Watch Brazil With Michael Palin

Brazil's coast stretches from the cool temperate waters of the south to the mouth of the Amazon, the equator and beyond.

Michael is surprised by the diversity of the deep south where Asian and European influences have made a melting pot.

Michael learns about Brazil's great mineral wealth and then travels to Rio, to find out how its new-found wealth is being spent, and how it's changing the lives of millions of people who live there.

Michael makes his way from from Brazil's northern border with Venezuela along the Rivers Branco, Negro, Amazon, Tapajos and Xingu, through the very heart of Amazonia, before making his way to the capital, Brasilia.

Michael begins in northeast Brazil where Europeans first settled and were rich on slave labor. In Sao Luis, European and African religious rituals joined in Brazilian celebrations. Michael visits one of the region's massive beaches before going to the monster sand-dunes of the Lencois Maranhenses National Park. He looks around Recife's striking street art and sculptures, and in Olinda, he gets roped onto the dance floor. In Salvador, he gets his fortune read by a priest who practices the local religion of Candomble.