Small lagoons, nice beaches, beachside restaurants you will find in Macei�. A couple of days of unwinding and taking in the colorful
beachside nightlife can please most travelers looking for a still developing, less sophisticated and reasonably priced beach resort still
not over-run by Americans and Europeans. And if you want to “beach it” some and still have interesting things to do, there are
several colonial towns that actually still retain their colonial flavor and are being restored to colonial splendor possible within a day’strip.
Macei� has beaches reputed to be some of the finest in the country. Macei� is a capital of Alagoas state (second smallest of Brazil’s
states), situated in northeastern Brazil on the northern bank of the S�o Francisco River. Formerly called
Macayo, the city dates from 1815, when a small settlement there was made a villa. In 1839 it became capital of Alagoas (then a
provincia) and was given city status.
| BRAZIL – Macei�, AL (Alagoas) and the northeastern region |
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Known as the ‘Golden Coast’, this region contains the states of Bahia, Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Para�ba, Rio Grande do Norte, Cear�, Piau� and Maranh�o. It covers nearly 1,600,000 sq km (600,000 sq miles) and has a population of 36 million. The area is distinctive for its historical and folkloric traditions, as well as for its many beautiful beaches. Location: located on the northeastern coast of Brazil. Macei� boasts 230 kilometers of exotic coconut lined beaches, tide pools and natural lakes. The hotels are mostly suated in front of Jati�ca beach. 30 kilometers away from Maceio is the airport. On the northeastern coast of Brazil, about two hours flying time from Rio, Macei� is still being discovered by foreign visitors! The town is not large and the beaches near the center are not polluted. But as you heard north and-or south, there are great beaches and resort hotels springing up that meet international standards. One such resort just to the north of Maceio is Jatiuca. You can walk to the north beach strand dotted with beachside cafes which really bustle at night. |
| BRAZIL – The city Penedo, the river S�o Francisco, AL & SE (Alagoas & Sergipe) |
| It has many baroque churches and colonial buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries in Penedo(at boundary to Alagoas AL and Sergipe SE). The small and amazing town Penedo is a bit more as 100 kilometers far away from Macei� and the centre of the town is on a hill near to the big river Rio S�o Francisco. The river with a length of 3.000 kilometers is the 3rd biggest in Brazil and is filled with many histories and myths about it. The town is always busy during the weekend days. |
| BRAZIL – Rio Grande do Norte and Cear�, RN & CE (Rio Grando do Norte & Cear�) |
| The village Tiba� do Sol, near Mossor� is directly to the boundary to the Federal States Cear� and Rio Grande do Norte. Particularly attractively are here the unaffected beaches and dunes. Here it seems that the ecologists and fishermen have been united, in order to prevent the international touritic development of this region. Into the clear line of the horizon of sea, dunes and skies coconut palms rise up, and the population of village lives also without electrical light or cars in satisfaction. Sea turtles creep to the oviposition on the beach. If one drives toward the south into the barren interior, it improbably that the shrub countryside can protect humans getting along during the regular periods of drougth. An example: still almost a third of the six million inhabitant of Cear� eke out here a miserable existence and can survive only by irrigation systems. |
| BRAZIL – Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Rio de Janeiro) |
| Jammed into the world’s most beautiful setting – between ocean and escarpment – are 8 million Cariocas, as Rio’s inhabitants are called. Rio has its problems, and they are enormous: a third of the people live in the favelas (shanty towns) that blanket many of the hillsides; the poor have no schools, no doctors, no jobs; drug abuse and violence are endemic; police corruption and brutality are commonplace. Rio’s reputation as a violent city has caused a sharp reduction in tourism in the last several years, and there is even a special police unit which patrols areas frequented by gringos in an effort to keep them safe – recent reports suggest they have been pretty successful. Rio is divided into a zona norte (northern zone) and a zona sul (southern zone) by the Serra da Carioca, steep mountains that are part of the Parque Nacional da Tijuca. The view from the top of Corcovado, the 750m (2460ft) mountain peak with the statue of Christ the Redeemer at its summit, offers the best way to become geographically familiar with the city. Favelas crowd against the hillsides on both sides of town. The beach, a ritual and a way of life for the Cariocas, is Rio’s common denominator. Copacabana is probably one of the world’s most famous beach (I do not know why, perhaps for all these fucking sex-tourists), and runs for 4.5km (3mi) in front of one of the most densely populated residential areas on the planet. From the scalloped beach you can see the granite slabs that surround the entrance to the bay. Ipanema is Rio’s richest and most chic beach. Other beaches within and near the city include Pepino, Barra da Tijuca, Flamengo and Arpoador. My personnal conclusion: Crowds, too noisy and over-run with foreign tourists. Meet here your senior citizens ! OK, sometimes I am ignorant. |
| BRAZIL – Salvador, Bahia, BA (Bahia) |
| Founded in 1549, Salvador was Brazil’s most important city for 300 years, and the Portuguese Empire’s second city, after Lisbon. As the center of the sugar trade, it was famous for gold-filled churches and beautiful mansions, and for its many wild festivals and general sensuality and decadence. The Pelourinho, with its boldly painted houses separated by thin cobbled streets serves as a testament to Brazil’s dramatic history. Other highlights include 34 colonial churches; the Museu Afro-Brasileira, which is dedicated to Black culture; and the Elevador Lacerda, an Art Deco structure with clanking electric elevators which truck up and down a set of 85m (279ft) cement shafts in less than 15 seconds and carry over 60,000 passengers daily between the port and the hilly historic section of the city. |