Black History Month Travel Takeover: Brazil!

Welcome to Black History Month Travel Takeover! #BHMtraveltakeover

During the month of February, The Sophisticated Life Travel Blog will be celebrating and featuring black travelers in Afro-Latino countries. The countries included in this series are Brazil, Panama, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Costa Rica and Colombia. Approximately 11 million Africans were part of the Atlantic slave trade to the New World. About 450,000 came to the United States. However, millions of slaves landed in the Caribbean, Central and South America. African influences on music, food and culture can be seen in all of these countries. Black travelers are discovering these countries more so now than ever! I am honored to profile this part of the new Black Travel Movement!

Here a few facts about Brazil as a Afro-Latino country. During the Atlantic slave trade, Brazil received the largest amount of Africans. Brazil or “Republica Federativa do Brasil” is the largest country in South America. Popular areas for tourists to visit include Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Salvador de Bahia, the Amazon and Iguassu falls. The spoken language is Portuguese. The two largest groups of Africans brought to Brazil were of Yoruba ancestry from West Africa and Bantu ancestry from Central and South Africa. On May 13, 1888 slavery was abolished in Brazil. “Afro-Brazilians” may be referred to as Negro or “preto” meaning black. Multiracial Brazilians are often referred to as “pardos”. As of the 2007 census, Salvador de Bahia had the largest population of black Brazilians. Black Brazilians have made their mark in the music world with samba. Pele had the world on its feet for football aka soccer. The Carnival of Brazil aka “Carnaval” is held annually prior to Ash Wednesday. It is the most famous holiday in Brazil. New Year’s Eve celebrations are also very popular in Brazil. A must for almost anyone visiting Brazil is a stop at Christ the Redeemer statue. In 2007 it was listed as one of the new seven wonders of the world! A popular photo opp in Rio de Janeiro are the Selaron steps aka “Escadaria Selaron” from Chilean artist Jorge Selaron. These colorful steps are composed of over 2000 tiles from 60 countries around the world! In 2016 Brazil will be hosting the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and surrounding cities. Brazil is the first South American country to host the summer olympics.

The pictures below of black travelers in Brazil are from members of the Nomadness Travel Tribe Facebook Group. Tribe members of Nomadness are on a mission to change the face of travel and inspire people of color to see the world.

Join us on Instagram and Twitter for the Black History Month Travel Takeover! Use the hashtag #BHMtraveltakeover and share your pictures from these Afro-Latino countries! Look out for posts every week this month with pictures that will motivate you to travel more and travel deeper!

Have you been to Brazil? If so, share your thoughts with us below! For more information on Brazil please visit their tourism website. If you do have plans to visit Brazil, please read my recent blog post entitled “The Zika Virus Outbreak: What Travelers Need to Know.”