Keeping it green in Brazil

Brazil is famous for its carnivals, its football, its beaches and its bounty of greenery and jungles.

For the tourist who wants more than just a boozy beach holiday in Brazil, here is a guide to some of the best eco-tourism hotspots in the South American country.

Perhaps the most notable green space in Brazil is the enormous Amazon Rainforest. The World Heritage Site is easily reached with flights to Manaus, from where transfers are available with jungle lodges and travel specialists.

Once in the Amazonian jungle, the first thing you will notice is the sense you are inside a living, breathing organism, such is the wealth of ecosystems in the forest.

Ensuring you take a guide, you can expect to see myriad forms of wildlife including alligators, tree monkeys, massive lily pads, while learning ancient survival skills once used by indigenous tribes.

Good guides will also take you out in a canoe along the many vast, meandering stretches of the famous Amazon river.

Further to the south in Brazil, you can see sights that astronauts, of all people, will tell you are some of the most spectacular in the world.

The very few who get to see the planet Earth from outer space say there is a glowing light shining from the southern hemisphere. This light is Chapada dos Veadeiros, and it is the reflection of the sun on the mass of quartz deposits there.

The view one gets from visiting Chapada dos Veadeiros, which is a 165 mile drive from Brasilia, is slightly different to that from a space probe, but no less striking.

With its Moon-like craters, warm and bubbling pools, and bizarre plant-life, it is a beguiling, if at times unforgiving, natural space.

The sizeable national park of Serra de Bocaina allows travellers to see Brazil from the heights - although much of the higher land is restricted to preserve the forests' fragile ecosystems.

However, there are plenty of trails tourists can take, including the Gold Trail, which is ecologically diverse and includes activities such as hang-gliding and staying with local farmers.

The Serra de Bocaina can be reached from Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Finally, no trip to South America is complete without taking in the dramatic Iguazu Falls. Bordering Brazil and Argentina, they are taller than Niagara and twice as wide. They are at their most dramatic in the rainy season between November and March.

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