As someone who wants to go to Brazil to admire the nature and scenery (ecotourism), would the regions of Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul be considered relatively safe to travel in? I know that there are a lot of hiking trails in those regions, and I'm thinking of staying in an inn or hostel.
Go to Bonito - Mato grosso do Sul.
>>1159755
Ideally you would have a guide, as many hiking places in Minas Gerais aren't exactly prepares for tourists. Some of the best National Parks here have 10+km unpaved road, so you might need a car. If you can speak portuguese, it's pretty allright to do it, and Diamantina, Ouro Preto and Serra do Cipó are international tourist friendly, but you will still need a guide. Like i said, smaller parks and trails like Ibitipoca or São joão do Rio Preto you would ideally need a friend due to it being smaller parks with a somewhat harder getting to. Don't know much about RIo Grande do Sul, but the same rule applies, only the most well know hikes are international friendly.
>>1159826
>Like i said, smaller parks and trails like Ibitipoca or São joão do Rio Preto you would ideally need a friend due to it being smaller parks with a somewhat harder getting to. Don't know much about RIo Grande do Sul, but the same rule applies, only the most well know hikes are international friendly.
Do you mean a friend in general or a Brazilian friend?
>>1160588
A brazillian Friend to guide and help you would be ideal, specially if they had a car, because these parks are in much smaller cities (i'm talking 3000 max people), so car is pretty much the only way to go. Or you can come with a portuguese speaking friend and rent one.
Otherwise, i would recommend sticking to the big parks, the ones i know and think are worthy are:
Serra do Cipó, in the area around Ouro Preto and Diamantina, both are great for history too, and Diamantina even more for Radical Sports. In the front between Rio Grande and Santa Catarina you have the National Park of Aparados Da Serra, which isn't really big, but the Canyon is really really worth it. As >>1159826 said, Bonito, which translates as beautiful, is exactly that, lots of caves, diving in lakes/rivers and so on. Chapada dos Veadeiros, in Goiás is another Amazing national park, then there's Pico da Bandeira, the highest point in Brasil, in the National Park of Caparaó, and Mount Roraima, a really beautiful Plateau over the clouds in Roraima.
These are the more International Friendly places i know, and the ones you really can't miss, I haven't been to the Amazon Forest or the Pantanal yet, so i can't say anything about those. These are somewhat safer routes, so you are most likely going to be allright even alone, i have met some foreigners in these trails myself, and if you are scared, most national parks allow you to pay for a guide to go with you, it even being a must in some trails/times of year, like in rainy season in Serra do Cipó, with the risk of what we call "Cabeça D'agua", a very heavy and brief rain in a single portion of the river, causing the water level to rise a lot and instantly, carrying everything in it's way, deaths from this are quite common here. But you better learn some portuguese, as some of these require you to take a Bus between cities.
>pic related, Mount Roraima
>>1160676
sorry, it should read: Serra do Cipó and the area around Ouro Preto and Diamantina
>>1159755
Don't do things without a guide
Specially if you do drugs.