Churrasco or barbecued meat reigns strong in Brazil, is served in generous portions, and can be eaten to celebrate almost any occasion. When savoured in a restaurant, barbecued pork, lamb, or even wild boar will likely be served on skewers. Hot clay pots of moqueca (fish stew with onions, tomatoes and coriander) are a firm favourite, as is feijoada (a filling stew comprised of sausages, pork and black beans). Farafo brings fried cassava flour to life with egg, bacon and all manner of extras, eaten with beans or rice. Fried savoury delights feature heavily in Brazil and include: acarajé, which is a patty of black-eyed peas and onions, deep-fried and stuffed with shrimps, bread, cashew nuts and other fillings; pastéis – crispy pastry parcels with melted cheese or beef inside; and mandioca frita – fried yucca sticks.

Desserts are just as divine, pleasing everyone from chocolate-lovers - with pavé (a cake layered with cookies and chocolate) and brigadeiro (condensed milk chocolate truffles) - to ice-cream fans, with créme de papaya (a papaya and vanilla ice-cream blend). Other delicious treats that are available all over Brazil are quindim (a yellow-coloured baked coconut dessert, containing eggs, sugar and often butter too), beijinho de coco (coconut truffles), and bolinho de chuva (fried dough balls covered in cinnamon and sugar). Tropical fruits such as açai berries, jabuticabas (similar to grapes), maracujá (passion fruit), guavas, caju apples, guaranas (very sweet berries), papayas, pineapples, carambola (star fruit) and cupuaçu (related to the cacoa fruit but tasting quite like a pear), find their way into desserts, sorbets, sauces and drinks. 

Coconut water originated here and is served straight from the coconut itself. Ask for a vitamina de abacate and you can look forward to a delicious avocado, milk and sugar, green-coloured smoothie. Rather than mass-produced carbonated drinks that can be sipped all over the globe, opting for a Guaraná Antartica is a Brazilian soda that is flavoured with guarana berries and will bring a caffeine hit, should you need one. Drinking chimarrão is a communal activity, where this special tea is placed in a metal cup and shared with friends, as they take turns to sip it and then pass the cup around. Cachaça is not dissimilar from white rum and is made from fermented sugar cane juice. It forms the base of many cocktails and alcoholic drinks, including: batida (cachaça mixed with fruit juices and fruit, to form a type of alcoholic smoothie); caipirinha (cachaça mixed with sugar and lime); and porradinha (cachaça mixed with soda).

Numerous beers are available, with the craft beer Devassa’s Tropical Red Ale, Colorado’s Indica IPA, Skol, Antartica and Brahma being popular choices with locals and visitors. Açai berry not only features in desserts but is also used to make some beers and vodkas. Tap water is unfortunately not safe to drink in Brazil, so keep this in mind when asking for ice in your drinks. 

A massive 60% of the Amazon Rainforest is located in the north of Brazil, which contrasts greatly from the swamp areas in the central-west, the coastal plains, and the campos (dry grasslands) in the south. These highly varied landscapes result in richly diverse wildlife. Brazil is inhabited by all sorts of creatures, including anteaters, armadillos, sloths, monkeys, otters, deer, caimans, snakes, foxes, wolves, raccoons, tapirs, jaguars and pumas.

With over 70 National Parks, Itatiaia, Pantanal Matogrossense, Lencois Maranhenses, Iguacu, and Chapada Diamantina National Parks are among the most beautiful. In terms of marine life, this stunning country has an enormous coral reef and beautiful mammals such as whales, dolphins, manatees, and five types of sea turtle all living around its coastline.