Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

Our South American holiday has begun and we are loving it. We have recently visited Rio De Janeiro, the former capital of Brazil and the tropical climate we have missed so dearly, at least until we were sweating profusely as we stepped out of the airport. We wrapped up just over a year in Europe with a trip to Portugal for a few days, then onto Casablanca (Morroco) for a 24 hour layover before a 10 hour flight to Rio. So here we are.

Day 1

We arrived into Rio at 6:30 pm and found cloudy, but sunlit skies which is a contrast to the 5pm sunsets in London of late. With a few preconceptions about the dangers on this continent with the likes of thieves, scammers, dodgy cab drivers we exited the airport into a swarm of people selling taxi fares into the city. They didn't hassle us beyond their initial proposition so it didn't seem as bad as we had heard. Ellie connected to Wi-Fi and attempted to order us an Uber, but they aren't allowed at the airport and we didn't have internet to leave. We settled on a taxi, but not from the swarm who were right outside the arrivals gate. A little further down, there was a no nonsense lady at a counter that had fairs for much, much cheaper (76 real or 31aud). The driver was then extremely nice as far as his language could allow him to be and for us to understand. He dropped us to our Airbnb in the Copacabana neighborhood. After greeting the friendly security doorman and hosts mum we dropped our bags and set off to find dinner and have a look around the area.

We walked along part of the Copacabana Beach, which is huge in both length and width before deciding we were really tired so it was time to choose. As we weren't that hungry we ate some cheap hamburgers and fries with views of the beach and a live musician. We paid 50 real for burgers, fries and a drink each which is about $20 Aussie or £10. It wasn't raining as predicted for the week so we were pretty happy. The food was average, but we weren't fazed, just happy to eat so we could go to bed. While it was only 10pm in Rio, it was midnight in Portugal, our last port of call, and we had had a big day already. The last stop on our first day before going to bed was a market store for some water, snacks and breakfast for the coming days. Even though it was one day, we didn't feel unsafe despite seeing some people steal from a shop in the first 5 minutes of arriving and plenty of beggars on the streets, we only hope it remains this way for the next 2 months.

Day 2

After a decent sleep in our unairconditioned room, we woke well before our alarms and decided to get a head start by having our breakfast in our room and setting off to explore the area around the starting point for the 'walking tour', who we did through Free Walkers. We took the Metro, which we thought could also be a dangerous trip with pickpockets but we had no trouble this time. It seems pretty clean and well presented, possibly because of the recent Olympics here and safe enough if you are alert. Arriving an hour early in the downtown area wasn't really the best as there wasn't much to see, we went to the water but found it difficult to get beyond the ferry terminal to see it. We had another snack as our yoghurt breakfast hadn't done the job, this time having pastries from a cafe in the nice terminal building. We tried a traditional food called Pão de queijo, which is simply cheese and bread together, hardly original and not something to write home about, too late I just did.

After our morning snack we went to the Free Walking Tour and met our guide named Natalia or Sici was her nickname. The tour gave us an overview of the history of the country, including the settlement in the 1500's by the Portuguese, the discovery of gold in the late 17th century with a gold rush to follow, the arrival of the Portugal's Royal family as Napoleon had chased them out in the 1800's, the monarchy led by the king then made decisions for the nation until the military took over in the late 1800's and formed a republic, which it remains as today. We also learnt that the name Brasil comes from the shortened 'Terra do Brasil' or land of brazilwood and took on this name from the early 16th century. The rest of the tour focused on the first settled area called Carioca, some traditional foods and a famous cafe, a church on the merchant trail, the flag, the cinema area known as Cinelandia and ended with the Selaron Steps. This was our favourite part of the tour in a physical sense, the history being very interesting as it is very foreign to us. The famous steps were created by Jorge Selaron, who didn't like the boring concrete steps that sat at his doorstep. Using tiles he renovated the ugly stairs into a beautiful spectacle we see today, even after being laughed at initially by his neighbours. He was passionate about the stairs, including tiles from around the world and constantly updating the design until he died mysteriously on the very steps he was found on so commonly. A must do when visiting Rio.

Following the walking tour we moved on to look at the ugliest building in Rio: the Metropolitan Cathedral. It's shape is unlike any church I have seen before, like a cup sat upside down and a dirty grey concrete exterior. The inside is impressive with floor to ceiling stain glassed windows and a circular floor space. It was well past lunch time by now, so we headed towards home and found another traditional dish to share, this time a feijoada. The dish is of Portuguese origin and is cooked in a number of places, the variants making them a national dish in a number of places. Our Brasilian feijoada was made up of rice, a stew of beans, beef and pork, a type of lettuce and some farofa (a toasted cassava flour mixture). We got so much of it we took home two containers of food to eat for another meal. After our late lunch we had a nice stroll along Copacabana Beach before having a rest in our room.

Later in the evening we ventured back to Lapa to a bar and the start of another tour, this time a pub crawl tour. We enjoyed plenty of Caipirinha (k-eye-per-reen-yah), a famous Brasilian drink made from sugar cane liquor, crushed lime and ice as well as a lesson on how to make them. The tour took us to a street party underneath the aquaduct with live bands and pop up bars that carried on despite rain and the fact it was a Thursday night. The tour finished up at 2 night clubs with more live music and a very rainy dash home for us late in the evening.

Day 3

Our third day in South America was very exciting, as we were heading up Corcovado mountain to see views of the city, but also the famous landmark, Christ the Redeemer. To get there we took another Uber, as we needed to take 2 public buses and total travel time of around 2 hours to get to the bottom of the mountain. The trip cost us 22 real (10aud), a bargain and drop us right near the tourist center where we purchased our tickets to get shuttled further up the mountain to the base of the large statue. Masses of people made there way up and the closer we got to the top, the busier it got. As you come up from behind the statue you can admire the size of it, standing 38 meters tall. When you get to the front, you notice a frenzy: people scurried all over the place to get the best photos with the calm, peaceful and welcoming statue of Jesus. Below, you couldn't find many people enacting the same behaviours as they jostled and pushed for the best selfie. With patience, we managed to get some nice photos of, and with the famous landmark and of the amazing views from the platform just in front. We stayed up there a while to admire the views and statue before heading back down to the tourist information center. We intended to take the train down as it is said to be an experience in itself, but unfortunately we would of had to have taken it from the very top rather than the tourist center which we could no longer do. Instead we had to take a taxi down for 60 real, 3 times the price of Uber, because we couldn't access the Wi-Fi.

The taxi dropped us off at Botofoga Beach, where we checked out the bay, some shops in the area and some nice views of the Sugarloaf Mountain. It was well past lunch by now so we decided to eat traditional again. Ellie had a cheeseburger and I had a Big Mac, which are not traditional Brazilian but fits in with one of my travel traditions. Having had McDonald's in Australia, Asia, Europe, North America and now South America I can say a Big Mac taste the same all over the world. Following an unhealthy lunch, and an overpriced taxi, we decided to walk from Botofoga to home, via the full stretch of Copacabana beach. This had us home around 4pm and time for a rest and my first run in South America. It was difficult because I haven't exercised in that temperature for a long time, but I managed to cover the Copacabana waterfront and return home without melting.

While I was running, I noticed that the skies had cleared considerably from the morning when we ventured to Corcovado, so when I returned home I told El and we decided to head up the Sugarloaf Mountain cable car and take in the sunset. A bit rushed, we took another Uber (8real - 4aud) and then the cable car (76real each - 30aud) to the top. The sun was setting but not for another 30 minutes, so we got plenty of photos and looked for an area that wasn't occupied for an uninterrupted view (for anyone planning to go - get in early as people seemed settled in when we arrived and there wasn't much "front row" ares left, despite having numerous viewing platforms. It was really nice to see the sun shift slowly down behind the mountains in the distance and beyond the horizon turning day into night at 7:45pm. As it did shift the city lights came on and we stayed a little longer to take this in with some more photos, unfortunately, the photos didn't do it justice but it was a really nice afternoon. If you didn't head up for the sunset and night scene, we would suggest early morning as the time to go, with hopefully, the sun behind you and clear skies as this would give the best views and best photos of the city. Once the sun was gone and we had seen the city lights we went back down to the bottom and took another Uber home as it was again cheap and there was Wi-Fi working at the cable car office. We tried to budget after a big day and ate our left over feijoada for dinner before calling it a night a bit earlier than the last.

Day 4

The biggest day was easily the 4th day with a hike up to Morro dois Ihmars mountain starting at 8am 'island time'. We had to be up early and ate some Vegemite toast for breakfast before continuing to give Uber our money as the convenience factor far outweighed the small cost difference between a bus and a private car - something that won't last as we continue to break our budget. The tour started at Small Beach and went up through the Vidigal Favela via a small, cheap transfer to the highest point you could reach in a vehicle. This wasn't very high as we then hiked for an hour to the top of the mountain for a famous lookout standing on a rock that slopes down towards the cliff face. Pictures make it seem far more dangerous than it is, but some brave souls overcame their fears to get an awesome photo overlooking Rio's interesting landscape. For as far as you can see along the coast it appears that there are numerous mountains and hills that rise out of the earth in no certain pattern. Some close to the ocean, others distant with buildings, housed neighbourhoods, favela neighbourhoods, lakes and an ocean inlet separating them from one another. It wasn't the easiest hike - considered moderate by the company but with a few stops at some lookouts you can catch your breath. Our guide Gabi, who lived in a nearby favela was very informative on the sights of Rio as she pointed them out from the apex. At the top of the mountain we then hiked down and begun a favela tour through Vidigal, including more information on life in the communities, the famous people from the area and the incredible street art around the place, some even created by children. I learnt that favelas, unlike houses have no paperwork attached, what you build is yours, you can rent, sell or buy a property and if you’re an owner, you own the top of your favela. With that you can sell the top or you can build on it. No paperwork, simple regulations and self-governed, although, I'm not sure many would pass cyclone safety standards. The favela tour was a great look into the living conditions and an insight into the people as our perception before entering was entirely different. The houses aren't slums, and while they're not huge, flashy homes they provide what's necessary - shelter. They also have running water, some with cable tv and some with beautiful ocean views. Bearing in mind this was one favela out of a large number that we visited so it's not possible to say they're all like Vigidal but it wasn't as bad as our preconceptions. As far as people are concerned we had little interaction with locals here, but Gabi, our guide also made our perceptions incorrect. People in favela communities can't be that bad as she was friendly, intelligent and hardworking, speaking 4 languages and operating as a freelance tour guide - it proved our ideas wrong. Again, bearing in mind the amount of interaction we had with people from similar backgrounds. With that said, I would highly recommend anyone visiting Rio to utilise Gabi for the hike, waterfalls, favela or city tours she conducts.

When the tour concluded, we were at the base of the mountain and near Small Beach once again. Ellie and I had planned to spend the rest of the day beach hopping in Rio. We started at Small Beach then visited Leblon, Ipanema and Copacanaba for some swimming, lunch and ice creams before heading home. There are plenty of food and drink stalks along all of the beaches but Leblon and Ipanema had far less options compared to Copacabana. However, the water in the first two were much nicer with the most well-known beach having the dirtiest of them all. Ellie found it easy to spot me when we swam separately because of my awesome tan in comparison to the bronzed Brazilians who graced the waters that day. Like Migaloo in shallow waters for the Aussies readers and for those who aren't, like an extremely pale white person that stands out on a beach full of beautifully tanned people. Perhaps I might start using some of Ellie's fake tan... you will have to keep following our travels to find out. When we got home, exhausted with some more supplies from the Mercado (market) we earned a relaxing afternoon and nice dinner, resting in the room until around 6pm.

For dinner, we walked the beach of Copacabana once more and headed to a Brazilian Churrascaria, where we would have an absolute feast at an all you can eat Brazilian Barbeque. This place was incredible, a salad bar with everything including crabs, salmon and sushi, curries, feijoada, salads, cheese, biscuits, antipastos, pastries and more. All of which, I barely touched. What I did eat was a variety of meats cooked in different ways on large skewers, and served as whole pieces or slices of meat straight to your plate. There is a similar one in my home town called Chico Rio but this one was twice as good with unlimited sides and lot of meats including pork, beef, chicken in different ways. I even tried a very chewy chicken heart that was quite tasty, something I'd never consider eating until the waiter made an offering as he approached our table. Probably never again too, but you never know until you try it. It was easily the best buffet of food I've come across and I managed well to not over indulge to the point of being sick. I didn't feel we got our monies worth but I never do with buffets, I'm still glad we did it whilst in Brazil. It cost 80real each (35aud) and was a little touristy in terms of clients but it's another recommendation I have for visitors heading to Brazil.

Proclaiming her exhaustion, Ellie checked her phone to see how much ground we covered during the day to find a lousy 30km on the Apple Health app. With that and an early flight out the next day in mind, we decided to not attend the Rio Carnevale parade practice session as intended. It meant a trip to downtown and back and after we were unable to contact Uber due to overuse (no Wi-Fi) we surrendered to our bed and prepared to say, see ya later to Rio.

A fabulous city, with an interesting and varied cultural atmosphere, unique landscape, lots of mountains and nice, big beaches, a huge statue of Jesus and some famous steps. It certainly didn't disappoint and nor will it for those lucky enough to visit. Tchau brigado Rio, goodbye and thank you Rio.

*Currency conversions are rough estimates and not exact figures

#Travel #SouthAmerican #Brazil