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Visiting Brasilian Permaculture

We often receive enquiries from people overseas wanting to visit, and maybe study Permaculture in South America in general, and Brasil in particular. It is often hard to know how to answer these enquiries. For a number of reasons:

• Language - many people say they have basic Spanish - but Brasil is a Portugues-speaking country. In my experience in Mexico, Argentina and Chile, it is often easy to find people who have basic English, so even people without Spanish can often get by. Brasil is different, in that English is not so common. The Brasilians can often make sense of people speaking in Spanish (especially in the west - near Paraguay, and south, near Argentina), but, in my experience Spanish speakers have great difficulty in understanding the Portugues of Brasil. So, if you only have English - communication can be very dificult, and if you have basic Spanish, the brasilians will probably understand you, but you won't understand them - again difficult.
• Toursist Services - although trying to attract tourism, many parts of Brasil are not really organised to offer tourists effective services - especially away from the main toursit areas of Rio, São Paulo..... For example, here in Campo Grande, state capitol of Mato Grosso do Sul you have two places where you can cash international travellers cheques - only two. The airport - which is way out of town, or the central bank of the Banco de Brasil. This national bank is the most inefficient I have ever experienced - to cash a travellers cheque you will need to pass security, go up to the second floor, wait in a queque for at least an hour, then produce a mountain of identification, pay an incredible commission, wait another hour while they fill out more forms, then go to a different teller (with all your forms and documents) and wait at least another half an hour to get your money. And if you don't speak portugues - forget even trying.
• Its BIG . Brasil is a very large country, especially for people coming from Europe. Travel by bus is reasonably comfortable, reasonably priced (not cheap), reasonably efficient, but the distances are enormous!!! Train yourself to sleep in uncomfortable positions whilst bouncing along in a bus for hours and hours and days and.....
• Work Exchange - Many people from Europe and Australia are used to the WWOOF scheme or other work exchange type of travel arrangements. People often offer to work in exchange for food and accomodation. That system works well where the cost of labour is high, but here in Brasil it is simply not the case. Especially for Europeans and Americans who are used to eating big meals of meat, the cost of feeding you lunch is higher than a days wage for a local laborer - who is used to working under the hot conditions. many people may welcome the chance to meet people from overseas, and offer a work exchange option - but really the exchange is in information and communication - unless you have very specialised skills to offer, your days labor is actually worth much less than your midday meal.

BUT - Brasil is wonderfully beautiful country and its well worth the difficulties to visit - but be prepared.

To make arrangements in advance, try contacting these permaculture groups ahead of time - and enjoy your visit

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