15 Things to Do in Brazil

One of the New Seven Wonders — the 38m Art Deco Christ on Corcovado above Rio, with Guanabara Bay, Sugarloaf, ocean beaches and the entire city spread below in an almost impossible panorama.

Half the earth's remaining tropical forest — river cruises from Manaus into the flooded forest at dawn, piranha fishing, pink river dolphin encounters and the Meeting of the Waters.

Five days in February when 2 million people fill Copacabana and the Sambadrome parade — 12 samba schools each with 3,000 performers compete in the most spectacular choreographed spectacle on earth.

The Brazilian side: a single elevated walkway with 275 cascades in full view simultaneously. Eleanor Roosevelt said of the falls: 'Poor Niagara.'

1,500 sq km of white sand dunes with thousands of turquoise lagoons forming between them January–June — a landscape that shouldn't exist but does, uniquely in Brazil's Maranhão state.

The world's largest tropical wetland — jaguars visible here more reliably than anywhere on earth, alongside giant otters, hyacinth macaws and capybara herds during dry season.

Cable car to Sugarloaf at sunset, Christ the Redeemer at dawn, Ipanema beach afternoon, samba in Lapa at night. No city packages drama, beauty and energy into the same 24 hours.

3–5 day river cruise from Manaus — night canoeing for caimans, pink river dolphin encounters and the Meeting of the Waters where black and brown rivers flow side by side for 8km.

The world's most reliable jaguar sightings on the Cuiabá River during dry season (June–October). Giant otters, marsh deer and caimans fill the viewing hours between encounters.

A volcanic archipelago 350km offshore — the most pristine marine environment in the Atlantic, with spinner dolphin pods at dawn and daily visitor numbers strictly limited.

12 samba schools parading through the Sambadrome over two nights in February with 3,000 costumed performers per school. Book tickets 6 months ahead.

The 'Magic Island' — 42 beaches from Joaquina's Atlantic surf to calm Jurerê Internacional, all accessible from a single island city.

A UNESCO colonial town where the gold rush produced 24 Baroque churches with hand-gilded interiors. The Igreja de São Francisco de Assis is Brazil's finest architectural achievement.

650 species in one ecosystem — the hyacinth macaw (world's largest parrot), jabiru stork, roseate spoonbill and hoatzin.

A remote village accessible only by 4WD through dunes — the sunset from Sunset Dune is the most photographed moment in northeast Brazil.