Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
join a world of major highways, skyscraper cities, high-priced boutiques and modern
manufacturing plants. And though it is still possible to travel on a budget here, prices are
much higher than in any other South American country. Though vast regions of Brazil
are empty or sparsely populated farmland, agriculture only represents 5.5 percent of
GDP nowadays and the nation is primarily an urban, developed society.
Yet even on the shortest visit, Brazil's problems are glaringly obvious. The economy is
booming (at seventh largest in the world, it was just behind the UK at the time of writing),
but the divide between rich and poor is a serious and contentious issue, with a mind-
bending disparity of wealth - the grinding poverty of the
favela
(the generic name for slums
present in every city), ongoing drug wars and high
crime rates
can be depressing.
While many Brazilians are proud of the nation's role as football
World Cup
(2014) and
Olympic
(2016) host, billions have been spent on new stadiums while millions of Brazilians
struggle to pay rent and find enough to eat each day. It's a challenging but fascinating time
for Brazil, and a privilege to witness what's happening first hand. There are few places
where strangers can feel so confident of a warm welcome - and a really good
party
.
Where to go
The most heavily populated part of Brazil is the Southeast, where the three largest
cities -
São Paulo
,
Rio de Janeiro
and
Belo Horizonte
- form a triangle around which
the economy pivots. All are worth visiting, but Rio, which really is as beautiful as it
