If you’re visiting Rio de Janeiro, one of the most accessible places to take a breather from the hustle and bustle of the city is to take a day trip to the Ilhas Cagarras, or the Cagarras Islands. The islands are located just about 3 miles offshore, but they are quite rocky and completely devoid of human habitation.

Despite the lack of human settlement, the islands are full of life: many different species of birds raise their young on the rocks, and the diversity of the underwater ecosystem around the islands makes for great diving. According to Frommer’s, there’s even a recent shipwreck to explore.

The waters around the Ilhas Cagarras are also home to a surprising number of dolphins, so if you’ve always wanted a chance to see these intelligent, fascinating creatures up close in their natural habitat, this would be a great opportunity to do so.

For more about visiting Rio de Janeiro, see Brazil Visa Requirements for Visiting Rio de Janeiro.

Before you can enter Brazil, if you’re an American citizen you will need to get a Brazil visa. You must apply in advance, and make sure that you have your visa in hand before you travel. Here’s a rundown of the visa requirements for tourists:

• Your passport. Note: your passport’s expiration date must be at least 6 months into the future for you to get a Brazil visa. You’ll also need 2 or more blank pages in the back. Before applying for your visa, get a passport renewal or add pages as necessary.
• One visa application form
• 2 passport-sized photos
• A copy of your itinerary, which must have the dates you plan to enter and leave Brazil.
• A clean, readable copy of your driver’s license or state-issued ID card.
• If you will be visiting friends or relatives, you also need a letter from your hosts.

To enter Brazil, you may also need a yellow fever vaccination. Vaccines are required of travelers who have been to any of the following countries in the past 3 months (90 days): Angola, Bolivia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, French Guiana, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Republic of Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Peru, Sierra Leone, Sudan or Venezuela.

One final note: Brazil has a “jurisdictional” visa system, in which each Brazilian embassy only handles visa applications from a specific region of the US. So, you need to make sure that you submit your paperwork to the correct embassy or consulate.

RushMyTravelVisa can help you through the Brazil visa application process, and expedite your paperwork for the fastest possible processing.

Apply for your Brazil visa today!

Tags: Brazil, Brazil visa, Brazilian visa

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 10th, 2010 at 9:11 pm and is filed under Destinations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.