Brazil sets it’s clock to a different beat than Australia.

In general, though each area is somewhat different, they get up a little later in the morning, have lunch around 1 or 2pm, dinner after 9pm and if you’re heading out to the clubs, well they only get underway after midnight, so best wait till 1 or 2 to arrive. 🙂

The night life in São Paulo is amazing to say the least. Throw together a group of happy people, a few cheeky beers or caipirinhas, some great music and a willingness to get up and dance till dawn, and you start to get the idea. São Paulo loves to stay up late and shake it’s booty all night long.

So it was that I found myself at Gambiarra, an awesome party on Sunday nights, hosted at two different venues around the city. It’s three floors of pumping sweaty fun, and no one gets to have a sense of personal space at this club.

The music is amazing when you’re there and ready to dance… Some of the latest hits to get the Brazilians pumped up include Naldo, who asks you to just choose either coconut water or vodka, and then get your ass on the dance-floor; or Anitta, who’s all about the power. If that doesn’t get you going then you can try some of these tunes which I came across…. This older one translates roughly to ‘Slut‘ and features the weediest gangster I’ve ever seen…, or ‘Kisses for the Trannies‘, a diverse bunch of future earworms to say the least.

Make sure you check out if you’re going to a party, or just a standard club night, as they have quite a different atmosphere. And take your ID, usually a photocopy of your passport is fine, and some cash and perhaps a credit card to pay your way.

The line-ups are killers at the parties and bigger clubs, so be prepared for a bit of a wait. There’s the line to get in, the line to pay the entry fee, the line to swap some cash for drink tickets (best to know how much you’re likely to drink upfront), then the line for the bar itself… Doubling up on drinks can be a good idea. The good news is that everyone in the lines are probably friendly, so say hi and the time should fly.

For something a bit lighter but just as fun, try Teta Jazz bar in Pinheiros. I loved seeing the locals jam live to Miles Davis tunes. They also serve some mean bruschettas and caipirinhas. A small sampler is here. Thanks to Conrado for showing me this place 🙂

So go out in Sampa and have some fun. Don’t be dance shy either, only Brazilians seem to be able to dance samba, so just give it a go, and don’t care what you look like.