Brazil Six Temple Tour From Top to Bottom – April 17-May 1, 2012 – SOLD OUT
Join former missionaries who served in Brazil on a joyful tour of six Latter-day Saint temples in that vast and beautiful country, home today to more than a million Mormons and 27 LDS missions. Fly Brazil’s elegant TAM Airlines to visit and attend the temples of Manaus, Recife, Campinas, São Paulo, Curitiba and Porto Alegre, with time to tour each temple city by motor coach and attend church with the saints of Brazil. Your travel companions will include former missionaries who served in Brazil years before there were temples, stakes or even wards there, as well as missionaries who witnessed the historic progress of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil since that time. You don’t have to be one of them to enjoy their company and the adventure of this unique multi-temple tour.
April 17 – Travel day to Miami, Florida, jumping off point to South America, and get a night’s sleep before embarking Wednesday morning.
April 18 -Depart Miami at 7am on Brazil’s elegant TAM Airlines and arrive in Manaus, in the heart of the vast Amazon jungle. In the afternoon we tour the 400-year-old city that rubber barons built in the 19th century and check in to the Go Inn Manaus Hotel. Our hotel accommodations are among the best in each city.
April 19 – Take an unforgettable boat tour to the “meeting of the waters,” where the coffee colored Rio Negro meets the muddy Solimões to form the mighty Amazon, a thousand miles upriver from where it pours one-fifth of the world’s fresh water into the Atlantic Ocean. Then into the rainforest to see unique flora and fauna and visit a primitive indigenous village on an educational eco-tour hosted by native Brazilian “caboclos” in this remote outpost. Toto, we’re not in Utah anymore! All tours are included in your package at no extra cost. Tour includes lunch today. (Breakfast, Lunch)
April 20 – In the spirit of a tour planned for returning missionaries, visit the grounds of Brazil’s newest temple at Manaus, on the banks of the Rio Negro, with the opportunity to join the saints in service there if the Manaus Temple has been dedicated by that date. An evening flight takes our travelers 1600 miles to Recife on the beautiful Northeast coast of Brazil. Best Western Manibu Recife (Breakfast)
April 21 – Sightseeing tour of Recife (“reefs”), the island city where the Beberibe River meets the Capibaribe River to flow into the Atlantic Ocean. In the afternoon we visit the beautiful Recife Temple, an oasis of peace in Brazil’s fourth largest metropolis. Temple President Frederick G. Williams has a lifetime history of service in Brazil and South America. (Breakfast)
April 22 – At Recife, join the saints of Brazil in LDS worship services, in the company of former missionaries who speak the native Portuguese language. In the evening, enjoy and participate in a fireside in English as we learn more about the marvelous growth of the Church in Brazil and the faith of the saints there. (Breakfast)
April 23 –Beach time is on the agenda this morning, and beaches near Recife are among Brazil’s best. An evening flight takes us 1300 miles south to São Paulo, the dynamic economic capital of Brazil and headquarters of four LDS Missions. Hampton Park Hotel. (Breakfast)
April 24 – We motor coach some 65 miles to Campinas and Brazil’s largest LDS temple, located on James Esdras Faust Street, affording us the opportunity attend a temple session with saints from the costal interior of São Paulo State, many of whom arrive by caravan busses to serve. Beloved temple president George Oakes and Matron Jeannette Oaks previously presided over a Rio mission. After touring Campinas we return to our hotel in São Paulo city. (Breakfast)
April 25 – If São Paulo State were a country, it would have the second largest gross domestic product in South America, behind Brazil! Brazil’s first temple, built here in 1978 and remodeled and re-dedicated in 2004, features one of the most beautiful interiors of any in the Church, including native mahogany and geode crystals. President Stan and Sister Sherri Neeleman will welcome us. Situated next to the first LDS stake center in Brazil and the country’s LDS Church headquarters offices in this city of 11 million (some 21 million in the greater metropolitan area), the São Paulo Temple beckons citizens to visit the grounds and learn more.
By now we will have enjoyed fine dining on Brazil’s famous “rodizio” barbecue buffets, and been spoiled by the unbeatable breakfast spreads in our excellent hotels. And there is more still to come! Experience a modern Brazilian shopping center at nearby “Shopping Butantã. A fireside will close this memorable day, giving returning missionaries an opportunity to connect with Brazilian members know from mission days. (Breakfast)
April 26 – A midday flight takes us further south to the beautiful city of Curitiba, Paraná, first headquarters of the second mission established in Brazil, and famous for its parks and well-ordered transportation systems. By the time the Curitiba Temple was dedicated by President Thomas S. Monson in 2008 it was the Church’s crown jewel in a city that already boasted more than 60 LDS buildings. A motor coach tour of the city and countryside will display the famous and protected Araucaria tree, the beloved “Parana Pine,” but none more impressive than those on the Curitiba Temple grounds itself. Deville Curitiba Hotel (Breakfast)
April 27 – We are afforded a Curitiba Temple excursion and a mission fireside in the evening. The Temple President is Jason Souza. (Breakfast)
April 28 – We fly to “gaúcho country”—the cowboy south of Brazil—and its capital city of Porto Alegre where missionaries rode “bonde” streetcars until 1970. Today it is home to two mission headquarters and the beautiful Porto Alegre Temple, a light on a hill. Temple President Lennis and Sister Peggy Knighton will welcome us to one more spiritual highlight as we serve with the saints in Brazil’s third temple. Don’t be surprised if we dine on Brazil’s famous meats here in Rio Grande do Sul state, where the famous beef is raised. Intercity Premium Porto Alegre Hotel (Breakfast)
April 29 – Attend church in Porto Alegre with pioneer saints. In an evening fireside President Curtis F. and Sister Val Swenson of the Porto Alegre South Mission will share stories of the growth of the Church and missionary success in the south of Brazil. (Breakfast)
April 30 – One more hotel breakfast buffet, then a free day in Porto Alegre and time for one more vitamina de abacate (avocado milkshake) or guaraná, the Brazilian pop. We catch our late afternoon flight to Brasilia, connecting to an overnight flight to Miami to end our memory-building odyssey. (Breakfast)
May 1 – Arrive back in Miami early this morning and connect to flights home!
Your Host: Alf Gunn
Alf Gunn took his mission language—Portuguese—into a 30-year career in law enforcement and today utilizes Portuguese and Spanish in providing travel security presentations in retirement. Alf enjoys maintaining email newsletter correspondence with over 2,000 former Brazilian missionaries and is now a veteran of four specialty tours to Brazil with former missionaries who served there and their family members. Alf loves to meet people, and work and life have taken him to 95 cities, at last count, where he has attended church. He and Marcia call the Pacific Northwest their home, where most of their 10 grandkids live and where he bicycles and sea kayaks year-round.
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Tour Accommodations and ALL airfare from Miami -Double Occupancy - $3643 (includes tour and air for $3350 and taxes of $293)
Optional Iguazu Extension - Coming Soon
Airfare to/from Miami & airport hotel on 17th not included – Call Us to Arrange
Brazilian Visa – $240 (payable to Visa service company)
Credit Card Fee - $70 (only applies to final payment-pay by check to avoid it)
Deposit - $300
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*Trip cancellation and emergency insurance available *Passports are required *Full payment due 90 days before departure. *Cancellation charges: non-refundable after deposit and final payment is made Click Here for Current Airline Baggage Fees Click Here For Terms and Conditions