2000
Rio de Janeiro
Copacabana Beach
Crammed into this narrow strip of land are 25,000 per square kilometer, one of the highest population densities in the world.
Rio at Night
Taken from Pão de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf), the statue of Christ on top of Corcovado (710 meters) can just be seen.
Iguaçu Falls
The 275 falls are over 3 kilometers wide and 80 meters high, wider than Victoria Falls and higher than Niagara.
The falls used to be a holy burial place for the
Tupi-Guaraní and Paraguas tribes. Spaniard Don Alvar Nuñes, also known as Cabeza de
Vaca,
happened upon the falls in 1541 in the course of
his journey from Santa Catarina, on the coast, to Ascuncíon. He named the falls the
Saltos de Santa Maria,
but this name fell into disuse and the Tupi-Guaraní name of Iguaçu
("Great Waters") was readopted.
Salvador da Bahia
Ladeira do Carmo, Pelourinho
Pelourinho which means "whipping post" was where slaves were tortured and sold (whipping of slaves was legal in Brazil until 1835).
Capoeira
Capoeira
was brought to Brazil by slaves from Angola, and was originally a deadly sport
in which the participants, often with blades
strapped to their ankles, swung their legs high in attack, somersaulted, and
passed within a hairsbreadth of their opponent's knees, head,
groin, or stomach. Flexibility and rapidity of movement were more
important than sheer muscular strength. In the modern dance
the same quick, graceful movements are employed in dance; usually two men face
each other, emulating the blows and parries of “the fight”
in time with the rhythms of the berimbau, or musical bow.
Festa de Iemanjá
Bahia is home to the Candomblé or Macumba
religion. The Festa de Iemanjá involves a grand maritime procession
taking flowers and presents to
Iemanjá, the Mãe e Rainha das Águas ("Mother and Queen of the
Waters").
Bahia Coast
Loggerhead Sea Turtle
Projeto
TAMAR in Praia do Forte was created in 1980 to revert the process of extinction of the five
species of
sea turtles in Brazil: loggerhead,
hawksbill,
olive
ridley, green
and leatherback.
Church in Conde
