Since we’ve started traveling, at least after we left Peru, we have been keeping track of our expenses. We hope to not only keep track of our own expenses but to also give you a better idea of how much it would cost you to travel through Brazil. This is a budget breakdown for two, so if you want to get a rough estimate you can always just half it – though I’m not sure if that would be a perfect estimate. We visited Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Paranagua, Ilha do Mel, Florianopolis and Porto Alegre. Most of our time was in Rio and Sao Paulo- though there is one major flaw in our budget here – we didn’t pay for housing. In Rio we stayed with a friend of mine for 3 weeks and in Sao Paulo we stayed with Aiko’s cousin for 1 month. Truth be told, it was part of the reason we could afford to stay in Brazil for so long as it is a pricey place to live/visit.

One other thing to factor into our budget – we didn’t eat out a lot and only rarely went out for drinks at a night club. We did drink, but that is covered in our “Food & Beverage” total, we often bought beer or wine with our groceries so it became too troublesome to sort out. We also often splurged when we didn’t have to pay for housing – and in Sao Paulo we had an almost nightly tradition that involved a bottle of wine and playing cards with family. If you don’t drink and can live off of rice and ramen I’m sure you could do better with your food budget than us.

And here is the breakdown for Brazil…

Our “Special” events included getting into a Samba school, Pao de Acucar (R$106), and Carnival (R$370).

If you see any other indicators where there is R$0.00 for accommodations it is because we used Couchsurfing - which I’ll be writing a post on that soon.

Our “Other” slot was a catch all so when we bought havaianas, bathroom stuff, sun tan lotion (which is expensive in Rio), or the first and last time we bought cigarettes it is all included here.

“Transportation” not only includes local transportation but our tickets for each destination. Brazil has a really great website that lists bus routes from most bus companies called Busca Omnibus. To give you an idea of what we paid for each leg (this is the total for both our tickets):

Rio -> Sao Paulo R$151
Sao Paulo – > Curitiba R$135
Curitiba -> Paranagua R$44.82
Paranagua -> Ilha do Mel (Ferry) R$32
Ilha do Mel -> Paranagua R$32
Paranagua ->Curitiba R$38.78
Curitiba -> Florianopolis R$100.06
Florianopolis -> Porto Alegre R$139.80
Porto Alegre -> Punta del Este (Uruguay) R$329.50

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++UPDATE++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

After reading a comment inquiring for a bit more information, I wanted to add a little more useful information.

Here is a break down of a few items you may be interested in purchasing

Food

Juice R$5-7, there are ‘Suco’ stands all over Rio de Janeiro and you will likely purchase an Acai or some other exotic fruit.

Caiparinha – R$5-10

Cocoanut -  R$5 on the beaches of Rio

Beer – R$8-14 for 1 liter

Lunch at dine-in restaurant R$40-60 for two people (may be more expensive depending on drinks.

Public Transportation

Bus R$2.35 per-person (non A.C. bus) in Rio, R$2.9 in Florianopolis

Metro R$3.20 per-person in Rio , R$3 per person in Sao Paulo

Other

Sunblock – R$16-30 (It is expensive here so bring your own)

A pesar de nuestra ‘mala’ experiencia (mala entre comillas porque me tomó por sorpresa, pero en retrospectiva no estábamos en peligro) la primera noche en Lapa, la mayoría de la gente que hemos encontrado durante nuestras aventuras en Rio de Janeiro han sido amables con nosotros. El truco, como sospecharían, ha sido andar con cautela, saber quien puede ser de mas confianza y que cosas evitar.

Cuando somos niños nos enseñan a ser cuidadosos y no hablar con desconocidos, pero ‘no hombre es una isla’. Nosotros tenemos la necesidad de comunicarnos, conectar con los demás y expandir nuestros horizontes, por lo cual, la regla anterior es modificada ne! La diferencia es que mientras crecemos, vamos aprendiendo a tener un mejor juicio de las personas, lugares, situaciones, etc. (aunque muchas veces nos equivocamos).

Alguna vez has visitado un local irlandés, sea un restaurante, barra, etc.? Quizá te percataste de un dicho en la pared que dice ‘Aquí no hay desconocidos, sólo amigos por conocer’ (o más probablemente en inglés: ‘there are no strangers here, only friends that are yet to meet’), y esta, en mi opinión, es una lección tan importante como la primera.

Una de las lecciones que he aprendido en este viaje es que a pesar de estar en un lugar con diferentes condiciones a las que estoy acostumbrada, no debo andar en pánico, únicamente con cautela y disfrutar de la cultura en la que estoy emergida. De lo contrario, quizá no valdría la pena viajar.

If you are like me you like a bit of history and find museums and ancient ruins fascinating, then Confeitaria Colombo is the place to visit. While Rio de Janeiro doesn’t have any ancient ruins it does have some very old buildings. If you walk around Central or Lapa you can see some of these buildings but they are often dilapidated, boarded up, or in some cases just the outer wall remaining. However, you do have an opportunity to see what Rio looked like at the beginning of the 1900’s.

If you are spending any time in Brazil, or follow Brazilian soap operas (which many Brazilians do), you will see a show called Lado a Lado, which takes place during the early 1900’s period of Rio de Janeiro. They start off and finish the show with pictures of Rio before it transformed into the megalopolis it is today. (more…)

Carnival is getting ready to begin and all of Brazil is swaying to the rhythms of Samba. Sure there are big Mardi Gras and Carnival parties throughout the world but Brazil, specifically Rio de Janeiro, is renowned for theirs.

Unlike in New Orleans, which celebrates Fat Tuesday, Rio de Janeiro celebrates Carnival starting the Friday before and parties all the way through. I’ve also heard that it consists of going to the beach and bloco parties (small neighborhood Carnival parades), with very little sleep. (more…)

If you know anything about Rio beyond beaches and tini-bikinis you are probably familiar with the stairs of Selarón. It is such an important and prominent feature within Rio that it was included in their “The Passion Unites Us” video bid for the 2016 Olympics. It has also been in other non-official videos highlighting Rio’s “beauty” such as Snoop Dogg’s Beautiful music video. I have been to Lapa many times, both when I first lived in Rio in 2008 and again a few times recently. The recent loss of this Chilean Artist gave me a chill when I read the news, realizing I had stood at his final resting place just days before. I had planned on writing a post about the antique fair in Lapa that occurs on the first Saturday of every month. Instead, I want to share how one man’s dedication has directly influenced my life. Even though I never met the man, my life story is intertwined with his work.

I have a panting from Selarón that has hung on my wall since I left Brazil in 2008, framed next to an article on Selarón signed with a note to me. My roommates, and two soldiers who were staying with us at the time, went off to Lapa one weekend morning as I stayed home to nurse a hangover. They came back with stories of Selarón and the aforementioned gifts. It was a constant reminder to me of a time where I first explored a world outside my own and a place I longed to return to.

Return I did, and on our first night in Rio we visited Lapa but never made it to the stairs. We already had the unfortunate experience of being pick-pocketed earlier that night and felt we had experienced enough excitement. Yet, a few days later, this past Saturday we returned to take photos.  Only this time we returned during the day, Lapa can be a dangerous part of Rio.

Yet, even with the neighborhood being a more rough area and with the now infamous artwork he created it was not uncommon to find Selarón sitting on his stairs chatting with neighbors and visitors. We did not see him this past Saturday, yet Aiko and I were excited to see two, of the many unique and various tiles, side by side – one representing Ohio (my home state) and the other Lima (Aiko’s hometown).

You can’t help but marvel at all of the tiles as it leads up and turns around the corner continuing. You try to imagine what it was like before and how much it has changed. Yet, at night be cautious and beware of wandering up the stairs yourself. You may find yourself in a similar situation that I did on my last night in Rio.

I had a friend visit me, along with his buddy, who were studying in the Northeastern part of Brazil. We went out to the Hippie Fair, the beaches and at night to Lapa. As we ascended the stairs admiring the artwork, we stopped to take a photo. We felt safe because a police car sat at the base of the stairs. So we went up, and up and up. As we rounded the corner, just out of sight of the police we notice a suspicious looking guy. We all agreed it was time to return down the stairs and as we stopped to turn around we found ourselves face to face with the guy. First, he asked us if we were selling any drugs. Next, he asked us if we were looking to buy some drugs. He dug into his side, and somehow over the noise from below the click of his gun echoed off of the walls. As I looked up my gaze met the barrel of his gun. I looked to my friends, and an understood sense of let’s just get through this was spoken through our eyes. We convinced the man to let us keep our memory card and he walked off with around $100 USD and our camera. However, not wanting us to follow him or go back down the stairs towards the police he sent us up the hill into Santa Theresa. We obeyed and walked till we met a watchman for a gated area and asked if we could wait until our robber left. I couldn’t follow the conversation in Portuguese between my friend and the watchmen but I could sense the hostility. What I didn’t expect was the man to come out of his hut with a machete to chase us away.

We ran down the stairs, passed the police and caught the bus home not saying a word to each other for at least 15 minutes. While all my experiences seemed to centered around bad experiences (hangovers and robberies) it still holds a place in my heart and taught me a lot about myself, Rio and traveling. It is a sad day for Rio to loose the artist who spent decades building up these beautiful stairs. I can only hope as time passes the city will honor his memory and maintain the stairway.

If you want to read articles about Jorge Selarón then check out the BBC or Washington Post.