What to see

Rio De Janeiro: Rio de Janeiro is justifiably called "Marvellous City" (Cidade Maravilhosa). We took a cable car to the heights of Pão de Açúcar (the Sugarloaf Mountain) in time for a sunset view of a city. The sparkling beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema, mist shrouded mountains, the stunning Corcovado (statue of Christ) and the Parque Nacional de Tijuca (the surrounding jungle vegetation) make this a city with the world's most beautiful setting. But there's more. Elegant suburban life, art galleries by day, jazz clubs at night, the world famous Maracana football stadium, restaurants where you can eat until you drop and of course, Carnaval made this a place where we were content to stay for weeks. There is another side though. The favelas on the city's edges and the homeless we saw settling down for the night on the streets

Salvador [da Bahia]: Bahia is Brazil's most Africanised state. Salvador is an interesting colonial city with plenty happening on the music scene, lots of fantastic beaches and a superb carnival. It's a bit of a package destination but a good place to reach the more deserted beaches of Bahia along the North East coast, which includes empty beaches and tiny candy coloured towns where people dance the night away and swing in a hammock all day

Olinda, near Recife: Another great Carnival

Amazon: Gigantic system of rivers and forests, covering half of Brazil and extending into Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru. The stretch of river known as Rio Amazonas runs between the cities of Manaus (shown in glossies as a wonderful amazon city but despite its' architectural history it's dreary and crime-ridden so don't dally longer than necessary) and Belém, where you can start the journey. You might see animals such as jaguar, tapir, spider monkeys, sloth or river dolphin, not to mention boa constrictors or anacondas. As for birds, there are gorgeous toucans, parrots, macaws, hummingbirds and hawks, and there are over 1800 species of butterflies.

There are also hundreds of fish including piranha and electric eel. More worryingly there are more than 200 species of mosquitoes. Take a boat, a cruise or hike. Go for a day or a fortnight. The choice is yours, but don't expect to see too much of authentic indigenous Indian life and due to disruption much of the fauna has gone deep into the jungle meaning you're more likely to see it in the Pantanal than here

The Pantanal: The Amazon may have all the fame and glory, but the Pantanal, in the far west of Brazil, is a far better place to see wildlife. We went in the rainy season and this vast area of wetlands, about half the size of France, was teeming with wildlife. We saw Capybara (giant guinea pigs), armadillos, monkeys, deer, anteaters, toucans, hawks, blue macaws and swam with crocodiles (friendly ones!). We didn't see them, but there are also anacondas, iguanas, jaguars and cougars. The place is sparsely populated, a true wilderness aside from the ranches whose cattle add to this unique ecosystem. We went in the rainy season, the best time to see animals but mosquitoes and wading through cow-dung infested rivers were a bit unappealing. For more comfort, go after March and if you don't fancy camping, stay in the comfort of a ranch

Iguacu Falls: Truly stunning, densely vegetated and utterly monstrous tiered waterfalls. Bigger than Victoria falls and higher than Niagara. Masses of wildlife but all under threat due to some proposed water energy scheme. You can hop across to Paraguay for duty free shopping while you're there!

Parque Nacional da Serra da Chapada dos Veadeiros: Scenic national park , just over 200km north of Brasília, the nation's capital. High waterfalls, natural swimming pools and oasis-like stands of wine-palms make it a popular destination for ecotourists. Animal life includes maned wolves, banded anteaters, giant armadillos, capybaras, tapirs, rheas, toucans and vultures.