São Félix do Xingu, Brazil

This remote Amazonian backwater is hardly the tropical paradise many imagine. With a population of just under 25,000, São Félix do Xingu covers an area the size of Belgium, making it Brazil's sixth largest municipality. Bureaucratic headaches abound, as residents must navigate the tangle of conservation areas that occupy over half the city's land. And the climate is no picnic, with oppressive heat and humidity the norm.

São Félix do Xingu is a place for hardy souls only - those willing to brave the isolation, red tape, and unforgiving weather in exchange for proximity to Brazil's untamed wilderness.