Brazil

1. You can experience a lifetime! For hundreds of years, Brazil has symbolized the great escape into a primordial, tropical paradise, igniting the Western imagination like no other South American country.

2. Passport must be valid for at least 90-days from date of entry. Visa is required for a tourist- stay of 90 days, one extension is possible.

3. Health risks include Chagas' disease, dengue fever, malaria, meningitis, rabies and yellow fever.

4. Time: GMT/UTC minus 3 hours in the east, northeast, south and southeast; GMT/UTC minus 4 hours in the west; and GMT/UTC minus 5 hours in the far west

Electricity: Unstandardized; 110 or 120V, 60 Hz in Rio and São Paulo

Weights & measures: Metric.

5. A visit to Brazil is comfortable throughout the year - it's only the south, which can be unbearably sticky in summer and non-stop rainy in winter that has extreme seasonal changes. With many Brazilians on summer vacation from December to February, travel can be difficult and expensive, while from Rio to the south the humidity can be oppressive.

6. Summer is also the most festive time of year, as Brazilians leave their apartments and take to the beaches and streets. School holidays begin in mid-December and go through to Carnaval, usually in late February.

7. Brazil's most famous festival is Carnaval, beginning at midnight on the Friday before Ash Wednesday and lasting for five days.

8. Currency: reai (plural 'reais') -After the long-expected devaluation of the currency in 1999, many people anticipated explosive inflation. So far, however, exchange rates and prices have held steady.

9. If you're traveling on buses every couple of days, staying in hotels for US$20 a night, and eating in restaurants and/or drinking in bars every night, US$50 is a rough estimate of what you would need. If you plan to lie on a beach for a month, eating rice and beans every day, US$25 would be enough. Bear in mind that prices for accommodation increase 25-30% from December to February.

10. Credit cards are now accepted all over Brazil. Visa is the best card to carry for cash advances. Changing cash and travelers' cheques is simple - there are cambios in all but the tiniest towns. Unfortunately, it has become harder to exchange cash since the devaluation. It's worth having enough cash to tide you over the weekend, when finding a change bureau, even in big cities, can be difficult. When buying cash, ask for lots of small bills, as change is often unavailable for small transactions.

11. Most services get tipped a mandatory 10%, often included in the bill. If a waiter is friendly and helpful, you may like to give more. Because of the massive unemployment in Brazil, services that may seem superfluous are customarily tipped. Parking assistants are most notable as they receive no wages, but petrol-station attendants, shoe shiners and barbers are also frequently tipped. Taxi drivers are an exception: most people round the price up, but a tip is not expected.

12. Bargaining for hotel rooms should become second nature - always ask for a better price. You should also haggle in markets and unmetered taxis.

13. There are great spots for hang-gliding in Rio, especially around Pedra Bonita, near Pepino beach. Surfing is popular all along the coast. Other activities like sailing, fishing, rock climbing, hiking and Futebol (soccer) also take place.

14. Most of the country has noticeable seasonal variations in rain, temperature and humidity, but only the south of Brazil has extreme seasonal changes. The Brazilian winter is from June to August, with the coldest southern states receiving average winter temperatures of between 13°C and 18°C (55°F and 64°F). In summer (December to February), Rio is hot and humid, with temperatures in the high 30°Cs (80°Fs); the rest of the year, temperatures hover around 25°C (77°F). The northeast coast gets as hot as Rio but is less humid and stifling. In general, the highlands are less hot and humid, and are prone to summer rainfalls. The Amazon basin is the rainiest part of Brazil, and while it is humid, temperatures average a reasonable 27°C (80°F).

15. There are frequent flights to Rio from all major cities in South America. Other gateway airports in Brazil include São Paulo, Recife, popular with German package tourists, and Manaus, capital of the state of Amazonas, which is halfway between Rio and Miami. Varig, Brazil's national airline, flies to many major cities in the world. For international flights, the departure tax is a whopping US$36.

16. Did you know that Brazil has land borders with every other country in South America, with the exceptions of Ecuador and Chile, so while some travelers may bus in from Uruguay in the south, others arrive via the trem da morte (death train) from Bolivia.

17. Flying within Brazil is becoming cheaper, thanks to recent deregulation. Shop around for promotional specials - many fares are cheaper at night. The domestic departure tax averages US$8.

18. Except in the Amazon basin, buses are the primary forms of long-distance transportation for the vast majority of Brazilians, and services are generally excellent and cheap. All major cities are linked by frequent buses; for example, there's at least one every 15 minutes between Rio and São Paulo during peak hours.

19. There are very few railway passenger services in Brazil and the trend to cut more and more services continues; however, some wonderful railway routes remain in operation, including the Curitiba-Paranaguá run.

20. Although river travel in Brazil has decreased due to the construction of a comprehensive road network, it is still possible to travel by boat along the Amazon. In case you want to…

Brazilian culture has been shaped not only by the Portuguese, who gave the country its religion and language, but also by the country's native Indians, the considerable African population, and other settlers from Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Brazilian music has always been characterized by great diversity and, shaped by musical influences from three continents and it is still developing new and original forms. The samba, which reached the height of popularity during the 1930s, is a mixture of Spanish bolero with the rhythm of African music.