Rides in Brazil

Rides in Brazil change with the ground under the wheels. Rio’s jeeps climb into the Tijuca Forest, replanted from the 1860s on Pedro II’s orders with more than 100,000 trees and a national park since 1961. Near Paraty, jeeps reach waterfalls and cachaça stills along the old Gold Trail, which carried the gold of Minas Gerais to the port after the strikes of the 1690s. On the north-east coast buggies and 4x4s work the beaches and dunes between Fortaleza and Natal, and around Pipa. Bikes follow Rio’s seafront and Flamengo Park, finished in 1965 with gardens by Burle Marx, and São Paulo’s bike lanes, in a city the Jesuits founded in 1554. The air has its own routes: helicopters over São Paulo and Iguazú, balloons and tandem skydives at Boituva, the national skydiving capital.

Brazil rides tours come in four formats. Jeep days run four to five hours in Rio, combining the Tijuca Forest with Corcovado, Santa Teresa or the Botanical Garden, and eight hours when Sugarloaf is added; around Paraty they last about six. Bike tours take three hours in Rio, along Copacabana, Ipanema and the lagoon or through Flamengo Park, and up to three and a half in São Paulo, past Avenida Paulista, Ibirapuera and the Vila Madalena murals. In the air, São Paulo helicopter flights last 20 to 30 minutes, longer packages add lunch, the Iguazú flight takes about ten minutes, and the Boituva balloon lifts off at dawn. The longest ride is the four-day buggy or 4WD drive from Fortaleza to Natal.

Practical. In Rio the January afternoon averages 31C or more and the July one 26C or more; São Paulo manages 29C and 23C. The Tijuca Forest takes roughly twice the coast’s rain, and some jeeps are open, so bring a rain layer, sun cream and a swimsuit for the waterfall dips. Boituva lies about an hour and a half from São Paulo, so balloon and skydive days start with a long drive. Balloons fly at dawn because the wind is gentlest then, and wind can still call a flight off.