In the Easter holidays my husband and I jetted off to explore Brazil with my 2 teenager children, what an amazing country it is, we loved every minute. Our adventure started in Rio de Janeiro, taking in the sights of Christ de Redeemer, watched sunset up Sugar Loaf mountain, Fifa- street favella tour, Maracana stadium and enjoyed relaxing on Copacabana beach. The next stop was the amazing Iguazu Falls, with over 270 falls, spreading over the border of Brazil and Argentina - it was incredible. We explore both the Argentina and Brazil side and got soaked on the boat trip into the falls ! We stayed in Foz De Iguazu for 3 nights, the boys enjoyed a round of golf and the girls enjoyed relaxing by the pool. We headed over the border into Paraguay for a quick shopping trip before continuing our journey to Santos ( Sao Paulo beach resort ). The home of Pele, my football crazy family headed to Santos stadium and Pele museum before exploring the old town on a vintage tram. From here we boarded our cruise ship for a 7 night sailing along the coast of Brazil, we headed 1000 miles north, visiting the picturesque resort of Buzios - with its cobbled streets, turquoise water and lovely beaches. Salvador was the next stop, home to where it all began in Brazil, circa 1500's the first part of Brazil that was discovered by the Portuguese. This colourful town has a huge Afro-Brazil vibe and it is vibrant, full of energy and packed with history. Our cruise then sailed to the North Beaches of Brazil where we enjoyed a day on a paradise beach just north of Maceio before heading back to Santos with a couple of sea days for us to relax and enjoy the ship. On disembarking the cruise we had a full day before our late evening flight home so we took a private tour of Sao Paulo's city, taking in Bat Man alley - with it's colourful street art, visited the Monumento as Bandeiras, Ibirapurea Park and views of the city from the Museum of Art roof top. Travelling to Brazil from Manchester the flights operate via Lisbon with Tap air it is 3 hours to Lisbon then 10 hours from there. Brazil is the only Portuguese speaking country in South America and English is not widely spoken ( google translate became our best friend ). The country is so diverse, the people extremely happy, friendly and always dancing !! We loved every minute of this trip and it was a great way to celebrate my son's 18th Birthday. One for the memory bank !