Fly into Rio, Brazil’s most Iconic city on the coast. 3 Bricks staff will be at the airport waiting to greet you! We drive to our home base in Paraty, 160 miles from Rio, with a stop for a snack. Then we meet our local staff and fellow students upon arrival at the home base. Next, we get settled into our new home before orientation and your first Brazilian dinner.

For our first full day together as a group, we'll explore the cobblestone walking streets of the UNESCO-listed historical town center.

Paraty is by the ocean, between two rivers, so we'll also check out some beaches and river walks.

We will also have a program orientation where we'll meet with a representative from ICMBio to discuss our hosts' expectations of us as visiting volunteers.

Service begins! We’ll be working on projects planned with our local partners aimed at supporting eco-tourism, preservation of the environment, and indigenous populations within the national park.

Our first day of service will also allow us to learn about local culture and the current way of life.

At night, students will reflect on what they have learned thus far from their time in Brazil.

Guided reflection sessions throughout the program create structured space to process experience, challenge assumptions, and connect community-level realities to global systems.

We’ll continue working on our service projects, such as vegetable or medicinal plant gardens, sanitary bathroom construction, or trail marking for for hiking trails.

In the evening we will watch a documentary about the history of the Brazilian slave trade in preparation for this week's visit to a Quilombo community.

For our first adventure day we visit we travel into the rainforest to visit Toboga Waterfall!

Here we will learn about the importance of old growth forests for carbon capture and water filtration as well as swimming in crystal clear pools and sliding down natural rock slides.

Continuing our service project for the morning, we'll have an early start before departing to have lunch in a nearby Quilombolo community.

In the Quilombolo community, we will learn about Afro-Brazilian history, including learning about traditional music, religion, and dance.

We will participate in a Capoeira class, a traditional martial-arts-dance developed by Afro-Brazilian slaves.

To reach the Cachadaço Natural Pool, we only need to take a short and easy hike from Praia do Meio, in Trindade.

This natural tide-pool is very calm and is a wonderful place to enjoy a swim and grab some stunning photos.

We will hike back for lunch and have pass the afternoon on the beach learning some traditional Brazilian beach games.

On our second to last service day we will be pushing ourselves to get as much done as possible, it will be exhausting, but worth it!

In the afternoon before dinner, we'll all have a quick cooking lesson with our Brazilian staff to make a traditional dish that will accompany our dinner then relax and sleep early for our hike day tomorrow.

Today we wake early for a 5-mile hike over a slow-paced 3 hours with lots of breaks for photos of the rainforest trail that will lead us to Praia do Sono, a pristine beach inside a preserved natural area. Here we will stop for lunch and a well-deserved swim before continuing to Antigos and Antiguinhos beaches and returning by boat to the trailhead.

Arriving home, we will relax by the pool and get some rest.

On our final service day, we spend the morning wrapping up our project tasks and reflecting with project stakeholders. We'll have an opportunity for 'thanks' and 'goodbyes'.

In the evening we'll have a quick samba lesson from local experts before heading to the town square to take part in the weekly Samba night.

We can try some moves ourselves or just soak in the atmosphere and watch the local professionals.

or our final day in Paraty, we will board a fully covered schooner to explore the hidden islands and beaches that make Paraty and the surrounding bay of Ilha Grande a world-famous tourist destination.

The full-day tour includes various stops for snorkeling, swimming, lunch, and snacks. Relax, reflect, catch some sun and enjoy the beautiful landscapes.

We have a later start before beginning our drive along the coast to Rio, with a stop for lunch.

On arrival, we will check-in, stretch, and relax.

In the afternoon we go to one of the world's most famous beaches, Copacabana! We’ll walk the touristic seafront and visit Carlos Drummond statue, Copacabana Fort and Arpoador - Rio’s most famous place to watch the sunset! The evening will be a chance to show our appreciation to one another with the appreciation cirlce.

For our final day of the trip we'll work with local experts to explore the most famous sights of Rio including Christ the Redeemer Statue, a cable car ride up Sugarloaf Mountain and, the Selaron Steps of Lapa. We'll also drive-by St. Sebastian Metropolitan Cathedral, the Opera House, the National Library, the Museum of Fine Arts and Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas.

Enjoy a final buffet breakfast together at our hotel before we travel together to the airport to begin our journeys back home. Later departures will enjoy the hotel facilities and final hours with new friends.