I thought all of South America spoke Spanish, but it turns out they speak Portuguese in Brazil! Michael and I learned this on our trip to Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro means “River of January” in Portuguese, because the first explorers came in January and thought it was a river mouth.

Rio is such a beautiful place, and there’s so much nature in the city. They have beaches and mountains, and tons of wildlife. One of my favorite places was the Botanical Gardens. We saw all kinds of beautiful flowers, turtles, monkeys, and the gorgeous colorful birds that the locals call Araras.