Brasil travel tip

• VISA
• MONEY
• GUIDE BOOK
• HEALTH
  
• GENERAL TIPS
  • How to avoid having the luggage lost
  • How to organise the boat trip
  • Barrerinhas (Lencosi Maranhenses) to Jericocoara by public means of transport
  • Lencois Maranhenses

VISA

EU citiziens staying less than 90 days don't require anything more than their passport. It'll be stamped with a medium size square stamp.

MONEY

GUIDE BOOK

I had the LP and Footprint guide (7th ed 2011): while I'm a great fan of Footprint guides thinking they are far better than LP (that I like though) I found some important missing info in it. In particular poor and vague information about means of transport: nothing about boat schedule on Amazon River, suggestion about such boat trio (and on the other hand 20 colored paged about the Brasilian music!), nothing about the tours to visit the Lencois Maranhenses (it's one of the highlights of Brasil!)....

HEALTH

I had the usual vaccinations: ephatite A, B, typhus and tetanus. I know your main concern is the dilemma 'to do or not to do the antimalaric treatment?'
Against the malaria you have mainly three choises: Clorichina, Malarone and Lariam.
Clorichina is not effective in this part of the world (it's mainly for central America), but at the end I decided to take neither Malarone nor Lariam.
In the region the risk exist especially in Amazonas region; I preferred to cover myself conveniently, using repellent and mosquito net than take antimalaric for my 7th times.
on the Amazon River no mosquito

we took the Ledum Palustre, it's an omeophatic cure that it's supposed to work as repellent (I didn't get Malaria but I cannot guarantee you it was thanks to Ledum)

we had a moskito net but we didn't use

GENERAL TIPS

• How to avoid having the luggage lost

  We reached Amazonas flying from Lisbon (Portugal), stopping over in Sao Paulo for 3hours and then flying to Manaus. When in Manaus our backbags didn't show up on the conveyor belt of the airport.
  We asked at the lost&found office and it turned out that our stuff wasn't simply got lost but by procedure it got stuck in Sao Paulo because we didn't pick them up passing them through the custom.
  Obviously we didn't do since in Lisbon they printed all our boarding card assuring the backbag would have been transfer directly on the flight to Manaus. In fact on the barcode stuck to the bags
  the final destination was Manaus. HENCE TO MAKE THE LONG STORY SHORT, IF HAVING AN INTERNAL FLIGHT AFTER AN INTERNATIONAL ONE, AT THE FIRST AIRPORT WHERE YOU LAND IN BRASILIAN TERRITORY ALWAYS PICK YOUR BAGS AND RE-CHECKED THEM IN

  
  
  
  
• How to organise the boat trip
  
1. Buy the your hammock:
   On the boat there are no hammocks available so everybody has to bring his.
   In Manaus you'll find plenty of shops where to buy ranging from a price of 8€ to 40€.
   How to choose the best one?
   One of the key elements you have to keep in mind is the width, in fact you won't sleep along the hammock (being curved like a a banana) but you'll fell more comfortable sleeping a little more at an angle, since you will be flatter.
   Don't forget two pieces of rope (1.5 m each) to tie it up; they sell it on the harbour as we
   
   
2. Boat schedule and prices:

   Don't expect to have a fix price: prices depends more on the boat you are using than on your negotiation skills (that play their role though). If you buy the ticket by the touts on the streets along the port they turn out cheaper then the ones sent inside the port at the ticket office. I experienced it personally. Manaus- Santarem, hammock : ticket office 125 R$ (55€), first tout, 120R$ (52€), second tout 100R$ (43€)).
   Pay attention that some days of the week there are more boat, others just one, and others no boats. Here is the schedule I found by checking Lonly Planet Thorn Tree http://manausjungletours.com/en/boats.html
   for instance the Santarem- Belem boat is only on 3 days per week (Fr-Sat-Sun)
   
   
3. Food on board:
   On all the boats you'll find a restaurant (a woman who cooks some chicken and rise) and a lanchonete (a kind of bar), so in theory you don't need to bring your food. However for sake of variety I suggest you to buy somethig before geeting on board (fruit, biscuits,...)
   The boat has several stopvers but they are quite quick (30min) and you won't have time to get off looking for food
   
   
4. Safety:
   On the boat there are no lockers to deposit your valuables so you have to store them below the hammock. Especially during the night stopovers your belongings may be an appetible prey.
   Apart for guarding them (but it can be boring especially if you are alone) my suggestion is to tie your backbag to something even using a small chain with a lock. Hardly somebody will spend time opening your bags
   
   
5. How long in advance to get on:
   Go on board at least 3hours before departure unless you want the worst place (near the toilet, on the aisle,...). Don't think then you'll have your confort guaranteed! Even if you find a good place for the hammock in a stopover somebvody may hang his hammock over yours (as happened to us). Hence during stopver defend your place
   

• Barrerinhas (Lencosi Maranhenses) to Jericocoara by public means of transport:
  The whole trip comes about 86R$, hence 40 euro and take 1.5 days and expect to change so many differents vehicles:
  
  - 8.30 am toyota from Barrerinhas to Paulino Neves (10.40): 20 R$ Sand track vey bumpy and scenic. the trip is an highlight itself, I reccomend. In Paulino Neves you can walk on the dunes
  - 12.30 am toyota from Paulino Neves to Tutoya (1.30): 5R$. New paved road. Tutoya it´s not so ugly as said.
  - 3.30 pm big bus from Tutoya to Parnaiba (6.00 pm):paved road about 10R$ (the previous bus is at 9.30am)
  - 6.30 pm big bus from Parnaiba to Camoncin (8.50 pm): paved road 16 r$. You have to sleep in Camoncin (it's plenty of posadas and it's a nice place to stay)
  
  Following day
  - 11.40 am toyota from Camoncin to Jeri (1.15 am): 35 R$. Very scenic sandy road with water cross overs on barges. and a long part on the beach, I reccomend it!
  
  Otherwise you can do in 9hours renting a private jeep in Barrerinhas for150€ each person with a minimum of 4 people
  
  
  
  
• Lencois Maranhenses
  
  What is Lencois Maranhense?
  Lencois in Portuguese means white sheets (the ones used for the bed) and the name it's not by chance due to the hundred of km's of white sandy dunes dotted with sweet water emerald laguuns.
  The landscape is far from what you'd expect to find in Brasil (honestly what you'd expect to find on the earth) not only for his tipology but also for his dimension.
  This huge area lies on the cost between Sao Luis and Fortaleza and is the real highlight of NordEste.
  The best way to see it is flying (with a minimum amount of people you can fly over by a small plane), but also climbing the dunes and swimming in the ponds is an experience.
  
  
  How to visit the Loencois Maranhense?
  It's much easier than it sounds. Once the bus drop youoff in Barrerinhas (4.5h from Sao Luis, bus from Sao Luis at 6.00; 9.00; 14.15) the touts will find you. There not many travel agences, honestely I saw one and it was right in front of the bus stop).
  Anyway as usual the agencies just collect the people for what is already organised by others so, unless you don't do something customed, expect to have the same choice whatever agency or tout you opt for.
  There two different trips to Lencois: one to Laguna Bonita and the other to Laguna Azul and each destination has two departures per day: at 9.30 am and at 2.00pm. If you come by bus from Sao Luis (6.00 am Sao Luis- 11.30 am Barrerinhas) you'll be able to pick the 2.00 pm one.
  Laguna Bonita costs 100R$ (44€) pp (negotiated), Laguna Azul 90R$ (40€) .
  The mean of transport is a jeep with the seat mounted on the back (16 people)
  Since it's said Laguna Bonita to be the best one since it's the highest place we went head for it
  The trip take 5h and you need a cap, sunglasses (sun cream) and swimming suit (if you want to have a bath, but it'd be a pity to go there and miss it). Once on the limit of the dunes ythe jeep dropp you off and you climb them up, then walking around for few hours, enjoying the sweet shallow (1,5m) waters.
  You can wander where you like untill after the twilight at 6.00pm (amazing!) when the jeep returns.