Help wanted: Brazil trip: help/advice pls.
 

Gentlemen,
my wife´s best friend is planning to visit Brazil in a few weeks.
She plans to go backpacking there with a few of her girlfriends.
Problem is that she intends to visit the major cities and the amazon, without any planning whatsoever. No hotels booked, no guides, nothing.
I was wondering if any of you could pass me on some advice to her.
Also, in case of emergency, is there any boardmember living in Brazil that can be contacted, where they can stay if need be etc...?
Feel free to pm me if nec.
Reason I ask all this is that I worry about her (besides the fact she obviously naive and especially that she is my wifes best friend) going over there without any preperation which , In my opinion, is extremely stupid.

Thanks in advance,

Chris.

Good place to start


US Embassy
http://brasilia.usembassy.gov/



U.S. Embassy
SES - Av. das Nações,
Quadra 801, Lote 03
70403-900 - Brasilia, DF
Phone: (55-61) 3312-7000
Fax: (55-61) 3312-7676

Jgood,
thanks for the reply.
I suppose however that I should have mentioned she is Belgian, not U.S.
(but fluent in English, Dutch and French and passable German ;) ).

Bad plan, but you cannot tell some people anything.

I hope that she does not get more adventure than she wants.

Crime is extremely rampant in Brazil, especially in the cities. There are areas the cops won't go into.

Best of luck.

TR

Indeed a bad plan, to say the least sir.
But you know how women are.
Isn´t there someone you know in the area they can get to in case of?
I am kinda worried and want her to get some adresses to go if tshtf.

If she is a tree hugger that leans to the Left,, She is not going to listen to some Right-wing Gringo..

If she will listen,, send/email her any/all of the US embassy warnings you might find from Jgood's link,,

If she's not to squimish,, suggest she read some of the NEWS at MiliteryPhotos.net,, do a search for BRAZIL.. Some of it is graphic,, but it gets the point across..

http://www.militaryphotos.net/

If all else fails,, suggest she get a DNA sample kit,, it's helpfull for forensic identification..

Good Luck,,

Christophe,

PM sent.:)

Holly

Good recomendation.....

The crime rate against tourist is high in Brazil but it goes over 40% for single women touring (Non Native). I know she is going in a group of women but that will be like bees to honey. She will be putting her self in a bad situation in the Brazilian Amazon. It is very old west with a Brazilian twist.....

Unless she is in a formal tour with a LARGE Group I would not let her go. What is she wanting to see? If it is just Jungle she can come to Peru or Ecuador and see the same thing with less threat. Does she speak Portuguese?

I was slated on a trip to Uberlandia several years ago. Trip was for medical teaching of laparascopic surgery. Uberlandia was an 8 hour bus ride from the airport. Kidnapping of Americans was a real risk. People knew we were coming, how and when we were coming. My FBI brother advised that the risk for us was very high, State Dept. concurred. We did not go.

There are safer places to backpack IMHO.

Best of luck if they go!

RF 1

Don't go. Crime is rampant. You'll surely be raped, carjacked, kidnapped and shot.

Europeans say the same things.

Except when they say this, they are talking about traveling to the U.S.

Go militaryphotos and look at pictures of what? Of cops shooting it out in the favelas? Do you advise Europeans to look at crime scene photos from Baltimore before coming to the US? That would be the same reasoning. DNA kit? Be reasonable, please.

SF BHT - Not sure what the 40 percent statistic means. Are you saying that 40 percent of all single women visiting Brazil will have a crime committed against them?


I can imagine how boring living in western Europe must be. I don't blame her for wanting to go Brazil. Sure, there's more crime there than in the US or Europe, but if you use that as a guide of where you can travel your world just got a lot smaller.

Besides...

Brazil is the country of the future, and always will be.:D

Yes and this is from the Brazilian Federal Police Internal statics. The Ministry would not allow these high numbers to be published but since we work with them I got them last Jan in a brief.