The berimbau is to a capoeirista as a katana is to a samauri.

The berimbau is the soul of capoeira. The basic parts of it is:
+ Vêrga, the wooden body
+ Cabaça, the gourd resonator (3 types: Gunga[Biggest], Médio[Medium], Viola[Small])
+ Arame, the wire
+ Baqueta, the stick used to strike the arame
+ Dobrão, the coin/stone used on the berimbau
+ Caxixi, the shaker

I included an amazing website of all the toques, or rhythms, of capoeira, so make sure to listen to them and practice!

One thing I looked for all over google for were the flourishes for the berimbau which I had absolutely no luck with. So here are some that I picked up:
(Key: O = Open | X = Buzz | C = Closed)
1) XXOOXO // can be followed up by #2
2) XXOOOOC
3) OCCCO

I was told once that Viola Cabaça were mostly flourishes and was only sometimes playing the actual rhythm for what it was.

Play them at various speeds and within rythms, #1 is used on this site's song many times so listen for what it sounds like, also these are on the Virtual Capoeira site that I posted so make sure to check them out.

If you find others in your playings post comments with them.