World cup tidbits

PIRANHA ZONE

Beaches are a big part of life for most Brazilians, and the locals deep in the Amazon jungle are definitely Brazilian.

In Manaus, the most exotic of the 12 World Cup host cities, the residents head to the posh neighborhood of Ponta Negra to lounge on the sandy beach and take a dip in the Rio Negro, the river that joins up with the Amazon River on the other side of the city. The warm water, as its name implies, is dark, but with a bit of a red tint. Oh yeah - there are piranhas in there, too, but that doesn't seem to bother anyone. And neither does the rain.