Most nationalities including Canada, the USA and Australia require tourists visas which are valid for up to 90 days. Be sure to check with the Brazilian Consulate in your area prior to departing as the process can take up to 10 days. Passports should be valid for at least 6 months from the date of entry. You will also need a recent 3X4 or 5X7 colour photo with white background. Tourists traveling with minors will have to fill out separate applications for those minors. For additional information consult with the Brazilian Embassy nearest you.
Phone
We highly recommend buying a SIM card for your cell phone in Brazil. This will enable you to make inexpensive local calls and receive international calls for free. You will need a GSM phone that is unlocked. Most carriers will lock your phone for the duration of your contract so that you cannot use another carrier. If you are unsure whether your phone has been unblocked, it is likely still blocked. One way to check is by putting a friend's SIM card in to see if it functions. If you do not have a GSM phone or are unable to unlock yours you can buy one at
Telestial. They will tell you exactly what you need for the countries you are planning to visit.
It’s easy to find a SIM card for your cell phone in Brazil, just make sure that your phone is compatible for accepting foreign cards. TIM is a good option. R$30 for a SIM card, plus top-up cards which can be bought in denominations of R$10, R$20, R$50. TIM stores can be found throughout the country in most major cities and tourist areas. Top-up cards can be purchased in kiosks and grocery store. For those of you who aren't too excited about the idea of trying to communicate all of these requirements in Portuguese, you can buy pre-paid SIM cards for Brazil before you go from
Telestial.
Phone cards for public phones are available at newsstands. You can make long-distance and international calls from public phones (known as "orelhão", literally big ear, pronounced or-ell-yow)with the normal phone cards: the 60 unit card (about R$7) will give you enough time to let folks in the US or Canada know you're alive and well. The international cards are more expensive (R$25) and are good if you need to call from a land line.
To make international collect calls dial 0800-703-2121 and the operator will put your call through. Local and long-distance collect calls are made by dialing 9090 before the number. It is necessary to dial a two-digit operator code (31, 15 are two in Rio de Janeiro, though the vary from place to place) before the two-digit city code and number.
Note that phone numbers beginning with 2 or 3 are land lines and cell phones (always more expensive to call) begin with 9 or 8. 0800 numbers are toll free, 0300 are outrageously expensive (airlines often use these numbers and will put you on hold and charge you for it!).
Keep in mind that Rio, Sao Paulo, Bahia and Minas Geiras are all 3 hours behind GMT. Fernando de Noronha is 2 hours behind GMT and Mato Grosso and the Amazon are 4 hours behind GMT.
Emergency Phone Numbers
Police (Polícia Militar): 190
Fire & ambulance (Corpo de Bombeiros): 193
Internet
Most hotels have internet terminals for guest use. Dedicated cafes are hard to come by than you might imagine in the larger cities but often they can be found tucked away in a book store or cafe.
Skype 
is an excellent way of keeping in touch while you are on the road. Skype's internet telephony solutions allow you to talk to your friends and family for free. With 33 million active users, you will be able to find new people to keep in touch with too! More and more internet cafes in Argentina are starting to download Skype's software to their computers so that all you have to do is log into your account and you can immediatey get in touch with all of your contacts. Skype also allows you to make outgoing calls to landlines and cell phones (a service you pay for, but at much lower rates than the alternatives) as well as use its instant messaging feature. Skype lets you make free calls over the Internet.
It's free to download 
and you can add on voicemail for a small fee.
News
There are no English-language newspapers in Brazil, but many of the kiosks in the larger cities sell the Financial Times, Newsweek and the Economist.
