Post Description

Brazil in the 21st century has become a global player. With a booming economy 
and massive social changes, there is a swagger to this once-sleeping giant, but 
what do we know of it apart from football and carnival? Michael Palin has 
travelled across most of the globe over the years, but never to Brazil. In this 
four-part series he crosses the country as big as a continent to find out what 
makes it tick. 

He begins his journey in the north east, where modern Brazil was born. It was 
here the Portuguese explorers first landed and encountered the native 
Brazilians. It was here that hundreds of thousands of African slaves were 
brought to work on sugar and tobacco plantations, and it was here where this 
mix of races and cultures produced what we now think of as Brazil. Music, food, 
dance, religion - all of these bear the imprint of this heady mix.

He starts in the city of Sao Luis during the celebration of its own very north 
eastern festival of Bumba Meu Boi - 'Jump My Bull' - before travelling down the 
coast to Recife and Salvador. On his way, he drops in on the vaqueros - 
Brazilian cowboys - who work the massive cattle ranches of the dry interior. 
His travels also take him to the stunning coastal lagoons of the Lencois 
Maranheses national park. 

In Salvador he learns to drum with the famous Olodum school, experiences the 
trance and dance of Candomble, the Afro-Brazilian religion, finds out how to 
cook Bahian-style with renowned cook, Dada, and discovers what lies behind the 
beguiling moves of capoeria dancers. If you want to know what makes Brazil so 
vibrant, the north east is the place to start.