The extent of my travels consisted of the stretch of coast from Armação dos Búzios (Búzios) in the state of Rio de Janeiro, southwestward to Florianópolis on Ilha de Santa Catarina (Santa Catarina Island) in the state of Santa Catarina. Visited or traveled through were: Armação dos Búzios - RJ, Cabo Frio - RJ, Arraial do Cabo - RJ, Praia Seca - Araruama - RJ, Saquarema - RJ, the city of Rio de Janeiro - RJ, the city of São Paulo (Sampa) - SP, the state of Paraná, and Florianópolis (Floripa) - SC.
The language spoken in Brazil is português (Portuguese).
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the following wonderful people without whom my vacation of a lifetime would not have been possible:
Paulo Bettero and his then wife, MaryAnn Butts; Paulo's daughter, Anna Clara; MaryAnn's daughter, Ella (my "family" and travel companions while in Brazil); Paulo's mother, Nancy (who was hostess and "mom" to all of us in Praia Seca); Paulo's son, Paulinho; Vanessa Adriano Andrade and her then husband Sam McReynolds (both of whom provided me with a great deal of encouragement and assistance with travel arrangements, visa procurement, other logistics, and obtaining new eyeglasses in Florianópolis); Vanessa's son, Gui; Vanessa and Sam's daughter, Megan; Vanessa's cousin Janilda (Duda) Cavalcante Adriano Ferreira (who gave us a tour of Ilha de Santa Catarina and took us to Ilha do Campeche); Fernanda Souza (who met us for lunch in Rio and gave us a tour of the city); Paulo's friends Décio Machado Maia and Tuca (who drove me to the airport and gave me another tour of Rio); and my Portuguese instructor, Neil Cormack.