Plot Synopsis

In this four-episode series, Michael Palin heads to Brazil, where he travels from the lost world of Amazonia to the buzzing metropolis of Rio de Janeiro, meeting the people and visiting the places that shape this South American nation. His odyssey begins in the northeast, where modern Brazil was born. He starts in the city of Sao Luis before traveling down the coast to Recife and Salvador, dropping in on the vaqueros who work on vast cattle ranches. His travels also take him south to the stunning coastal lagoons of the Lencois Maranhenses national park. In Salvador, he learns to drum with the famous Olodum School and has a lesson in cooking Bahian-style, before finding out what lies behind the beguiling moves of capoeira dancers. Then, Palin travels on several rivers through the very heart of Amazonia. Meeting the Yanomami tribe, he talks to their spokesperson about the threats to their way of life. He visits the magnificent Manaus Opera House and samples some exotic Amazonian foods in Belem at the mouth of the Amazon. Traveling southward to the upper reaches of the Xingu River, Palin is welcomed to the Wauja tribe, one of the most colorful of all the Brazilian indigenous peoples. This leg of his journey ends in the capital, Brasilia, where he meets with rock star and political activist Dinho Ouro Preto. Just days before the 2014 World Cup opened in Brazil, PBS aired the U.S. premiere of this series on Monday, June 9, 2014, showing back-to-back episodes from 9-11pm ET/PT on consecutive nights.