For New Years I traveled to Itaunas, Espirtito Santo with one of Barbara's roommates. I arrived safely after a 4 hour bus ride to São Paulo, a 2 hour plane ride to Vitoria, Espirto Santo, a 3.5 car ride from the airport to this village of 2,000 people (the last 20 miles of which was on a dirt road). 
Itaunas is exactly what you imagine the beaches of Brazil to be... pristine sandy beaches, with hut-like kiosks lining the waterfront. Itaunas is a small village with huts and one super market, it is about a mile from the beach. One has to ride a bike over a bridge and through a kind of swampy area to get to these dunes, hike up and down a large dune and then choose from one of the 5 restaurant huts, walk along that restaurant´s lofted bridge/sidewalk to get to the water. It is seriously amazing there.
One night there was live samba band that played outside until 5 am. It is very hidden from the main tourist groups and only attracts a more hippy crowd, so the people here are much more relaxed in their manners and dress then the suits of São Pualo, which is great for a relaxing vacation. Since it is a lot more north, people are darker here also, much more people of mixed race.
To bring in the New Year, everyone in the town dawned white in typical Brazilian custom and headed for the dunes at the beach. At mid-night, there was the usual fireworks....on a much smaller scale and everyone sang a special New Years song. It was the most different New Years that I have ever experienced but one of the best:)
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