This island off the southern coast offers the best of tropical Brazil in one compact area (300 km sq). Ilha Grande offers more than a hundred pristine beaches, a extensive network of hiking trails through its lush interior rainforest, and rumors of buried pirate treasure. Especially recommended is the trek to the ghost townof Praia da Parnaioca, once a fishing village. Its residents were scared away a few years ago after a string of escapes from a now-closed prison that was located nearby.

Itatiaia National Park

Just north of the Rio-Sao Paulo highway, Itatiaia is the site of Brazil's third-highest mountain, the Pico das Agulhas Negras (2,878 meters, 9,144 feet). The park is also home to over 250 species of birds, which attract birdwatchers from around the world. The terrain varies from tropical to temperate according to elevation. At the highest elevation, where temperatures sometimes drop below freezing, the desolate landscape is dotted with bizarre rock formations, the result of temperature extremes and heavy rainfall. Some of the most famous are the Pedra (da Tartaruga) (the Turtle) and the Pedra (da Maç) (the Apple).

The Pantanal

This enormous marshy plain, which spreads out along Brazil's western border with Paraguay and Bolivia, is famous for its abundant wildlife. Its flat, open vistas are perfect for spotting alligators, jaguars, anacondas, spider monkeys and gibbons–not to mention flocks of tropical birds (toucans, parrots and macaws, among others). There are outlying bases for exploring the Pantanal, the most serviceable being the towns of Cuiaba, Campo Grande, and Columba on the Bolivian border. Visitors should allow at least two nights at lodges or camping grounds further inside the park. Canoe trips down the Pantanal's small rivers are the best way to see animals up close. Rides in small planes and hot-air balloons give views of the wildlife from above. Among the activities not to be missed: piranha fishing.

The best hotels in Brasilia

Name	Rating	From	Location
Blue Tree Hotel	*****	US$123	Brasilia
Naoum Plaza Hotel	*****	US$155	Brasilia
Kubitschek Plaza	*****	US$121	Brasilia
Carlton Brasilia	*****	US$89	Brasilia
Manhattan Plaza	****	US$108	Brasilia

Conclusion

«If we wished to, we could make of this country a great Nation,» said Brazil's national hero Tridents. Two hundred years on Brazil has become an economic power with enormous potential, but it remains trapped in an archaic political system of privileges that maintains shocking social inequality.

Throughout history the economy has endlessly adapted to new cycles, new products, new demands with dynamism and versatility. Yet the legacy of the slave system prevents the same dynamism being applied to social change, accepting a two-tier system of citizenship, the included and the excluded. The ruling classes' excuses have always been the same: wealth must trickle down, the cake must be allowed to grow before it can be divided. History shows that Brazil has always produced immense wealth and that it has always been kept by a minority and used for consumption, not investment.

Huge funds are not needed to change Brazil. What is needed is the will to change. Brazil needs a mental revolution, a reversal of priorities, so that its social development can catch up with its economic development. Otherwise, the currency can change, the president can change, even the capital changes place every now and again, but Brazil risks being labeled the land of the future well into the twenty-first century.

«Next stop, Paradise», barks a matter of fact voice over the intercom of the train on the Sao Paulo Underground. Nowadays Paradise is just a rather dingy district of downtown Sao Paulo, a station on the North-South Metro line, but five hundred years ago when the first explorers reached Brazil they thought it was the real thing. They found friendly, beautiful natives, an abundance of fruit and fertile soil. Travelers ever since have marveled at the beauty of Rio de Janeiro, gazed in awe at the vastness of the Amazon river, delighted in the palm-fringed beaches of the Northeast.