Hello Rio

Copacabana Beach

We start our exploration of Rio de Janeiro at 9am and it is already 28 degrees Celsius. We walk the whole stretch of Copacabana Beach (4km) from the Copacabana Fort & Military Museum to the big rock (or small mountain) at the other end. This walk sounds easy until you factor in the heat and lack of shade.

The sand is soft, perfectly textured and off white. Beautiful. However the waves are quite big so its not a good beach for swimming.

Along the boardwalk people have made some large sand sculptures. In front of each is a bottle to put in tips if you take a picture of the sculpture.

Lots of people are playing beach volleyball and a form of the game where you can hit the ball with anything but your hands. I don’t know how they can play in the heat.

At the far end we walk along the path at the edge of the big rock/mountain. The views are gorgeous.

We stop to watch the surfers on the water, waiting to catch a good wave. Click here to see a video of the surfers.

Hike up a Mountain

From the beach Graham gets us an Uber to go to Sugarloaf Mountain.

The top of Sugarloaf is reached by taking a cable car up to a smaller hilltop and then a second cable car from that hilltop to the top of Sugarloaf.

Alternatively you can skip the first cable car and walk/hike to the top of the smaller hilltop. Graham suggests we take this option so as to see the beautiful scenery.

The path starts off flat with a gentle rise and lots of lush forest on one side and the deep blue ocean water on the other. I see a number of signs saying “Beware, venomous snakes in this area”. Hmmmm.

The trail suddenly gets steeper with lots of stairs, rocks and foot holds. We walk up and up and up, passing many more of the venomous snakes signs but fortunately don’t see any.

I am starting to get hot, tired and a bit cranky. We continue climbing up the seemingly never ending mountain. I am cursing Graham.

We start spotting tiny marmoset monkeys. One of them in particular does not seem the least bit afraid of people.

We see lots of people coming down the same trail because its much easier hiking downhill than climbing up… why didn’t we think of that!

Proof of Vaccination

Finally we reach the top where you catch the second cable car up to Sugarloaf Mountain.

To access the cable car we need to show proof of vaccination and also identification. John has our vaccination certificates on his phone and then pulls out his credit card as ID. My credit card is hidden in a little pouch in my bra. I go to what I thought was a private, out of the way spot and I start retrieving my card. The lady checking the vaccinations is kind enough to inform me that I am standing directly in front of the security cameras and directed me to a more private spot.

Cable Car Up

The views from the first hilltop are gorgeous. There are restaurants, bars and stores. Getting on to the second cable car is very efficient. The only slightly startling part is the thin gap between the platform and the cable car that swings ever so slightly.

At the Top

In a few minutes we are at the top. The views from Sugarloaf are truly spectacular. Vultures float on the air currents almost at eye level. In the distance on his own mountain top we can see the famous Christ the Redeemer statue. We have views all around us. Awesome. Click here for a video of our view.

When its time to leave we take both cable cars all the way to the bottom.

A Little Break

Graham then leads us to a nearby Middle Eastern restaurant called Arabe Urca. It is not fancy but very popular. We all find some yummy options for lunch.

We take another Uber back to our apartment. The security guard lets us through the security gate. As we pass his area, I note that he is watching a Brazilian soap opera. No matter what time we come or go, security always appears to be watching a soap opera.

Graham stays back at the apartment because he has a three hour online class from 4-7pm during which he and his work group will be doing a presentation.

Copacabana Fort and Ipanema Beach

John and I head to Copacabana Fort to tour the grounds and see the Military Museum. Most of the information is in Portuguese but John still enjoys it, me not so much.

The sky is now hazy. I do not know if this is due to pollution or some weather thing.

We next walk to Aproador which is a large rocky formation jutting out into the water that separates Copacabana Beach from Ipanema Beach. This is the spot where everyone gathers to watch the sunset. There are lots of people sitting on the rocks and lots of police keeping things safe. Unfortunately the sunset is a dud as heavy clouds moved in to obscure the big event.

Surfers are in the water, trying to catch a few more waves before they head in for the night.

After sunset we walk from lifeguard Posto 7 to Posto 8 on Ipanema Beach. The beach lounger/umbrella renters are loading up all their chairs and supplies onto dollies carts and trucks to he stored for the night before they start all over again tomorrow morning.

Rest of the Evening

We head back to the apartment. Graham is still doing his online class presentation on his laptop. We quietly enter the apartment. The laptop is positioned so that we’d have to walk behind him to get to our bedroom, bathroom and living area. We figure that having mom and dad suddenly appear in the background of the presentation would not be a good idea. At a momentary break Graham motions that I can cross behind him and I quickly rush past.

John, however, has to crawl along the floor behind Graham so as not to be seen on the laptop video camera.

After his class finishes we head out for dinner and upon our return to the apartment I start doing laundry.