Your Tax Dollars at Play

Fall is finally upon us, and that means one thing: time to gear up for trips to warmer climes.

The No. 1 Loop-recommended trip for the fall season is a planned one-week, post-Thanksgiving congressional delegation to warm, beautiful Brazil. Despite some bothersome meetings devoted to drugs, terrorism, smuggling, biofuels and such, the voyage boasts an unforgettable river trip up the Amazon and that mandatory stop at spectacular Iguazu Falls.

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House International Relations subcommittee on Latin America, is our leader on this codel to the land of soccer, samba and Carnaval. Spouses are tagging along, of course. There's a "spouse program coordinator" at some stops, according to an early itinerary that floated our way.

So while members and aides are momentarily busy, spouses can see other sights, shop or whatever. (Resourceful staffers also have been known to hop onto the comfy vans.) Details are still being worked out. A committee aide refused to confirm or deny a trip to anywhere "for security reasons." Security may be why members like to take spouses and aides and such, reasoning that a large contingent would attract less attention.

But it appears you'll spend some time in Salvador, a picturesque colonial-era city with gorgeous beaches, and stay at the wonderful Convento do Carmo hotel, an elegant former 16th century convent. If you're lucky, there may be dinner at the Solar do Uniao, with a demonstration of "capoeira," a martial art developed by Brazilian slaves to sharpen their fighting skills for rebellion. Order the yummy "moqueca," fish cooked in coconut milk.

It's hot this time of year, but go easy on the sugar-cane-based "caipirinha" -- it packs a wallop. Better bet would be Brazil's great beers. Our preferred is Brahma.

You'll head down to Rio for a day for a visit to a "favela" (hillside shantytown), a meeting at the giant oil company Petrobras, a tour of the port and a not-to-be-missed trip up Corcovado mountain for a close look at the Christ the Redeemer statue.

But no time to waste, because we're off bright and early to spectacular Iguazu Falls, a journey that includes a "working lunch with briefings on smuggling and terrorist finance," the draft itinerary says, along with a meeting with the mayor. Your hotel room will have breathtaking views on the very edge of the falls.

Then, unfortunately, it's Brasilia, which most codels try their best to avoid, but not this time. There is truly nothing to see in this artificial, planned capital city, and you might as well pass the day snoring through meetings with various government officials, though there's a chance to say "tudo bem" to President Luiz In¿cio Lula da Silva.

Sunset brings relief as we fly off to Manaus in the midst of the Amazon rain forest on the edge of the Rio Negro, where early the next day you'll take a riverboat to the Anavilhanas Ecological Station, a UNESCO World Heritage site. You're in the middle of nowhere, but not to worry, we're advised that you'll anchor "within cell phone range" of a nearby tower. "Malaria prophylaxis," meaning pills, is recommended.

Our hardy band of travelers spends the evening in the Ariau Amazon Towers Hotel, built in the treetops and a place Conde Nast Traveler once called one of "25 Extraordinary Places Worth That Extra Mile."

And then it's back to Manaus, where the military jet -- oh, yes, no silly commercial travel; we're milair all the way -- takes you home. Never a line; never a lost bag. The plane waits for you, not vice versa.