F.A.Q’s

The Espinhaço has 4 fairly well-defined seasons:

• Summer (December - February): Hot, rainy, and incredibly green.

• Autumn (March - May): Warm days, cool nights, scattered showers, and green.

• Winter (June - August): Sunny, warm days, cold nights, and dry, and less green.

• Spring (Sept - Nov) - Cool to warm days, cool to warm nights, scattered showers, and parched.

Due to the outdoor nature of the D/WT+LT colllection, we tend to view the calendar in the Espinhaço as follows:

• The summer rains taper off in February & March, filling waterfalls (& roads) and draping the cerrado in all shades of green.

• April & May are lush, with warm days, chilly nights, and a chance of rain.

• June & July are reliably dry, with lovely, crisp mountain weather & hardly a cloud in the sky, but plenty of dust on the trail.

• August & September feature increasingly warm days, cool evenings, and a parched savannah landscape dotted by colorful bouquets of flowers.

• October & November mark the beginning of the summer storms, with periodic downpours creating exciting, unpredictable conditions.

• December & January are wet & wild, with raging waterfalls, frequent high water crossings, and limited visibility due to cloud cover & daily storms.

Portuguese is the official national language of Brazil, and we strongly encourage travelers to learn as much of it as possible prior to the trip in order to truly maximize their time in the country.

English is not widely spoken in the Serra do Espinhaço (or in Brazil, in general, outside of São Paulo and Rio), although mineiros usually make their best effort to communicate.

Spanish is not spoken in Brazil, although it can often be understood (by Brazilians) given the right pace, pronunciation, and context. Portuguese is not quite as easily understood by Spanish speakers, but a working knowledge of Spanish (or another Romance language) is certainly helpful.

Both of our Expedition leaders are fluent in Portuguese & English, and Eddie speaks Spanish, as well. Just a few members of our crew are conversational in English, but all members make great efforts to communicate with our group (and usually have quite a bit of fun in the process).

Despite inhabiting one of the largest (#4), most populous (#2), and most economically-vital (#3) states in Brazil, mineiros have a well-earned reputation as a folksy, down-to-earth group of residents, with an out-sized love of food, family, cachaça, and conversation (not necessarily in that order) and a famous side-eye towards any transaction involving money.

With 586,528 km2 of constantly changing landscape, the state is both large (about 7% larger than metropolitan France and about 15% smaller than Texas) and geographically diverse enough to display some truly fascinating regional differences.

Even within the (relatively much smaller) Serra do Espinhaco, we’ll be able to observe fairly significant cultural differences as we move across the region’s fluid landscape.

Regional differences aside, most Mineiros agree on a few (light-hearted) things: paulistas are uptight, cariocas can’t be trusted, life is meant to be enjoyed, comida mineira is the greatest cuisine on earth, and Minas would be absolutely perfect if it only had a coastline.

All in all, you won’t find a more friendly or welcoming bunch of folks in Brazil. We can’t wait for you to meet them.

Brazil has 4 time zones, the largest of which, Brasília Time (BRT), is used throughout Minas Gerais & the Serra do Espinhaço. Brasília Time is 3 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT-3).

Brazil does not observe daylight savings time.

Fun fact: 93% of the country’s population (including 26 of the 28 largest metropolitan areas) use Brasília Time (BRT).

Both 110v and 220v are common throughout in Brazil. With few exceptions, our Expedition will take place in a world of 110V power. We’ll provide you with a universal (Type N) travel plug adapter for your devices upon your arrival, but if you’d like to pick up additional adapters for your specific device(s), that’s great.

Note that many local accommodations & establishments have few wall outlets, so we recommend that you bring a portable charger for your devices, as well.

For the safety of both the traveler and our crew, any traveler planning to bring prescription medications on one of our trips will need to disclose that information on their application.

Should the medication be compliant with Brazilian law, it’s imperative that you bring a large enough supply of it to last the entire duration of the trip that you’re applying for (the logistics are our Expeditions make it difficult to obtain the medications otherwise).

No, Brazil does not require any vaccinations for entry. That said, some countries may require vaccinations for re-entry after visiting certain regions of Brazil (an example of this might be yellow fever if you visit the Amazon).

Ultimately, we recommend that you check with your country’s state department regarding possible vaccination requirements for re-entry, and with your health authority of choice regarding recommended vaccines & advice for visiting Brazil.

The Brazilian real (“hey-AU”; pl. reais; sign: R$; code: BRL) is the official currency of Brazil, and the only currency regularly accepted around the country.

Major credit cards are widely accepted in Brazil, with Visa & Mastercard being the two most common cards.

Tipping is not something that happens often in Brazil, and even less so in the rural interior. If you feel inclined to tip someone during our Expedition—whether a GOGO crew member or a worker in the local economy—you are certainly welcome to do so, but may find yourself with some explaining to do. That said, unless it is refused, we believe tips are always welcome.

Cash & Dollar Bills

The Brazilian real (“hey-AU”; pl. reais; sign: R$; code: BRL) is the official currency of Brazil, and the only currency regularly accepted around the country.

Banks & Bank Hours

Banks are open to the public from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday to Friday, and closed during the holidays.

ATMs

Few ATMs in Minas Gerais—and none that we know of in the Serra do Espinhaço—accept international debit cards. This means that your best bet for in-country cash withdrawals will be at Tancredo Neves International Airport (which also has a currency exchange office). Withdrawals at ATMs are usually limited to 800 - 1,000 BRL per account, per day.

For the purposes of our Expeditions, we recommend that you exchange between $250 - $500 USD of currency either prior to your arrival in Brazil, or at Tancredo Neves International Airport. We also recommend bringing a major credit card—preferably a Visa or Mastercard due to their wide acceptance in the Espinhaço.

All travelers will need to bring their valid passports, entry visas (if applicable), and entry/exit cards.

Passports

By law, you must carry your passport with you at all times while in Brazil. However, rather than have you drag your most precious document with you for a month in the backcountry, we ask that you make 2 certified photocopies of it: one to carry with you in your Expedition Pack, and another to keep in your Travel Duffel (see your trip’s Packing List for more information). You’ll then have the option of giving us your original passport, which we can keep securely locked up in Diamantina until the end of the trip.

Visas

To see if your country is on the list of those whose citizens are required to obtain entry visas, please visit your State Department’s website.

Please note that, beginning on Jan 10, 2024, citizens of Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United States will be added (back) to the list of countries whose citizens will require a visa to enter.

In our experience, obtaining a travel visa is a relatively easy process, and Brazil has promised to make it even easier moving forward.

Entry / Exit Cards

To enter Brazil, an entry or exit card is still officially required. Airlines usually hand out these (paper) cards to passengers prior to landing in Brazil. The card must be filled out prior to your legal entry.

Customs will look over the card, place it inside of your passport, and stamp your passport. You’ll need to carry the card (preferably inside your passport) during your stay in Brazil, and present it to the Federal Police upon your departure from the country. The Federal Police will keep the card for their records.

Recently, some airlines have begun to waive the issue of entry cards, and it appears that, in practice, customs may no longer be requiring visitors to present it. However, the official requirement of the Federal Police remains the same: an entry card must be filled out and prepared for presentation upon entry.