Wednesday's Featured Item

Wednesday's Featured Item is this beautiful Yellow Weave handbag made from hand-woven leather by our Brazilian supplier Alzira's. Alzira's is a small family-run handbag factory in Fortaleza, and specialises in small (but beautifully handmade) product runs.

Pretty and fun, this bag will add a touch of delicate colour to your wardrobe.

If you are interested in this beautiful Yellow Weave handbag

Focus Brazil

Buzios


Buzios, which means shells in Portuguese, located 170 Km from Rio, is a beautiful fishing village on a peninsula composed of some 25 beautiful beaches, and found fame in the summer of 1964 with the first of several visits by French actress Brigitte Bardot.

Bardot spent a few days there trying to relax and escape the attentions of the intrusive Brazilian press, and from then on the location became a prime attraction for both international jet-setters and local tourists, drawn by warm temperatures and amazing beaches.

In recognition of her input in putting the area on the map, Buzios erected a statute in Bardot's honour, which looks out across one of the most beautiful bays.

Historically, Buzios was inhabited by Tamoios Indians when Brazil was discovered by Portugal, and in the 16th century become the supply point of French pirate ships and slave traders because of its numerous small bays and abundant sweet waters.

Buzios has a good infrastructure with hotels and fancy restaurants, and has about three hundred small lodgings, including those with famous frequent visitors like Bill Gates, Naomi Campbell and Michael Johnson.

Yet despite the sophistication you will not find a single three storey building on the peninsula, and no major holiday resorts.

This is because construction isn’t allowed on most of the beaches, and consequently Buzios has managed to keep some of its original rustic fishing village charm.

Wednesday's Featured Item

Wednesday's Featured Item is this Multi-Stone Green and Brown Necklace which can be yours for £33.00.

The necklace has a double twisted layer of assorted multi-stones with a beautiful and highly-polished dark brown coconut pendant attached, and the varying shades of greens, browns and whites will compliment many outfits.

Multi-Stone Green and Brown Necklace

*If you are interested in this beautiful Multi-Stone Green and Brown Necklace

Focus Brazil

Foz do Iguaçu

Foz do Iguaçu or the Iguaçu Falls (at the junction between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay at a bend in the Rio Iguaçu), are waterfalls that are sometimes described as being one of the seven natural Wonders of the World.

Yet these waterfalls are neither the widest waterfalls nor the tallest waterfalls in the world. In fact they are an extensive combination of over 270 separate falls and act as a natural border to the countries of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.

The falls have a flow capacity equal to three Niagara Falls – having a peak flow of about 400,000 square metres, cover 1.67 miles, are 318 feet at their highest and include the infamous Garganta do Diabo (Devil’s Throat) – which afford the viewer a 260 degrees view of waterfall, as water thunders in on three sides.

The name of the falls comes from the Guarani or Tupi words and means big water. Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful aborigine named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In a rage, the god sliced the river - creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall.

The best time of year to see the falls is between October and December and for intrepid adventurers the thundering of millions of gallons of water falling 250 feet can be experienced up close on the strategically placed walkways and footbridges.

The Paseo Garganta del Diablo, for example, is a one kilometer long walkway directly over the falls of the Garganta del Diablo – and not for the faint of heart!