Last year, I was supposed to hit up Brazil with Contiki Holidays.

Unfortunately, due to airline complications, we missed it. The whole thing was a huge mess, and we were all pretty devastated, until an email showed up in our inboxes a few months later from LAN. They offered each of us on the tour a free round-trip ticket to anywhere in South America.

Hell yes.

Seeing as how we already had our visas, Brazil seemed like the natural choice. That’s why I’m headed back there for all of November with Nadine, Maggie, and Maggie’s friend Ashley.

Yes, about three weeks from now.

No, I have nothing planned.

Currently we’re working on the following route, hoping to obtain an air pass:

Sao Paulo – Iguacu – Manaus (Amazon) – Salvador (Bahia) – Rio de Janeiro.

In Manaus, Nadine and I will be parting ways with Maggie and Ashley, sadly, as they have less time in Brazil than we do. From there, Nadine and I will be participating in a 3-5 day JUNGLE TOUR into the Amazon.

The itinerary we’re looking at includes the following note: “We will look for tarantula and other insects and listen to the birds.”

Good thing I’m not deathly afraid of spiders. Especially deathly spiders.

After that intense experience, we’ll be chilling out in Salvador on the beaches. I knew nothing about the city until I started researching it, and suddenly it’s my “must-see” destination in the country. Here’s why:

And then back to Rio for more sun in the fun. (<— That typo was too good for me to correct it.)

We’re literally doing this on a whim, so we’d appreciate any and all feedback/suggestions on what to do in each place. It’s gonna be hella whirlwind, but dammit, we’re travellers. We’ll deal.

It’s also a bit of a milk run for me, as I have to arrange my own flights to NYC’s JFK. I have to overnight on the way home, on November 26. Anyone got space for me in NYC?

Caipirinha, anyone?

Salvador photo credits: aviachar / jrubinic / nicksarebi