park which has opening and closing times for others, but not for you, because you are a guest of the Belmond!  You have access to the falls 24/7 before and after the general public can even get in.

Second, atmosphere:  The grounds are beautiful. You can tell everything is really well maintained.  Both the common spaces like the lobby, bar, pool, and restaurants and private spaces are all beautiful and the service is impeccable.  There are people everywhere just anticipating your needs and ready and willing to help.  There is a bell tower you can access to see the falls from up high too! Upon arrival in the room, we had Brazilian candies waiting for us with a note from the manager.  The hotel also provides each guest with flip flops and the items in the mini bar are free. Our room was a “garden view” on the second floor in the back of the property and it was fabulous so I can only imagine that the rooms in the front with windows looking out to the falls are fantastic.  We had a king room and it was spacious with the largest entrance foyer to a regular hotel room I’ve ever seen. We had one entire room as the foyer before being led through a hallway to the room with our bed.  The bathroom had a hand held bidet feature which is a wonderful amenity that all hotels should have. The only negative thing I noticed was there was mold growing on the grout in the shower. I took a picture and showed the staff at the front desk upon checkout. The response was not what I would expect for a Forbes 5 star hotel, but I didn’t let it detract from my overall impression.  I had a massage in the spa and the space is relaxing and calming. (I used my spa credit thanks to Amex FHR) I had a hot stones massage which was nice, but probably the wrong choice given the humid climate.  Third, food: The breakfast buffet served daily is out of this world.  It has a champagne and Bloody Mary bar – I mean, what?  There are made-to-order omelettes, every kind of exotic fruit and European style pastries.  It was truly glorious to have such a spread waiting for us every morning.  We had dinner at the hotel one night, a buffet as well which includes a variety of grilled meats. We didn’t love it as much as the breakfast.  Had several caipirinhas (the national cocktail)  and they were delicious. Overall, it’s a grand place that isn’t inexpensive but it’s very enjoyable and I would definitely return.  (It’s also bookable with both Chase and Amex points).

Our third stop was an overnight stay at the Nobile Suites at the airport in Manaus, Amazonas prior to boarding our river cruise the next day (I’ll cover the cruise and it’s accommodations in the Activities section below).  The hotel seems relatively new, although basic, definitely not luxurious.  We had a king room on the 4th floor.  It was clean, but it was hot upon entering, meaning the air conditioning wasn’t turned on to cool it down prior to arrival.  While I was ecstatic to find a handheld bidet feature in the bathroom (4 for 4 while staying in hotels all over Brazil), there was a very curious hole in the wall above the shower head that just seemed really creepy so I stuffed tissue paper in the hole prior to taking a shower. There is a breakfast buffet included and it was lackluster. Not much to choose from and really strange offerings like instant coffee instead of the real thing. Overall, it’s fine for a one night stay, but I likely would not return.

Our final stay was at the Miramar Hotel by Windsor on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. Upon arrival, we were welcomed with a glass of champagne at the front desk – gotta love it. The room was clean and spacious with a desk area, fridge, and most importantly, the bathroom had a bidet.  YES!!!  All hotels really need to have this and I just love how Brazil GETS it. We had a king room on the 11th floor. It was clean and well appointed.  Our room looked over the side street in front of the hotel with a partial view of Copacabana beach to the right.  The hotel also has a decent gym and a beautiful rooftop infinity pool.  The views of the ocean and beach from the pool level are gorgeous!

Location is excellent with shopping and restaurants within walking distance.  It is right across the street from the beach/ocean. We had the buffet breakfast in the hotel restaurant in the morning and it was delightful.  There was more champagne again at breakfast (is this a Brazilian thing?) and a large variety of hot and cold items including fresh fruits and pastries. There is a made to order omelette station as well.  Overall: nice stay and would definitely return.

Activities

At Iguassu Falls, we booked a tour guide to see both the Brazilian and Argentine side of the falls.  This can easily be done in one day, with one side in the morning and one in the afternoon.   We went to the Argentine side in the afternoon.  It was about a forty minute drive including our brief stops at the border.  They say you see the falls on the Brazilian side and you feel the falls on the Argentine side and we think that’s true.  It’s worthwhile seeing both.

We went to Manaus for the specific purpose of embarking on an Amazon River cruise.  We chose the smaller expedition cruise, offered by Nature Tours,  on the M/Y Tucano.   The boat has capacity for about 18 passengers. During our cruise week, we had 10 passengers total plus crew.  The cabins are decked out with beautiful wood walls.  They are clean and small and most cabins offer two twin beds.  There is only one cabin that has a queen size bed.   The rooms have air conditioning and private bathrooms but you should be aware:   1) The A/C is not on all day.  It shuts off from about 6am – 12pm daily.   2) The shower is fitted with solar powered water which means it’s generally lukewarm, not hot.   These are not major problems, but they are good things to know before you go.

We chose the ‘5 day’ cruise but you should note that boarding begins at 4:00 pm on day 1 and passengers disembark at 7:00 am on day 5, so it’s not a full 5 days. The Tucano offers an expedition experience.  There are four expeditions per day, two before lunch and two after lunch.   There is a 6:00 am excursion before breakfast, returning around 8:30 am to have breakfast on the boat.   The next excursion is around 10:00 am  returning to the boat for lunch.   In the afternoon, there is an excursion late afternoon, returning to have dinner on the boat and then there is a night time excursion around 8:00 pm.  The excursions allow you to experience the sights and sounds of the Amazon at different times of day.  The expeditions are either jungle walks or canoe rides through the jungle.  On our cruise we saw sloths, bird catching tarantulas, squirrel monkeys, howler monkeys, caimans, and a myriad of birds.  Can you spot the squirrel monkey below?

The cruise travels the Rio Negro for a large portion of the time which is an acidic black water river system (the water looks like coffee) and thus, as I was surprised to find, is not plagued by mosquitoes.   I am very prone to mosquito bites and was not bitten once on this trip.  Kind of amazing! On one of the morning excursions we went fishing and we caught piranhas!

We also visited the ‘meeting of the waters’ where the Rio Negro and Rio Solimões collide to form the mighty Amazon River and you can see the dark coffee like water mix with the brown sandy water   Incidentally, that brown water is more prone to breeding mosquitoes.

We received three hot meals per day on this cruise and they were delightful!  Our compliments to the chef, Dione  – every meal was delicious and enjoyable.  The options definitely had a Brazilian flavor to them, which we enjoyed.  There were often three starches served at a time: manioc, potatoes, and rice.   Everyday the chef made a cake – what a nice touch!   On the last night of cruise we had a special, ‘fancy’ dinner with live samba music and our guides made and served caipirinhas.   It was a really nice touch and way to end the cruise.

Speaking of our guides, we were just amazed by Edivan and Alex.  They clearly know the terrain very well.  They were able to spot animals in places that baffled us as to how they could see them considering all the foliage.

There are other more luxurious boats and cruises in the Peruvian Amazon but my tip if you choose to do a more up close and personal cruise like this one are:  bring good, waterproof hiking shoes and clothes that dry quickly.  It is a rain forest. You will get wet, and it’s nice to have the clothing that will dry quickly.

In Rio de Janeiro, we booked a one day city tour via Viator that took us to all the sites like Sugarloaf Mountain, Christ the Redeemer, the famous red steps, with stops at Copacabana and Ipanema beach.  It was a long day but worth it since we had limited time there.

Food

In Rio we enjoyed dinner at Churrascaria Palace – which is all you can eat Brazilian meat (kind of like Fogo de Chao in the USA) but we actually like Vivano in São Paulo even better  for all you can eat steak.

Returning Home

After traversing around 4 cities in Brazil I proclaimed Rio my favorite spot and really want to go back.   Rio was our last stop and after our long day of touring we had to catch a flight back to reality.  By the way, I used my Priority Pass lounge membership at all the Brazilian airports and the Plaza Premium lounge in GIG was my favorite. I was able to take a shower and get freshened up after a long day in the city and be set for the flight home.  There’s no way we could see everything in just 10 days so I hope we can return to enjoy the inexpensive, delicious food and see what other sites Brazil has to offer.  Let me know if you have recommendations!
-J