A guide to visiting Brazil's Pantanal

Wedged into a highland valley just east of the altiplano – the Andean plateau stretching across western Bolivia – Sucre is one of the most beautiful cities in South America and a place that confounds expectations. Set at an altitude of 2,810m, it was established in the mid-1500s by Spanish conquistadors on the lands of the indigenous Yampara people and has since been known as Charcas, Chuquisaca, Ciudad de la Plata (City of Silver) and finally Sucre, rightfully earning it the title “The City with Four Names”.

Despite producing some truly delicious pineapples—and the only pineapples grown in Europe—Portugal’s Azores islands aren’t particularly well suited to growing the fruit. Which is why the third-generation owner of Herdade do Ananás (“pineapple estate”) has opted to diversify the family business.

Carefree days lounging on the sand are a hallmark of an idyllic vacation for many travelers. But beaches themselves are a commodity, vulnerable to retreat that’s exacerbated by climate change. In fact, nearly half of the Earth’s sandy beaches could be extinct by 2100, according to a study published in Nature Climate Change.

The chance to spot a bear, bison, or bald eagle in the wild is one of the major reasons travelers visit the United States’ 63 national parks. You might assume that a megafauna mecca like Yellowstone National Park would offer the best odds of seeing multiple animals. 

This coming August, all eyes will turn to the beaches and stadiums of Rio de Janeiro, where the 2016 Summer Olympics will be in full swing. The Games are expected to bring athletes and tourists from across the globe to Brazil, and now for Americans, a huge hurdle has been removed. In a move to stimulate the Brazilian economy, the Brazilian government announced that it will waive visa requirements for citizens of the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan.

If you’re reading this post while waiting for your departure from Seattle, chances are it loaded quickly. That’s because Seattle-Tacoma International has the fastest airport Wi-Fi in the country, according to a new study by Speedtest.

Airlines insist you can’t sell frequent flyer miles or rewards, and courts in the U.S. have generally backed this claim. But a court in Sao Paulo, Brazil, just ruled that frequent flyer miles can be sold, and it ordered American Airlines to reimburse one traveler for the tickets the airline canceled after citing a violation of the airline’s rules.

Ah, college spring break. The noblest rite of passage for our nation’s future leaders. With March around the corner, college students across the country are preparing for a week of fun and relaxation (much of which their parents will hopefully never hear about). From traditional party destinations to destinations you may not think of as typical spring break locals, here are the best spring break destinations.

Like a sprawling carpet of moss, the Amazon Rainforest stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the foothills of the Andes, creating a lush basin that still remains partially unexplored to this day. Cut by thin ropes of water flowing from the Amazon River, the forest stretches over land in Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.

The turquoise waters and paradise beaches of Brazil’s Região dos Lagos have earned this watery region the nickname Caribe Brasileiro, the Caribbean of Brazil. The area lies on a lake- and lagoon-filled coastal outcropping in Rio de Janeiro state, just a couple hours’ drive north of the city of Rio. While it’s best known for the glitzy beach resort of Búzios, the less-traveled town of Cabo Frio is less than an hour south of Búzios and offers a lot to those fortunate enough to visit. Locals cherish Cabo Frio for the high quality of life, the ease of getting into nature, and the fact that you can have gorgeous places to yourself.

My favourite spot in Rio isn’t lying on Ipanema beach or watching the world go by sitting in the Copacabana Palace terrace. Nor does it involve hiking in the Parque Nacional da Tijuca, or snaking around the islands on a boat trip in Guanabara Bay. My favourite spot is unfamiliar to the casual tourist, because it’s difficult to find. You can’t even spot it from high up in the favelas or from the statue of Christ the Redeemer. In fact I’d really have to give you directions there.

Brazil’s booming southern states – Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul – are often strangely absent on tourist itineraries of the country. The cities of Curitiba and Porto Alegre will host 2014 FIFA World Cup matches, and the region is already a huge draw for Brazilian, Argentine and Uruguayan tourists. Yet it can be a hard sell for European and North American travellers – it lacks the glamour of Rio but often sports the same prices thanks to the booming economy. After an obligatory pilgrimage to the mighty Iguazu Falls most Western travellers simply move on. So what makes those sudamericanos stick around? Here’s ten reasons I can think of immediately…