Over the years, I've been asked many times if it is safe to travel to South America. I had one American guy who was planning a family multisport trip, but he had read that somebody was killed in Peru, so he decided that he didn't want to travel there or to Ecuador, Chile, Argentina or Brazil because they were too close to Peru and it wasn't safe.

I recently read an article in "Travel Weekly" where a travel consultant said:

Are your plans for a European vacation looking grim now that the European Union is considering restricting the entrance of Americans, especially unvaccinated ones? If so, here are a few reasons to consider Brazil instead:

There's no question that there are more plant and animal species in the Amazon. It is said that there are more than 1500  bird species, over 40,000 different plant species, 3,000 freshwater fish species, more than 370 types of reptiles and approximately 2.5 million insect species in the Amazon rain forest, which covers over 2 million square miles.

Many people never consider buying any form of travel insurance and many just figure it is an unjustified expense. Young people subconsciously feel they are invulnerable, but a lot of older people realize that they or their close relatives are living a more fragile existence and that the chances of some health crisis popping up are greatly increased, so they do consider getting insurance, in case they need to cancel their trip.

But there is one type of travel insurance that is increasingly becoming more important in this day and age....

Federal health officials have issued a travel alert about the spread of yellow fever in Brazil and say travelers need to be vaccinated before heading to affected areas. People may have to plan ahead because there is a shortage of yellow fever vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted in its alert.

It was reported that the percentage of foreigners travelling to Brazil because of the country’s natural attractions and adventure tourism activities increased from 12.8% in 2014 to 15.7% in 2015.

"Brazil is lucky to have treasures such as the Amazon Rainforest, the Pantanal, the Cerrado, the Atlantic Forest and over 8,000 kilometers of coastline, as well as the largest river basin in the world. With professional management and a partnership between the public and private sectors, these products can be exploited in a sustainable manner and to the benefit of local communities," says interim Tourism Minister Alberto Alves.

​What are the best places to visit in Brazil? Well it depends on what your interests are.  I’m not going to presume that if I pick my favorite 10 places, they will appeal to everyone. So I will let you decide.

If you are interested in big, modern cities, then there is the huge Sao Paulo, the romantic Rio, African-influenced Salvador and cities such as Curitiba, which has been called things like the "gold standard in sustainable urban planning", the “green capital”, the “greenest city on Earth”, and the “most innovative city in the world”.