In Brazil’s Amazon, Worship with Psychedelic Tea

Photos by Eraldo Peres Canoes slide through a narrow river, dodging branches and trees for more than four hours to reach a tiny village deep in the Amazon jungle of western Brazil.

Pernambuco’s Unique Carnival in Maracatu’s Cradle

Photos by Eraldo Peres This city in northern Brazil is considered the cradle of the maracatu, a frenetic, rhythmic dance of African origin that infuses its unique Carnival celebration with its spirit.

Keeping Brazil’s Cowboy Traditions Alive

Photos by Eraldo Peres Wearing traditional broad-brimmed hats and red neckerchiefs, their trousers tucked into soft, leather boots, the South American gauchos trot on handsome horses down the street of the small southern community.

Brazilian Cowboys Take on Bulls in Unique Rodeo

Photos by Eraldo Peres The men appear on horseback at daybreak, emerging from the thorny thicket of shrubs and small trees that mark the semiarid landscape of the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco.

Brazil’s Homeless

Photos by Eraldo Peres  The most fortunate of them have tents. The rest use black-and-blue plastic tarps draped over bamboo trunks to keep the brutal tropical sun from melting them at midday.

Brazilian Catadores

Photos by Eraldo Peres Against a distant skyline of high-rise buildings, huge vultures dive over the nearly 9 tons of rubbish that arrive daily at the enormous dump in Brazil’s capital as nearly 3,000 trash pickers set aside recyclable plastic, metal and paper to sell.