Practical Information

Visiting Brazil

We suggest that participants coming from other countries arrive in Brazil through Galeão International Airport (GIG) or Guarulhos International Airport (GRU).

FREE Shuttle transportation to Paraty

[Update November 6, 2024] Thanks to the generous support of our local sponsors (IAG-USP and ON), we will offer two free shuttle buses both from the São Paulo (GRU) and Rio de Janeiro (GIG) airports to Paraty, leaving on Sunday November 17. The return buses will be on Friday November 22 around 1 to 2pm. The duration of the trips, both from GRU and GIG to Paraty, as well as the return, should take about 5 hours, but it depends on the traffic.

The contracts with the bus companies have been concluded and emails were sent assigning you a spot in the buses, depending on the schedule of your flight. Here is the schedule for November 17:

São Paulo:

First bus boarding 07:00 to 07:20am near Metrô Vila Mariana (meeting place is the [Bus] Terminal Metrô Vila Mariana). Then, boarding 08:50 to 09:10am at GRU, where the meeting place is the “Casa do Pão de Queijo” near the disembark of Terminal 3. You can find it close to the exit of the arrivals area, after leaving the duty free. In case you are interested in exchanging money, as you exit the arrivals area, you can see a money exchange from Banco Safra.

Second bus, boarding 10:00 – 10:20 near Metrô Vila Mariana (meeting at bus “Terminal Metrô Vila Mariana”, check in google maps), boarding 11:50am – 12:10pm at disembark of Terminal 3 of the GRU airport (meeting place the “Casa do Pão de Queijo”).

Rio:

First bus boarding at ON (headquarters of the Observatório Nacional) 7:50 – 8:05am. The address of ON is Rua General José Cristino 77, São Cristóvão, Rio de Janeiro. Then, the boarding at the GIG airport is 8:30  – 8:45 am. The meeting point at GIG is the exit of the international arrivals of terminal 2, where a local person should meet you with the sign IAUS 395.

The second bus has boarding 10:20 – 10:35am at ON and 11:00-11:15am at GIG. The meeting points are as above.

For the return on November 22:

The first bus (both to GRU and GIG) will leave around 1 pm and a second bus (both to GRU and GIG) around 2pm. The itinerary will be reversed, meaning that the first stop will be both at GRU or GIG, and the final stop at Metro Vila Mariana (São Paulo) or Observatório Nacional (Rio).

Other options to reach Paraty

From the GIG airport there is a direct shuttle service provided by Paraty Tours (R$290 per person), leaving at 09:30am, 12:30pm, 3:30pm, 6:30pm, 9pm. They also provide transfers from other places in Rio, check: https://paratybooking.com.br/transfer-rio-de-janeiro-para-paraty/

There is a regular direct bus service from the company Costa Verde, from the Rio de Janeiro bus terminal (Rodoviária do Rio) to Paraty:

https://www.clickbus.com.br/onibus/rio-de-janeiro-rj/parati-rj

The current cost of the Costa Verde bus (per trip) is about R$100. The bus takes about 4h40m to arrive to Paraty (for example, leaving at 10:00, the expected arrival is around 14:40). The current departure times from the Rodoviaria do Rio (it is for August, but it should be similar in November): 07:00, 09:00, 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00. From Monday to Friday, there is an additional bus leaving at 04:00, so it arrives to Paraty around 08:40.

From São Paulo, Reunidas Paulista and PRIMAR have regular bus service to Paraty, but it takes much longer (~7h), as it makes a few stops. The departure is from the Rodoviaria Tietê (São Paulo bus terminal). You can check the schedule here:

https://www.clickbus.com.br/onibus/sao-paulo-tiete-sp/parati-rj?departureDate=2024-11-17

Currently, on Sundays Reunidas have departures at 8:00am (arriving to Paraty at 14:40), 11:00 (arrives at 18:20), 21:30 (arrives next day at 04:50) and 22:40 (arrives at 06:00). The cost is ~R$140. PRIMAR departs at 7:30 (arrives 14:10) and 21:30 (arrives 04:10). Cost is ~R$100.

Regarding the return, for people departing from the GIG airport, they could use the regular bus service from Paraty to the Rodoviária do Rio (https://www.clickbus.com.br/onibus/parati-rj/rio-de-janeiro-rj), and from the bus terminal they could take an official taxi to the GIG airport.

The current time table for the Costa Verde bus, from Paraty to Rodoviaria do Rio: 05:20, 07:20, 09:20, 12:20, 13:20, 15:20, 17:20, 19:00 (from Monday to Friday, there is an additional bus leaving at 02:20 from Paraty). It takes about 4h40m (for example, the bus leaving at 12:20 from Paraty, arrives around 17:00 to Rodoviaria do Rio).

People staying longer in Paraty and flying back from GRU, could return to São Paulo with Reunidas Paulista. For example, currently departures on Saturday are at 9am, 1:40pm, 10:40pm, 11:10pm, arriving to the Rodoviaria Tietê about 7h20m later. The company PRIMAR on Saturday leaves at 11pm and arrives at 5am to Tietê (in other days, PRIMAR has an additional service at 9:30am arriving at Tietê at 3:30pm). The price both from Reunidas and PRIMAR is ~R$100, and you can buy the ticket at the Paraty bus terminal (Terminal Rodoviário de Paraty), located at ~7-min walk from the venue. From Tietê, it is possible to take the “Airport Bus Service“. You can buy the ticket at the Rodoviária Tietê or directly with the bus driver (10 min before departure) . It takes about 50 – 55 minutes to reach the GRU airport. The first Airport Bus Service leaves the Tietê bus terminal at 6:10am and the following every hour after that (7:10am, etc) until 5:10pm. Then, the following buses are at 6:20pm, 7:20pm, 8:20pm and 9:20pm.

DENGUE in Paraty

Regarding Dengue (a mosquito-borne disease), currently the number of reported cases is relatively low in Paraty. In late February 2024 the USA’s health agency CDC raised the travel advise to Brazil from level 1 (the lowest, “practice usual precautions”) to level 2 (“practice enhanced precautions”). As can be seen in the plot below, made specifically for Paraty by Anne Rathsam, this advise for enhanced precautions was due to an increase in the number of cases in Brazil. However, as can be seen in the figure below, in May 2024 the number of cases started to decline. Indeed, currently the CDC advise for Brazil has been lowered to the lowest level (1), that means “practice usual precautions” to prevent mosquito bites in risk areas. If the behaviour is similar to 2023 (dashed curve in red), a low number of cases is expected for the IAU 395 dates (week 47).

Visa information

For tourism purposes, Brazil is visa-free for many countries in Europe and Central America, as well as Japan. For citizens of many countries in South America, including Argentina and Chile, it is possible to visit Brazil with a national identity card (but the document must be recent).

Until April 10th 2025, passport holders from Australia, Canada and the United States are exempted from a visa to enter Brazil.

Please verify the requirements for your country on this page(last column for visitor visas):
https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/assuntos/portal-consular/vistos/quadro-geral-de-regime-de-vistos-para-entrada-de-estrangeiros-no-brasil

Health and immunization

There is no mandatory vaccine to enter Brazil, but please pay attention to the orientations from the Health services in your country of origin as well.

Emergency public health services in Brazil are free for foreign tourists (emergency number is 192), but we suggest that all international visitors consider purchasing travel health insurance for their stay in the country.

Currency

The Brazilian currency is the Real (plural: Reais – pronunciation: “hay-eyes”). Its sign is R$. Currently, 1 USD averages R$ 5. Foreign currencies are not commonly accepted by the commerce, but credit cards are widely used (mainly VISA or MasterCard).

You can exchange US Dollars, Euros and British Pounds to Reais at many banks and Exchange offices. Other currencies will be more difficult to exchange in Brazil, so you may want to consider exchanging it before your trip or use the exchange service at the airport.

Language

The official language in Brazil is Portuguese, which is a Latin language similar to Spanish. All the activities of the IAUS395 will be in English, due to its international character. Be prepared to deal with non-English speakers on buses, restaurants, etc; however, it is a common characteristic of Brazilians to try to help foreigners as much as possible.

Food and water

Tap water is safe and fine for consumption, but most people will prefer to use water fountains or getting bottled mineral water, to avoid any taste or smell of chloride that is added during the water treatment.

Do pay attention if you have food allergies and ask for assistance from Brazilian colleagues if you need to communicate or ask about specific ingredients in Portuguese.

Driving in Brazil

Most international driver licenses are accepted for driving a rented car. You will find car rental companies at the airport if you wish to drive to Paraty, with a travel time of about four hours from the international airport of Rio de Janeiro (GIG) or from the international airport closest to São Paulo (GRU).

Brazilians drive on the right side of the road, with the steering wheel on the left side of the car (RHT). Brazil follows the metric system, so speed limit signs will be in km/h.

Please note: hotels may charge extra for parking.

Charging and connecting your gadgets

The voltage in Sao Paulo is 110V, 60Hz. In some places you may also find 220V outlets, but they are not the standard and may be marked in red. The current national standard (IEC 60906-1) looks like this:

The type N has 3 pins (plug) and 3 holes (socket). The type C plug (with just 2 pins) could work OK with the type N socket. In some places, older dual sockets may be available, for both flat and round plugs, but they are becoming rare.

We recommend getting a plug adapter.

Wi-fi internet and mobile internet

Most hotels provide wifi internet, and you will have wifi service at the symposium venue. If you plan to use your own phone service during your stay in Brazil, you need to check with your operator to allow usage in Brazil. Pay special attention to the fees and charges for this service, as it can be very expensive.

If you only want internet data access, a cheap option could be to get an e-SIM (check if your phone supports eSIM) which could be very convenient . There are several alternatives, like Airalo.

Another option is to purchase a prepaid SIM card (you will have to present your passport, and your phone must be unblocked). You can find the information for international visitors at the website of the mobile operators:

Making phone calls in Brazil

The country code in Brazil is +55 and the Paraty area code is 24. Whenever you need to use a country or area code, you are going to need to select an operator. If you are using a Brazilian service, it is usually best to use the code of your operator (Claro: 21, Tim: 41, Vivo: 15).

LocalRegularPhone number
Collect9 + 0 + Operator + Area code + Phone number
Different areaRegular0 + Operator + Area code + Phone number
Collect9 + 0 + Operator + Area code + Phone number
InternationalRegular00 + Operator + Country code + Area code + Phone number
Collect9 + 00 + Operator + Country code + Area code + Phone

Emergency numbers

  • Police: 190
  • Fire: 193
  • Ambulance: 192