Logistics and pointers for parts of the Northeast

First things first, your itinerary is a bit confusing. How long do you have for this trip?

To start off, driving from SP to RS is a rather long way (SP to Floripa is about 12 hours, and the canyons are another 3-4 hours or so south of Floripa), and you have mentioned no stops, despite clearly having an interest in nature and driving through/nearby some stunningly beautiful areas. Here are some ideas:

Southern SP:
Caves, Mata Atlantica and fun with water: PETAR (Alto Ribeira state park).
Cananeia and Ilha do Cardoso: rustic fishing village, beach, marine life.

Paraná:
Curitiba: pleasant city
Marumbi massif: hiking, Mata Atlantica, nice train ride (from Curitiba)
Ilha do Mel: beach
Vila Velha: rock formations, Mata Atlantica

Santa Catarina:
Bombas and Bombinhas: beach, marine life
Florianopolis: city, beach, hiking
Blumenau: city, food, beer

Then you're south, and your next point is MS, but you don't really say what in MS you want to see. Nothing on your list is in MS. I am going to assume you want to stop off in Bonito, which is another 20 hour or so drive from the canyons. On the way, I would recommend detours to the Jesuit missions at São Miguel, and of course the waterfalls at Iguaçu. Other than that it's mostly soy plantations, so not really very interesting, but there are some interesting wetlands (such as the P.N. Ilha Grande). However, between the Pantanal and the P.N. das Emas, I think you'll have your share of that.

You don't mention the Pantanal, but you do mention Chapada dos Guimarães. Seems silly to go all the way to Cuiabá and not head into the Pantanal for a few days (could do that from the south too). Either way, from Bonito north to Chapada dos Guimarães is another 12 hour drive or so. From Cuiabá you want to head back east to P.N. das Emas. Another 9 hours.

And then on to Diamantina. This is a bit more interesting countryside again, with Pirenopolis, Goiania and Brasilia along the way, and an almost mandatory stop at Chapada dos Veadeiros for more cerrado-covered mountains with hiking and waterfalls, although the fastest route from P.N. das Emas to Diamantina goes south through Goiania to Uberlandia... 15 hours of not very interesting driving (although I haven't ever been there, sometimes Brazilian roads look boring on the map and turn out to be a great drive).

Serra do Cipó is definitely worth a trip. Apparently driving vast distances is not something you're worried about, and Diamantina to Lapinha is only about 4 hours. A blink of an eye in comparison to your other trips.

Serra do Caparão is absolutely nowhere near where you plan on going, but is also a great park, with Brazil's second highest peak in it. It is, however, in Espirito Santo, another 7 hours from Lapinha. You then drop the car off in BH (5-6 hours) or Vitoria (4 hours).

All told, I count almost 2 weeks of pure travelling. Add on time at the stops, and you're up to about 1 1/2 months minimum.

The distances in the north are even longer, and the roads trickier. I just want to make sure you have thought this trip through!

Thank you Andrew, I have just over 2 months for the trip, I have already been to most of the Southern destinations re. Iguassu (4x), Vilha Velha, Curitiba, Train to Paranaguá, Florianopolis, Blumenau and Aparados da Serra, staying in Praia Grande but it was not really enough time. I realize it is quite an ambitious trip and see no other option for connecting the South with the Pantanal area than by car, otherwise I will consume too much time with logistics i.e. buses schedules, timetables, waiting, coordinating with local transportation networks etc. I am perhaps giving the impression that I am whizzing past many interesting sites en-route to Aparados. This is somewhat the case as I plan to spend more time in the National Parks and natural areas and will have to make omissions here and there. Bonito and Chapada dos Guimarães are indeed places I plan to visit. I estimate my Southern route—including Caparão, Cipó, Diamantina to be somewhat over 5400 kms.

I do have some experience driving in Brazil re. Sao Paulo-colonial towns of Minas Gerais -Petropolis-RJ-SP it was an exhausting but exhilarating trip so have no illusions about what it would entail. I would be the slowest driver on the receiving end of many “f da p”. Driving long distances in of itself, is not of great interest unless it allows access to areas of scenic or cultural interest. For a country as large as Brazil, at some point travel would entail air links as well.

As you can infer I am still working out the details, but am willing to go eastward toward Caparão, then backtracking towards Cipó then northwards towards Diamantina before returning to Belo Horizonte. The travel times you provided are of great help. My Northeast route is proving more difficult to plan for logistically, as it is bookended at the tail end of my 2 month stay with a visit to Fernando de Noronha. I have been to Pernambuco i.e. Recife, Olinda, fort Orange, Igarassu, Ilha de Itamaraca so will have to make a detour around it before heading to Recife (flight to FEN).
Muito obrigado!

Ok. I would really recommend against driving most of those stretches. Maybe rent a car when you get to BH and drive around Minas, because getting to places like Diamantina and Lapinha is really kinda tricky otherwise, but use local hubs everywhere you go and fly/bus between the major hubs.

The same goes for the northeast. Friends of mine travelled down the coast from Belen to Fortaleza, all with local transport. Just bus or boat from town to town, or if inconvenient, spend some money and rent a tour/transport/taxi to take you where you need to go. They had a really great time and didn't miss having a car at all.

Insofar as I know, you're not allowed to visit the Serra da Capivara without a guide, and as with the Pantanal, the agencies automatically assume you cannot possibly find your way there on your own (mostly true) and organize transport from Petrolina. For the Lençois Maranhenses it´s fairly easy to get to Barreirinhas with public transport (from São Luis), but given your plans and what you've done already, you´ll probably not want to stay there, and instead go to the more interesting spots in the Lençois, in which case you will rely on local transport. It´s not hard, but you need to be prepared to organize it on the spot and wait around. For places like Ubajara (and Serra da Capivara), you're going to have to remember that the interior of the north east is virtually unexplored by tourists, both international and Brazilian: everybody goes straight for the coast, and considers the interior of Ceará, Piaui, Sergipe and all the rest as an infernally hot hellhole to be avoided at all costs. This is not entirely without reason, but the Caatinga is a beautiful semi-desert biome and the interior really has some treasures. I would take a similar approach to this as what I would do on the southern half of the trip: fly, and take local transport options. For Ubajara that means fly into Fortaleza, and bus from there. For the Lençois, fly to São Luis and bus from there, and fot the Serra da Capivara fly into Petrolina.

For Fortaleza-São Luis you can bus instead of fly, and stop off at some of the beaches along the way. It's a coastal stretch with quite a lot to see (actually, most of the north east has beautiful beaches all along, but not sure how much time you have for that, and you seem to have seen a fair amount of it already).

Anyway, given your experience travelling around Brazil, I think you'll be fine! For flights, I tend to figure things out with skyscanner and momondo. For buses, rome2rio and buscaonibus. Between those tools and trusty old google, I can usually find my way around. If there's any specific stretches, ask here again! Your trip sounds fantastic!

Andrew, once again thank you for all the advice, it has been of tremendous help, I will most likely reconsider renting a vehicle in the South-Pantanal-Minas route as you provide compelling reasons not to. A cursory comparison of air fares from specific points show that it is often not that much more expensive than renting a car for a day and certainly more convenient than bus travel (I remember the time when air travel in Brazil was prohibitively expensive). From what I have picked up here and there,it would seem that Serra da Capivara, Sete Cidades are not to be missed despite the heat. Near the tail end of the trip, before Fernando de Noronha will visit Porto de Galinhas so will probably go direct Fortaleza-São Luis. One further question, from Salvador to Serra de Capivara, short of renting a car (which you do not encourage) which would be the best way of getting there? By bus/flight to Recife then another flight to Petrolina then bus to São Raimundo Nonato or x?
Muito obrigado ao senhor!

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