“Planning to travel to Brazil for the World Cup? Expect more than the games to stir your emotions. If you let it, this huge, rich and diverse South American country will sharpen your senses and your physical state.”
Football fans who come to Brazil for the World Cup will face a difficult choice. Will theytravel to see games played inthe metropolis of São Paulo,or in Manaus, a city in thelush Amazon rainforest?Will they visit and watch in Africanised Salvador, in the north of Brazil, or Europeanised Curitiba, in the country’s south? What about the festive and sunny Rio de Janeiro, a city known worldwide as the face of Brazil?
Most tourists will likely follow their national teams on an odyssey through several of the Cup’s 12 host cities – a perfect opportunity to take in the beauty and contrasts of a country close to a third of the size of the entire continent of Africa. Like all competing teams,
Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon and Algeria will each play in three different cities at the group stage of the tournament. Despite the short duration of the tournament (13 June to 13 July), visitors will hopefully find the time to experience more of Brazil than the stereotypical images so often associated with the country. Yes, Brazil has samba, Carnival (even out of season), beaches, hospitable and cheerful people and a liberal culture, but behind this image lies stunning complexity.
With 201 million residents, Brazil is a synthesis of many peoples, and this diversity is reflected in Brazilian culture, architecture, cuisine and lifestyle. About 80 million Brazilians are direct descendants of Africans or have African heritage, while much of the rest of the population is of Portuguese, Italian, or Spanish origin. There are also sizable Japanese-Brazilian and Lebanese-Brazilian communities. The indigenous population, currently estimated at 900,000 people, has generally not intermarried with other groups, and remains more or less restricted to Brazil’s northern forests.
The “Land of Football” is not only a cultural but also an economic and social Babel. The southeast and south of the country, where frenetic urban centres São Paulo and Rio are located, have shown strong economic and technological growth. The Cup will take place in Brazil’s winter, which in this region is pronounced, with average temperatures of 10 to 15°C and extremes as low as 0°C. The country’s northeast, with its beautiful Atlantic beaches, is one of the poorest regions – especially its interior, with its semi-arid climate. The northern and mid-western zones, with their mixed forests, low populations and extensive agricultural areas, stay warm and wet the entire year.
As large and diverse as the country is, there are some commonalities across its 7.8 million square kilometers. Cooking, for instance, does not vary much between regions – there are just some local preferences. This applies particularly to the northern coast of Brazil and to the Amazon: Brazil’s great river is full of exotic, edible fish, while the coastal area – especially Salvador, the capital of colourful Bahia state – is known for adaptations of African dishes, no surprise given its particularly large Afro-Brazilian population. Regardless of region, diners will always find the national dish: rice with beans, served with beef or chicken, potatoes and salad. Especially beloved by Brazilians is feijoada, an exotic blend of black beans and pork parts. No matter where you travel, you will always find meat, as Brazil is the largest beef producer and exporter in the world. Churrascarias, or steak houses, are ubiquitous, sometimes serving over 25 different cuts of beef.
When it comes to dining as an overall culture, the whole world can be found in Brazil. Italian food, for example, arrived in Brazil during the early 20th century and pizzerias are now common, even in small towns. Cuisine from African countries like Nigeria and Cameroon has also become popular, thanks to the Diaspora, particularly in cosmopolitan São Paulo.
South and Southeast: Beaches and Cowboys
The Cup will open in the industrial hub of São Paulo and close in the beach metropolis of Rio de Janeiro. These are Brazil’s two biggest cities and the capitals of two eponymous southeastern states. While just a few hours’ drive away from each other, they could not be more different.
Rio, the more famous of the two, is the only place in the southeast where summer lasts year-round. Situated on the Bay of Guanabara, squeezed between beaches and mountains, its skyscrapers and shantytowns look onto one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. The view is best appreciated from the city’s highest points: Corcovado, the mountain topped by a famous statue of Christ with open arms, and the Pao de Açúcar, which can only be reached by cable car.
The beautiful scene becomes surreal for many visitors when they notice the famous favelas (slums) that scale the mountain slopes. Scattered across wealthy and poor areas of the city, they house about 20 percent of Rio’s 6.3 million people. While some of the favelas have problems with crime and violence they are also rich centres of culture: most of the headquarters of the main escolas de samba (samba schools), which enchant the popular Carnival of Rio with their dancing, can be found in or near favelas. During the Cup, the schools will be open to tourists for shows and demonstrations.
Along the Rio’s vast beachfront, life follows a hectic pace – though it is relaxed in comparison to that of São Paulo. Men in suits and ties mingle with thousands of beachgoers, who come to sunbathe along stretches of sand like Ipanema, Copacabana, Leblon, and Barra da Tijuca. The city is dotted with kiosks, bars and restaurants where you can drink an authentic Brazilian caipirinha, a strong drink made with the sugarcane spirit, cachaça.
Recommended cultural sites include the Museum of Contemporary Art in Niteroi, just across the Bay of Guanabara from Rio and accessible by ferry. The building, which looks like a flying saucer, is the creation of the late architect Oscar Niemeyer, whose sensuously curved buildings have come to represent the spirit of Brazil. A standout in downtown Rio is the Teatro
Municipal (Municipal Theatre), built in 1909 and inspired by the Paris Opera. Rio is a cultural city, bohemian at times, with concerts, pubs, nightclubs and restaurants for all tastes. Popular nightlife areas include Lapa, whose bars and restaurants draw a young, local crowd, and the sophisticated waterfront neighbourhood of Leblon.
Built on a grander scale – but without the beaches and perhaps with less human warmth – is Brazil’s economic and financial hub of São Paulo. Nicknamed “the city that never stops,” its cultural and nightlife options are inexhaustible – unsurprising, given that its 11.3 million inhabitants (19.8 million counting the metropolitan region) come from across Brazil and the world.
Thousands of buildings, wide boulevards and a good subway system remind visitors of New York, though São Paulo is more chaotic and disorganised. It is also a shopper’s paradise. Dozens of malls and sophisticated neighbourhoods feature national and international luxury brands, and popular areas of commerce are dotted throughout the city. The commercial area, Brás, Bom Retiro, Rua Vinte Cinco de Março, (March 25 Street in English) and others receive many Africans who visit São Paulo exclusively to shop for resale in their home countries.
While São Paulo has several conventional museums, the football fanatic might want to visit the Museum of Football, or the Museum of Pelé, dedicated to the life and conquests of the “king of football”. This can be found in Santos, a seaside town 50 minutes from the capital. São Paulo has few natural attractions and is gray, damp and somewhat cold in winter, though the sheer scale of the city makes up for a lack of natural beauty.
Further south, the much smaller host cities of Curitiba (Paraná state) and Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul state) are modern but quiet. Both have large communities of descendants of Italians and German settlers who arrived after the Portuguese. Curitiba also has many residents of Polish and Ukrainian descent. This small city, where Nigeria will face Iran, is charming, with a well-organised transit system and an abundance of green spaces – like the Botanical Garden, its huge greenhouses. The Opera do Arame (Wire Opera) theatre, a tubular metal structure in the middle of a grove, is worth a visit. For gastronomic delights, head to the typically Italian neighbourhood of Santa Felicidade.
Still further south is the small city of Porto Alegre, Here, Nigeria will face Argentina and Algeria will play South Korea. At the centre of Brazil’s best meat-producing region, it is an excellent place to try churrasco (steak). The local culture, especially the music and dance, has a strong gaucho flavour, influenced by the cowboys who drove herds across the region’s plains in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The Northern Coast and the Interior: Beauty versus Poverty
On the northern coast of Brazil, beaches lined with palm and coconut trees, a transparent blue sea and a constant breeze that alleviates the heat can make you forget the big city – and the deep poverty – of the region. In Brazil’s northeast, the cities of Salvador (Bahia state), Recife (Pernambuco state), Natal (Rio Grande do Norte state) and Fortaleza (Ceará state) are all World Cup hosts and have much in common. Their quiet people are mostly of non-European origin, and the region shares a body of Christian and African folklore. Salvador in particular is heavily Afro Brazilian – almost 80 percent of its 2.6 million people have African heritage.
In the old centre of Salvador lies the Pelourinho, a mishmash of baroque buildings from the 16th and 17th centuries, with its churches, stone streets and animist temples where Yoruba – brought to Brazil by Africans captured as slaves – is still spoken. From there one can see the Baía de Todos os Santos, the Bay of All Saints, while in the surrounds, also known as Old Town, the percussion groups Ileaê and Timbalada fill the city air with their Afro-Brazilian sounds.
Recife, Natal and Fortaleza will host the Ivory Coast, Ghana and Cameroon for matches. The Cameroonians will also play in Manaus, capital of Amazonas state. There are just about 1.7 million manauras, as residents are known, who live in this city in Brazil’s forest interior near the confluence of the Rio Negro and the Solimões River, which join to form Brazil’s famous Amazon River. Manaus is only accessible by plane or boat and is exotic to the extreme; even the smell in the air is outstanding. Two centuries ago, at the peak of its rich history, it was the world’s largest producer of latex. A trace of the city’s past glory and wealth can be seen in the massive, columned building of the Teatro Amazonas (Amazon Theatre), an opera house.
Cuiabá, where Nigeria will play Bosnia-Herzegovina, is the gateway to the Pantanal, one of the largest wetland areas in the world (250,000 square kilometres), and to the ecological safaris popular with Europeans and Americans. Meanwhile in Brasília, the federal capital, fans from Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Ghana will not have much to see besides the matches and the Oscar Niemeyer’s designed government buildings and palaces.
Go and Have Fun
Pack your bags and pay attention to the exchange rate – the Brazilian real has fluctuated greatly since the beginning of 2014, in the range of R2.25 to R2.40 to the US dollar It is also a good idea to learn some basic expressions in Portuguese, since the majority of the population does not speak English. Staying alert will help keep you safe. Otherwise, enjoy your stay!
By Giovanni Lorenzon
