Charlie is now in Brazil! The largest country in South America and the only country in this continent that speaks Portuguese as it’s main language. Charlie is finding this tricky as he only learnt to speak Spanish before starting his big adventure.

Brazil has two very famous attractions…  Can you guess what they are?

1. The Amazon Rainforest
2. Rio de Janeiro

The Amazon Rainforest is the world’s largest tropical rainforest, it’s so big that the UK and Ireland would fit into it 17 times! Running through the north of the Amazon rainforest is the Amazon river. This is the second longest river in the world. The longest is the river Nile in North Africa. Charlie is a little worried about visiting the Amazon as it is home to lots of fascinating but deadly animals. Some of the creatures that Charlie may see are electric eels, flesh eating piranhas, jaguars, poison dart frogs and venomous snakes.

Although the amazon is home to some deadly creatures, it is also referred to as ‘the lungs of the Earth’. This is because more than 20% of the worlds oxygen is produced by the trees growing in the Amazon. The thick canopy of trees take the carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen. Charlie was told he would need to pack a raincoat but he’d have plenty of time to put it on before he got wet. The canopy is so thick that it takes around ten minutes for rain droplets to reach the ground!

 

Charlie was very excited about visiting the famous city of Rio de Janeiro. He heard that this was a great place to visit if you like music, dancing and sunshine. It’s the second largest city in Brazil and Charlie couldn’t wait to hit the beach.

Rio is surrounded by mountains which means this large city is squeezed between the mountains and the coast. Charlie noticed that none of the houses seemed to have gardens, a Brazilian called Enzo explained to Charlie that this is because so many people want to live in Rio, so every bit of land is needed for housing.

He walked with Charlie to the beachfront, an area called Copacabana beach. The walkway was lined with palm trees next to a long sandy beach.  His friend explained that this is where the richer people live and tourists come to stay in the tall apartment blocks opposite the sea. As they walked along the coast Charlie noticed a statue in the distance on top of a mountain. This statue is one that Charlie had heard about. It is called Christ the Redeemer. Christ the Redeemer is a statue of Jesus with outstretched arms and has been voted one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. The monument is 38 metres height and weighs 30 tons. At night it is illuminated by a light and looks like a giant cross. Due to its location on a giant peek 710 metres above the city it can be seen from all over Rio.

Charlies new friend Enzo, also took Charlie to the north of the city to mountains to an area called the ‘favelas’. Charlie thought that these houses looked brightly coloured but not very sturdy, and they seemed to be built on top of each other. Enzo explained that these tightly packed tin-roofed houses, were slums for poor people. Most people living in these mountainside Favelas, have no electricity and only 7 out of 10 people will have access to a toilet.

To end his day, Charlie headed to Sugarloaf Mountain. From here Charlie watched the sun set over Christ the Redeemer and the rest of Rio. Charlie really enjoyed exploring Rio with his new friend Enzo. In fact, he enjoyed his time here so much that he decided to stay for the weekend to enjoy the Carnival celebrations.

It just so happens that Charlie had arrived in Rio in time for the 2017 Carnival. Once a year there is a large carnival that attracts people from all around the world to visit Rio. Brazilians dress in flamboyant costumes and there is a lots of dancing, singing and partying in the streets. The celebration is held for 5 days before Easter.

Rio has also held to big events over the last few years. Can you remember what they were?

In 2016 the Olympics

In 2014 FIFA World Cup championship