It has been 190 years since D. Pedro I, prince of Portugal shouted by the Ipiranga River “Independence or Death”, the mark of the Brazilian Independency that is celebrated every 7th of September all around the country.

Brazil had been a colony of Portugal since 1500 when the first Portuguese arrived on these lands. From there on, the Portuguese started to populate our lands and take advantage of our beautiful tropical weather and natural beauty to produce sugar cane and other goodies. By 1808, when we already had lots of African slaves and not as many Indians as we used to have, the Portuguese crown transferred the seat of government from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, fleeing Napoleon´s army. That was when our dear Prince Pedro, son of the King Don João, arrived in our country and fell in love with all this heat that we have here. In 1815, the King declared Brazil a kingdom, equal with Portugal.

By 1820 a political revolution erupted in Portugal, and the Royal Family had to return. Of course that the Prince wanted to stay, and even after the demand of the Portuguese Assembly for his return and for the return of Brazil to its former condition of colony, he stayed. Finally, in 1822 Don Pedro shouted the cry of the independency, becoming the Emperor of Brazil.

If you wish to learn more about our history, we recommend the book: A Concise History of Brazil – FAUSTO, Boris – Cambridge University Press, 1999, that gives a good overview of our history from the colony period to the first decades of the twentieth century.

There is also a great Brazilian movie from 1995, called Carlota Joaquina, that tells the story of the Queen, mother of Prince Pedro. The movie is about her life, but it’s a great (and very fun) motion picture of Brazil while the Royal Family was around here.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_TrZewCgS8[/youtube]

Brazilian fanatic football fans have finally chose the name of the Fifa 2014 World Cup Official Ball! The result of the voting came out this week – we had to choose between “Bossa Nova” symbolizing this Brazilian rhythm famous on the 6o’s, “Carnavalesca” or “Brazuca”, the chosen one.

“Brazuca” is an informal term that we use to describe national pride in the Brazilian way of life. Mirroring our approach to football, it symbolizes emotion, pride and goodwill to all.

Unfortunately the ball is currently being developed, se we will have to settle we the picture that Fifa launches on how it is going to look like!

The Modern Art Museum in São Paulo is showing a collection of 42 works of the well-known Brazilian artist Adriana Varejão. The exposition called “History at the Margins” is a retrospective of all of her best work. Some of them were borrowed from permanent collections of Guggenheim Museum (New York), Tate Modern (London), Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain (Paris), Fundación “la Caixa” (Barcelona), between others. There are also 3 new ones that were created exclusively to the MAM exhibition in São Paulo. It is a must for contemporary art lovers visiting São Paulo until December 16th.

Read more about the exhibition at http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/adriana-varejao/

Brazil is home to some of the most spectacular beaches in the world. Some of them have good hotels around, but others are so exclusive that have only private properties. We have specialized ourselves in producing seamless experiences in the most spectacular privately owned villas located in different areas of the country´s 7.000 kilometre coastline.

Very often the villas are owned by clients of ours, so you will be guests at our friends´ homes. To guarantee your comfort, every villa has a host that acts as a personal concierge during your stay, supervising the staff, coordinating shopping, planning day trips and nights in town for you, minimizing the frustrations you could have in places where you do not know the region and cannot communicate fully in Portuguese.

Angra dos Reis is one of the regions where we have the most amazing villas, and its proximity to Rio makes it an ideal destination for quick escapades from the city. It is a haven for sea-lovers who appreciate privacy and boats, with its bay of emerald-green waters that clad with islands surrounded by rainforest-covered hills. Angra is definitely one of the trendiest and most striking spots on the southeast coast of Brazil, and your experience here can be as intense or laid back as you choose it to be. Also the setting for memorable summer parties in private homes, quaint island restaurants and bars, it represents the perfect balance between a happening destination and a private hideaway.

We have many villas in the region, but there is a special one on Gipóia Island that we love – it spent some time out of our portfolio, but it is back, completely redecorated and with an excellent staff. The house has 6 bedrooms apart from the master suite and sleeps up to 16 guests and has many charming indoor and outdoor social areas, what makes it an excellent option for a family or a group of friend holidays. In addition to the villa, guests will have kayaks, a banana boat and small boats with its crew available for use. To have a better idea, take a look at these pictures.

Our private villas can also be rented for New Year’s, but their minimum stay goes up from one week to 10 days. If you wish for a shorter rental, a good idea is to rent it a little before Christmas, so minimum stay is shorter and prices aren´t as inflated also.

For more information about our Villas, contact us or check our website!

One of the most desired destinations in Brazil, the Amazon, is entering its prime season as of August until the beginning of January. It is unveiling its white sandy beaches that were submerged by the large amount of rain that caused some trouble in the region this year during the months of May and June with records of high water level and flooded lands.

Of course there are many ways to discover the jungle, but one of our favourites is navigating through the blue waters of the Tapajós River that was once described by the French explorer Jaques Cousteau as the Caribbean of the Amazon, due to its amazing beaches and rare crystal clear waters.

We love this destination not only for its natural beauty, but also because it is still undiscovered by mass tourism and we have a very charming regional boat that gives the travelers the opportunity to reach distant and secluded places. The boat is equipped with a professional crew, cooking and cleaning staff, a local guide and a host that will be at your disposal to guarantee the perfect travel experience. A private chef that knows all about the Amazon cuisine can also be included to complete your cultural experience.

The Amazon is not known to be a new year’s destination, what makes it an excellent cost-benefit at that time of the year, since prices are not inflated as in other Brazilian destinations.

Time has come to start planning your New Year’s holidays, and Brazil holds the reputation of being one of the greatest places in the world to celebrate it! And that is because this is not only one of our main holidays but it has a mystic symbolism that is contagious. And of course, it is undeniably an unforgettable party time in the country!

Brazilian New Year is characterized as the icon of new hope, fresh beginning and total renewal. Traditions are to everybody dress in white, the color of peace, and by the sea people give offerings, like flowers, to honor the Queen of the Sea Yemanja. And that is why for this date you must choose a beach destination. Rio is a must for anyone who wants to start the forthcoming year with style and company, but for those willing to a more relaxed environment, there are some great beach hotels in the northeast region that can be a good choice.

Rio is the number 1 choice due to the Copacabana huge party that attracts over 2 million people every year. At midnight, with the turning of the year, the fireworks display begins and lasts for about 20 minutes. Spectators on the beach and in the buildings along the Copacabana ocean avenue have different views to the spectacle, but share the same exciting atmosphere and cheerful spirit that only Rio knows how to provide.

And you are lucky that Brazilians are always late on planning… the best beach front hotel rooms are still available. Just remember that for this period of the year, there is a minimum stay of 4 to 6 nights minimum in all of them and prices are significantly higher than on regular season.

If you want to have a taste of new years in Brazil, but somewhere less busy you can chose between some of the beautiful beach resorts we recommend in the northeast. You will have the same mystic traditions, and will be able to enjoy the perfect weather of the region. Usually they have a longer minimum stay, but trust us – you will want to stay that long anyways.

Wherever you choose to go, this will be a once in a lifetime experience. Count on us to help you organize the perfect experience for you – as it is a busy season with many restrictions imposed by the hotels, it is important to plan smartly!

Have you ever thought about coming to Brazil, but went somewhere else because you had safety concerns? Brazilian tourism industry is not yet as developed as the European or North American, but despite some flaws such as deficient services for foreigners and much higher prices than its neighbors, on the past few years security issues have dropped significantly and are no longer a major concern for the tourists.

This article from Marcopolis.net, on which Matueté´s partners Bobby Betenson and Martin Frankenberg participated, gives some insights on what we have improved so far and what needs to be improved to host major events such as The World Cup and the Olympic Games. Read more +

We are not only known by our beautiful beaches and pristine nature. Brazilian culture is very rich and so is our music. We have many different rhythms, and all around the country you will hear something new.

In the last few years some great female singers emerged in the country influenced by this musical diversity and also by some external references. This top 5 list brings some of the best – their beautiful voices and rhythms will give a Brazilian touch to your playlist.

CÉU – born in São Paulo, she is one of the great breakthrough artists of the decade. Inspired by Samba, Jazz and Hip-Hop, her first CD was launched in 2005 and was a big success. It was a nominee for the 2006 Latin Grammy Awards and was ranked as a “Heatseeker” for Billboard Magazine.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDxTLUmsR-s[/youtube]

ROBERTA SÁ –  born in the Northeast region of the country but moved to Rio when she was still a child. With 5 recorded albums, Roberta is one of the most well-known singers from the new generation, with plenty of great hits. Her sweet voice is influenced by Samba and other Brazilian rhythms.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Kv2uX8NSRU[/youtube]

KARINA BUHR – she is not only a great voice but a talented song-writer as well. Born in Bahia but raised in Recife, she lived all the musical effervescence of the region and was highly influenced by the Maracatu and other northeastern rhythms.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozGeZOqSATI[/youtube]

CIBELLE – a multi-media performance artist born in São Paulo and influenced by Bossa Nova, Neofolk and Electronic music. Not only well-known here in Brazil, but all over Europe, where she resides nowadays.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0A73IEtM5I[/youtube]

MART’NALIA – daughter of the great sambista Martinho da Vila, Mart’nália is the new name of Samba. Her father’s musical influence, together with her authentic voice, made her a big success here in Brazil.  [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXd7drlYr-s[/youtube]

We can´t wait until the London Olympic Games start! We have plenty of favorites for medals, and Fabiana Murer, Brazil´s greatest pole vaulter ever, is one of our bests! She didn´t have much luck on the last Olympic Games, but since then she has been getting better and better. Fabiana won the gold medal on the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, but even holding the title of best pole vaulter of the world she remains very down to earth when asked about her expectations for London 2012– “I want to get to the finals and work hard for the gold medal, but for me there´s no “gold or nothing”, I want gold, silver, bronze…”

We´ll keep our fingers crossed!

So Rio +20 is over and most of the media says it was a failure. And if we look closely at the document named “The future we want” that came out of it, we can understand why they say so.  But it was not a complete waste of time and money – the civil society movements showed that not everything is lost.  What did fail was Rio´s capacity to hold a big event such as Rio +20.

About the general disappointment with the document produced by the conference – no big news. Everyone was already expecting that.  To start, we knew that Angela Merkel, David Cameron and Obama weren´t coming. And we know that economic interests are much bigger than the environmental ones, no matter if the world is about to explode. No consistent goals were defined and the “The future we want” according to those people is to maintain the status quo.

On the other hand, we can´t ignore that outside of the conference rooms civil society was doing its part.  Scientists discussed sustainable practices, activists protested on the streets… Of course they won´t change the world now, but at least it gives us a  glimmer of hope – as more people are engaged with the cause, harder it will be to postpone effective measures.

What both governors and civil society would agree is that Rio was not exactly prepared to hold such a large international event. To begin with, prices were exorbitant and many delegations threatened not to come because of this. Of course there were no hotels and due to the heavy air traffic (private and commercial) many flights had to be cancelled and even us here at Matueté were affected by this chaos. There was also lots of traffic, internet issues… It all shows that we weren’t totally  ready for it.

Now everyone is back home and apparently everything will remain the same. The “Future we want” will end up being a document full of good intentions and small actions, and as for our concerns around here about our capacity to host major events, let´s hope that Rio and all Brazilian cities can learn with the chaos that was the Rio +20 conference.

The Fifa World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016 are coming fast. For us the RIO +20 taught us invaluable lessons as to how we can help our travelers have amazing experiences in these major events.