S & W Brazil recommendations for 16 day trip

We fly into Rio on 27th March and out of Sao Paolo on 15th April, and would welcome any independent traveler type recommendations for our itinerary!

We are initially thinking to spend 3 days in Rio, then head up to Salvador / Lencois for a 4 day trek in the Chapada Diamantina.

We are thinking to or flights to get around, as the Rough Guide has painted on ominous picture of driving, or is car hire something we should consider to give us more flexibility for remote beaches etc en route??

Plus any highlights en route or in reach of Rio > Salvador > Lencois that we could take in if driving, that we would miss if taking a direct bus?

We will also wrap up the holiday with a trip to the Iguacu Falls…

Thanks in advance if anyone has tips or recommendations for some very excited but (for us) last minute travellers (as I usually get a lot longer to research and plan my trips!!)

It must have been very rushed planning, Salvador and Lençóis are in the North East of the country (nordeste). :-)

Driving. You don't really have time to start with. It's possible to drive of course but I would recommend you consider it only if

a) You speak Portuguese with some fluency
b) You have experience in driving in the developing world
c) You have considerable reserves of patience and tolerance and don't frighten easily.
d) You have deep pockets.

Returning a rental to anywhere other than the place you rented it incurs a surcharge o one real per kilometre. Unless you returned directly to Rio before going on to the falls and or São Paulo then that would be a spectacularly expensive car trip. It's about 24 hours worth of driving from Rio to Salvador vs a two hour flight.

There are plenty of things with in reach of Rio -Salvador. If you plan carefully most of them can be accessed by bus or a flight. Long distance flights are often as cheap or cheaper than the bus btw. Your time is limited. You might consider flying from Rio to Porto Seguro, stop there for a few days and explore Trancoso and/or Caraiva from there. I'd recommend staying in Arraial d'Ajuda rather than Porto Seguro itself. From there you can take an overnight bus to Salvador. That will save you time and money. There are also overnight buses to Lençóis (about a seven hour trip)

Might i suggest you find yourself a guidebook and a decent sized map? If you have more specific queries, then I'm happy to help, if I can.

So it seems you have 8 days yet to nail down plans for, including the few days in Salvador you mentioned (but not including 4 days in Rio including the arrival day, 4 days in the Chapada, 3 days for the falls and your day in S.P. before flying home), so maybe 5 as yet unscheduled days.

What you need to do is some serious research into the weather—in the places you mentioned, and at the season you have chosen—and not assume that all of Brazil is perpetually warm and sunny. And because of changing or unpredictable conditions, you may have to be somewhat flexible and be ready to change plans on the fly.

Factors to take into consideration:
In many years, April in Salvador can be constantly rainy, with few breaks, although quite warm. The beaches in the south of Bahia (300 miles away) are usually in a different climate area, though, as is the Chapada Diamantina (200 miles away from Salvador; May-Sept has the least rain there). Beaches and states further up in the northeast also have different climate areas than Salvador, some with rainy season at slightly different times.

Right now, there is a drought in much of the country. Sao Paulo is talking about severely rationing water—5 days without (probably not applicable to hotels, but who knows). Rio is also effected, with very low water levels in the Lagoa, a city landmark. It has been in the 90s (F) to 100s in many places.

Other thoughts:
You will not have sufficient unscheduled time on your outlined plan to worry about “flexibility for remote beaches”. So don’t consider driving, simply for that reason, as well as other sound reasons.
There is an overnight bus from Salvador to Lencois that would be a good option for your Chapada visit.
The direct bus from Rio to Salvador is 21-24 hours. Fly.
With your 5 days, you might want to fly from Rio to Porto Seguro (or bus to Victoria/Vila Velha and on to P.S.), explore that area (Arraial D’Ajuda, Trancoso, Caraiva) for a few days and either fly or overnight bus to Salvador. Or explore some beaches around Salvador, like Guarajuba, Praia do Forte, Morro do Sao Paulo, Itaparica, Boipeba. Or get out of town if it’s rainy and maybe bus to Recife, which may have better beach weather at the time. Or spend time nearer Rio in Paraty/Trindade and Ilha Grande, which may have different weather. The catch is that last minute flights tend to go up in price vs. buying well ahead. Bus prices are stable though.
Happy travels.

Thanks both
Corisco, so driving is definitely off the menu! And good call both on the overnight bus which should be fine if we wrap up warm!! I have the rough guide, but yes should get hold of a map for the distances to really sink in...
Priscilla, good point about climate, I'm trying to weigh this up from the sometimes conflicting advice, but we'll work it out! And the Paraty direction may be the way to go. So thanks again, I'll shout you if I may if I need any more advice
With very best wishes
Jess

Just in case - - - is it 'do-able' to land at Salvador at 11am and make the 1300 Lencois bus?

Given your flight arrives on time, it's do-able.

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