Destinations / Latin America
Put together personally by Yari Steennot
Brazil
From Afro-Brazilian Salvador via the Pantanal and Bonito to Iguaçu and Rio
Brochure not opening? Email me and I will send it to you.
My recommended 20-day private route through four faces of Brazil: colourful, Afro-Brazilian Salvador da Bahia, three nights at a lodge in the South Pantanal among caimans, capybaras and hyacinth macaws, five days snorkelling in the crystal-clear rivers and caves of Bonito, the Iguaçu Falls from both the Brazilian and the Argentine side, and finally Rio de Janeiro with Corcovado, Sugarloaf Mountain and Copacabana. You travel with your own party on your own dates. In the Pantanal and Bonito you choose between self-drive and a private driver; in the cities and at Iguaçu a private driver takes you around.
Highlights
- Salvador's baroque Pelourinho (UNESCO), capoeira and Afro-Brazilian cuisine
- The sea turtles of Projeto TAMAR and the coast of Praia do Forte (July–October: chance of humpback whales)
- Three nights full board at a lodge on the Miranda River in the South Pantanal: boat, jeep and night safaris
- Snorkelling among the fish in the crystal-clear Rio da Prata and Rio Sucuri in Bonito
- The blue lake of Gruta do Lago Azul and red macaws at Buraco das Araras
- The Iguaçu Falls from two sides: the Brazilian panorama and the Argentine Devil's Throat
- Rio de Janeiro: Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado, Santa Teresa, the Selarón Steps and sunset on Sugarloaf Mountain
Day by day in the brochure (PDF)
For information only, not an offer yet
What I will arrange for you after launch
You travel, I arrange everything. You travel privately: no group and no fixed guide tagging along.
- Airport pickup and the transfer on your last day; the details are in the brochure.
- All hotels and guesthouses, booked in advance at the level you choose: Budget, Comfort or Premium.
- Transport on the ground: a rental car waiting for you (self-drive) or a private driver and private transfers. Domestic flights and trains where that makes sense.
- The activities and entrance fees on the route. Prefer a guide? I can add a local guide to any activity.
- Breakfast, and the meals at remote places with no alternative (such as a safari lodge, desert camp or yurt camp). For the other meals I give you my restaurant recommendations, but you choose completely freely where you eat.
- A personal intake, at your home or by video.
- A WhatsApp line with me, before and during your trip, and my personal 24/7 number.
- A call-back after your trip.
- Your international flight: after launch I will also book your flight for you. Prices on the site exclude the flight.
Travel whenever you like
Your dates are completely free: there are no fixed departure dates, you leave on the day that suits you. My recommended route takes 20 days. Shorter or longer is possible too; I adapt the route.
This is advice, not a rule. If you want to travel in another month, I tell you honestly what to expect (rain, heat, crowds) and adapt the route.
Price by level and transport
You choose the level of your hotels and how you get around. Same route, same care; only the hotels and the transport differ.
Estimated prices per person, based on 2 travellers, excl. international flight. Travelling solo, count on a supplement of roughly 55%. With four travellers the price per person drops by roughly 11%.
If you are interested, I am happy to send you the hotel guide with all the addresses.
More about self-drive and the private driver on this route
Self-drive
In Brazil you self-drive where it makes sense: in the Pantanal and Bonito (days 5 to 13). You pick up your rental car in Campo Grande and return it at the airport there, with no one-way fee. Roads are quiet and good (BR-262), with an unpaved stretch along the Estrada Parque to the lodge and dirt roads to the fazendas around Bonito; with the car you drive yourself to each excursion. Your Belgian licence and passport are sufficient (an international driving permit is recommended), you drive on the right, and you do not drive after dark: animals cross the road. In Salvador, Foz do Iguaçu and Rio you do not drive; there we arrange transfers and drivers, because city traffic and safety make a rental car a poor idea.
Private driver
With a private driver you never have to drive yourself. In Mato Grosso do Sul a driver takes you from Campo Grande to the lodge, from the lodge to Bonito, to your excursions every day and back to the airport on day 13. In Salvador, Foz do Iguaçu and Rio you have a driver for the airport transfers and excursion days in both formulas; to Argentina you travel with a driver who is authorised to cross the border. Drivers speak Portuguese and sometimes a little English or Spanish; I can always interpret over WhatsApp.
Flight & price
After launch I will also book your flight for you. The prices on this page exclude the international flight.
Flight Brussels–Salvador, returning from Rio de Janeiro, not included: allow about € 900–1,250 p.p. depending on the month (July and August are the most expensive). After launch I will find you the best flight with your proposal.
Indicative price (estimate) per person based on 2 travellers, excl. international flight. This is not an offer: nothing is being sold yet. Indicative price (estimate), not an offer. In high season the price can be higher, in low season lower. All prices are indicative estimates, not an offer. Nothing is being sold yet; after launch you receive a no-obligation proposal with the price of that moment.
Travelling responsibly
Bonito is a global example of managed eco-tourism: every excursion works with a daily visitor cap, a mandatory voucher and a licensed guide, and we follow these rules strictly. In the Pantanal you stay at a lodge that works with local pantaneiro guides, and in Salvador you visit a capoeira school from the Afro-Brazilian community. We ask for biodegradable, reef-safe sunscreen (in Bonito sunscreen is not allowed at all before snorkelling). Flight CO₂ emissions can be offset through a certified project.