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All You Ever Wanted To Know About Azul

November 12, 2008 at 3:14 PM | 1 Comment

A Jaunted Exclusive

Is it just us, or does there seem to be next to no information out there about David Neeleman's new airline Azul? You know, the one that could launch next month and shake up the entire South American aviation market?

Turns out, there's plenty of dirt; it's just that it's all in Portuguese. So we decided to dust off our academic caps and--with the help of Google--translate the lengthy FAQ about the new carrier posted on its official website. While we're not sure if these "questions" were posed before or after financial panic gripped the planet, here are the highlights:

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Neeleman's Azul Cleared To Fly In Brazil

November 10, 2008 at 1:04 PM | 0 Comments

A Brazilian aviation official says that David Neeleman's slightly mysterious, potentially awesome airline Azul has been government certified, clearing the way for an on-time first flight in December.

According to the Associated Press:

Azul has yet to inform Brazilian regulators of the routes it intends to fly, [an aviation] agency spokeswoman said, but it is expected to begin with the Rio de Janeiro-Sao Paulo route and expand from there.

The airline hopes to quickly make inroads into Brazil's market with low-price tickets and features such as leather seats and in-flight live satellite television.

The airline already has at least one jet ready to fly, which means we're now obsessively refreshing Azul's website, hoping to get the early word on destinations and prices as soon as tickets are available.

Related Stories:
· Brazil Approves Azul Airlines [AP, via IHT]
· New Airlines: Azul's Livery Revealed [Jaunted]

[Photo: Azul]

Amazing Race 13: Do You Like American Candy?

October 6, 2008 at 8:30 AM | 2 Comments

Chasing Racers is back, with a brand new Amazing Race 13 mashup. This map will update the morning after every new episode. Send along tips, rumors, gossip, locations and spoilers to our map editors, become a member and comment on the stories below and add to the Jaunted-Flickr photo pool to get in on the fray.

Remember to zoom in, out and around on the map--with so much happening in each episode, it's easy to miss a map point.

Welcome back, race fans! When last we left our favorite racers, they were on a mandatory rest period in Salvador, Brazil. We're down to just ten teams, having given the beekeeping hippies the old heave-ho.

Will Nick and Starr continue to dominate with their athleticism and mental prowess? Will struggling exes, Ken and Tina, make a breakthrough in their relationship? Can Ken control his wandering eye, or will Tina just poke it out with a sharp stick?

Most importantly, who will manage to make it to this week's Pit Stop and get that much closer to the million bucks?

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Neeleman's Azul May Fly Before '09

September 29, 2008 at 4:30 PM | 0 Comments

Last we heard, the new Brazilian carrier Azul, from JetBlue founder David Neeleman, was planning to start flights in January 2009. But an article we just came across on the Dow Jones Newswire (but sadly can't link to 'cause of a pay wall) says the airline is looking to move that first flight up to December 2008.

The report continues:

"They (Azul) talked to us and managed to bring forward the delivery of three or four planes from January 2009 to December of this year," said Embraer CEO Frederico Fleury Curado.

Azul has ordered 76 Embraer 190 and 195s and it has also agreed to lease two of the mid-sized planes from JetBlue. So far only one has the Azul livery: It's been named "O Rio de Janeiro continua Azul," a line from a Gilberto Gil song.

Oh, and by the way, another news report (linked below) says Azul is interested in building an airport in Sao Paulo. We're not holding our breath on that one!

Related Stories:
· Azul Wants to Build an Airport [El Mundo, in Spanish]
· Azul coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Azul]

Amazing Race 13: Bees Are Much Calmer Than All This!

September 29, 2008 at 8:05 AM | 3 Comments

Chasing Racers is back, with a brand new Amazing Race 13 mashup. This map will update the morning after every new episode. Send along tips, rumors, gossip, locations and spoilers to our map editors, become a member and comment on the stories below and add to the Jaunted-Flickr photo pool to get in on the fray.

Remember to zoom in, out and around on the map--with so much happening in each episode, it's easy to miss a map point.

Welcome back, racer chasers! It's been way too long, and we're all excited to ready-set-go! This season begins with sweeping vistas of greater Los Angeles. All of the landmarks are there: Griffith Park Observatory, the Capitol Records building, the Hollywood sign and, of course, Phil Keoghan's sexy wind-tousled locks.

Eleven teams will embark on a race around the world, with a chance to win one million dollars. Who will come up with the right combination of brains, brawn and teamwork to win the Amazing Race, and who will be the first to be eliminated?

LET'S FIND OUT!

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Dangerous Travel: Watch for Caimans in Rio

September 4, 2008 at 9:15 AM | 0 Comments

Police making what a local newspaper called a "mega-operation" on the Rio favela of Coréia discovered two caimans, which they say drug traffickers used to intimidate enemies--and dispose of bodies. Says one cop:

The caimans are a symbol of power of the traffickers. When they catch a rival, they kill him and give him to the caimans.

The crocodile-like reptiles aren't exactly big, but we still wouldn't want to get near 'em--or the drug lords that put the critters to work. Still, a two-foot-long caiman has got to be less intimidating than a ninja gangster.

Related Stories:
· Police Seize Caimans, Weapons and Drugs in Rio Slum [O Globo, in Portuguese]
· Brazil: Police Seize Gang's Reptiles [NYT]
· Oh Rio! Dead Baby Penguins Make Us Sad [Jaunted]

[Photo: O Globo]

Film Festival Travel: Brief Glimpses at the São Paulo Short Film Festival

August 19, 2008 at 2:00 PM | 0 Comments

Now that a combination of big-budget blockbusters and sunstroke has sapped our attention spans, we feel violently resistant to sitting still in the dark for the last few weeks of summer. But television premiere season is just around the corner! We found our perfect bridge in the São Paulo Short Film Festival, opening Thursday and presenting eight days of Latin American short works.

The fest, held at the Associação Cultural Kinoforum which screens Brazilian and other directors' works year-round, will pack in hundreds of movies which compete for audience awards and a jury prize. They aren't just home movies either: Six out of the 10 movies nominated for Oscars for best fictional and animation shorts last year were screened at Kinoforum first.

Between programs, mix and mingle with your fellow film fans at daily Cinemateca happy hours. And if your attention span has improved enough, see one of three classic documentaries about Brazil at the Cachaça Cinema Club.

Related Stories:
· São Paulo Short Film Festival [Official Site]
· Brazil Perfects Islands, Dental Floss Swimwear [Jaunted]
· Cubicle Dreamin': Perfection in São Paulo [HC]
· Brazil Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: samhiscox]

Oh Noes! Travel: Dead Baby Penguins Make Us Sad

July 21, 2008 at 11:00 AM | 0 Comments

What a beach bummer: Hundreds of baby penguins have washed up on the famous sands of Rio de Janeiro, sparking a debate about how we might be affecting the livelihood of adorable fuzzy animals.

Typically some penguins every year get caught in currents off Patagonia and Antarctica and wind up dead hundreds of miles away, but this has been a particularly bad year for the Cute Overload crowd. Suspects include overfishing, which forces penguins to swim farther for their food, and immunity-damaging pollution, but it could also be the result of changing weather patterns at the Strait of Magellan.

Luckily, the Brazilian Coast Guard has been keeping a special watch on the coast, rescuing penguins and bringing them to Rio's Niteroi Zoo to recuperate.

Related Stories:
· Dead Penguins Washing Up In Brazil [TIME]
· Penguin and Polar Bear Problems [Jaunted]

[Photo: winklerw]

Carmen Miranda Travel: Seeking Tutti-Frutti Hats in Rio de Janeiro

July 20, 2008 at 12:00 PM | 0 Comments

It's curious how much our perceptions of other countries are informed by the most outlandish of pop culture references. Even if we know better than to believe the exaggerations and patent misrepresentations, certain images simply become ingrained into our consciousness, and, for better or worse, we arrive in these countries expecting things to play out like they do in the movie version. Such is the case with Brazil, as the recent release of the five-DVD collection of Carmen Miranda musical films illustrates quite clearly. Though her influence is beginning to fade a half-century after her death, the flamboyant Portuguese-Brazilian bombshell led generations of fans in both hemispheres to envision life in Rio as a series of spontaneous dance numbers amid verdant palm and banana groves. And somewhere along the line, a girl would no doubt emerge with a giant Tutti-Frutti Hat to sing a song about the importance of taking a breezy attitude towards life.

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Ichthyological Travel: Discover For Yourself If Piranhas Get a Bad Rap

July 19, 2008 at 2:55 PM | 0 Comments

Are piranhas ravenous man-eaters, just waiting for you to dip a toe into the water before they swarm in for supper, or are they timid, docile creatures who subsist on plants, carrion, and the occasional nip off a passing fish? A remake of the classic seventies schlock horror film Piranha will no doubt reopen the debate, so it's worth ferreting out fact from fiction when it comes to these toothy little critters. First of all, the upcoming Piranha 3-D is said to take place in Lake Havasu, Arizona, where a seismic event unleashes a school of oversized, prehistoric piranha that haven't had a bite in ages. That's far-fetched enough to file as fantasy and head for the rope swing without fear of fish attack. But what if you're planning a boat trip up the Amazon River? Can a quick dip in the water turn into an aquatic bloodbath just like that?

Related Stories:
· Piranha 3-D [IMDb]
· Can Piranhas Really Strip a Cow to the Bone in Under a Minute? [HowStuffWorks]
· Amazon Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Film School Rejects]

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New Airlines: Will Richard Branson Crack Brazil?

June 25, 2008 at 12:35 PM | 0 Comments

Billionaire and serial airline starter Richard Branson now wants a piece of Brazil. He just announced that he's in talks with partners in the country to launch what we can only assume will be called Virgin Brazil.

He'll certainly need the help of locals: The nation only allows foreign investors to control 20 percent of a given domestic airline. That's a problem David Neeleman was able to avoid with his own new airline because the JetBlue founder has Brazilian citizenship.

Branson says talks are ongoing, which makes sense: It took Virgin America years to get off the ground because of foreign ownership concerns, hyped by already-established airlines in the US. We can't imagine TAM and Gol will be too keen to compete with him on their South American turf.

Related Stories:
· Virgin's Branson May Launch Brazilian Airline [Reuters]
· Rampant Speculation: A Neeleman-Branson Airline? [Jaunted]
· Richard Branson's Indian Dream [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jaunted]

Rio Slums Overrun with Ninja Gangsters

June 13, 2008 at 3:45 PM | 0 Comments

The Brazillian government is cracking down on masked militias after an incident last month where several journalists were tortured for more than six hours by a gang of armed thugs wearing ninja hoods. The reporters had gone undercover in one of Rio de Janeiro's infamous favelas to investigate the "illegal economy" in the notorious slums.

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