Rio Visit

View of Copacabana Beach from our hotel window

Carol testing the water at Copacabana

30 Metre tall "Cristo"looks small  atop Cordovaco mountain

Not so small close up! Hands and face sculped in France and shipped to Brazil where the rest of the body was made.

A "favelo" on the slope of one of the mountains. Despite being slums, they have the best views!

One view of Rio from Corcovado mountain

Rob in front of the entrance to Meracana Stadium

The very modern Metropolitan Cathedral in downtown Rio

Inside the cathedral

An old aqueduct built to carry water to the city

Rio has the longest urban tunnel in the world - nearly three kilometers long - which go through the mountains surrounding the city

Cable car to Sugarloaf Mountain

View of Rio from Sugarloaf

South view of Ipanema Beach

Ipanema Beach looking north

Rio Visit

Jan.4 to 6, 2017

Rio has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, certainly of the ones we have visited. It spreads around large bays, many forested hills, and the miles of beaches along the Atlantic coast. It seems to encourage climbing, hiking, cycling, swimming, dancing. The people from Rio are known as "cariocas", named for a river that flows through the city. They are known for their partying, and easy going lifestyle.

We arrived Wed lunch, after a day in the Miami airport, and an overnight flight. Our hotel had a view overlooking Copacabana beach which runs for many kilometers. It was interesting to see the differences in the view between morning, midday, and night. Just like the postcards, it is covered in chairs, umbrellas, and scantly clad bathers. But the hardware is carted off in the evening, the sand cleaned, and many sports activities set up. There are volleyball nets, soccer nets, and exercise stations. Wed we just walked the beach and area, relaxed, and ate Brazilian food. It is now their summer holidays so many tourists about. But it is a more expensive city for tourists than many we have visited recently.

We managed to get the last 2 seats in a van on a city tour. The rest of the passengers were from Spanish speaking SA countries, but the tour guide did a good job of translating for us. It was a long, full day, but a good idea when you have only a bit of time. We managed to at least go by the trip advisor's list of top 10 things to see. If we had a few more days, we would like to have seen the Botanical Gardens within walking distance, some of the other parks, museums, and shows.

Early in the day we worked our way through the line ups to visit the "Christ the Redeemer" statue, famous for looking out over the city. It was built to celebrate 100 years of independence, finished in 1932. It could be seen by everyone in the city at that time, being several stories high, and on the top of a hill. For the Olympics they built an interpretive centre at the top. The whole hill is a national park. At one point in history all the trees had been cut down to grow coffee. But it has all been replanted and looks mature now. The city realized that without the trees the temperature was much higher and there were drought problems for the city. Of course, the views from above are great.

We stopped briefly by the Maracana Stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics were held. Also, a stop at Sambadrome, the heart of the carnival. It is a 600m street with stands on both sides. For 4 days, ending at 6am, samba dancers move down the street. I hadn't realized that it is actually a competition with quite a few rules. There are many samba schools that practise all year. There was a store renting some of the traditional costumes. Very extravagant!

There are 2 main types of architecture downtown. First are the old colonial Portuguese buildings, starting from the 1500's. The Portuguese monarchy actually moved their home to Rio for a few years in 1808 to avoid  a plague. Those places, of course, are very nice. St Teresa's Stairs, the old aqueduct, the opera house, museums, and many churches are in this style.

  In the 1970's to gain more land for city development, they removed one of the hills downtown. The financial district, all built in 70's style, was built on the gained property. The removed hill also allowed them to reclaim some of the sea. We stopped to see the Metropolitan Cathedral, one of the most famous buildings in the new downtown area, done in 1979. Very modern design. There is a very long tunnel through one of the other city hills that you take to get to the airport. They have also cut a long tunnel through hills to the south so that the city can expand along the coast going south. Many of the upgraded roads and facilities were put in for the Olympics.

Outside the downtown, there are two extremes of housing. The "rich and famous" have first or second homes along the beaches. Going up the hills are the "favelos", or slums. Because services couldn't be provided, lots of small shacks were built close together and up. There are over a thousand such communities. Painted lots of bright colours, they look good from a distance. And they have a view. The city has gradually been able to bring some services in, but 95% of the people are poor. The poverty rate for Rio overall is 40%.

After a buffet lunch of Brazilian food, we took a cable car to the top on another hill, Sugarloaf. The first settlers landed at its bottom in Guinabara Bay. There are 2 cable cars, as you go up Urca Hill first, then across to the steep Sugarloaf Mtn. You look out over the whole bay, and metropolitan area. Although it is close to the "Christo", you can see different things.

After 3 days of early mornings and another one coming Sat, we took some time to relax Friday. We walked Ipanema Beach which is the next one south, hitting some of the shopping malls on the way back. Then, an ocean swim, the pool, and dinner.

Jan. 8 and 9, back at the marina, there is just enough time to get ready to leave. Several trips to the grocery store with hours of washing and packing into freezer, fridge and cupboards. Monday morning was spent at customs and immigration clearing out. Tues, the marina manager can do the port control checkout for us. These 3 offices are in Jacare, Cabedelo, and Joao Pessoa. Not very convenient. The bottom of the boat got washed this afternoon. The anchor chain had been regalvanized when we were away and it is back in. The wind indicator that we bought at home is installed at the top of the mast and is working. Tim and his son, Josh, arrived for No Regrets. Rui and Daphne are also back on Bluewind and hope to leave soon. They are heading south to Rui's hometown. The tide in the river will be favourable for leaving mid afternoon Tues, the 10th. Right on schedule!