Category: Brazil (2005)

Today, we were picked up EARLY in the morning for our trip to Angra Dos Reis, one of the most beautiful beach areas in Brazil along the Green Coast. It’s about 2 hours south of Rio along the coast. In our tour was a guy from Belgium, and another guy from Germany. Our guide, Ricardo, was a cool Carioca from Flamengo, and quite friendly. When we arrived to the docks of the colorful village set along the side of the hills, we saw others waiting on board already. We hopped on board, and got situated where we could lie down on the rooftop and get some sun.

We started off into the water and headed for our first stop to one of the tropical islands. We went down the ladder and hopped over to the beautiful fine sands. We played with our newly bought Brazilian toy that’s like a birdie in badmitton. Only problem is, it hurts like anything when you hit it with your palms, so it grew old quickly.

We then were called back to the ship where we sailed to our next destination–a little bay area where tropical fish were swimming everywhere. We jumped in and played along side the fish while they were being thrown pieces of fruit from the boat–We also picked up starfish which were HUGE! One guy even put one on top of his head, and it was like a sombrero it was so large.

We then had our lunch, which was chicken, potatoes, and salad. After lunch we sailed off to our last island stop which had an old church and a few people who lived there. It was quite odd, because it seemed to be just about 2 families that lived on this desolate island. We walked around the island behind the church and back around to the beaches and played a little in the sand, and harrassed a crab to pose for a glamour photo.

We then got back on board and sailed back to the docks at Argas Dos Reis, and got into our van. The trip home was long as traffic going back into Rio was really backed up and the fumes were horrible. We both have a headache now from the pollution–the air was so stagnant today, there was such a haze when we left Rio AND when we came back.

This morning, we started out waiting for our tour bus that was to arrive at 9:20am. Before we knew it, we were looking at the watch and it was almost 10:00am. Finally, we were approached by the tour guide and the tardiness was due to the traffic. Aboard the bus were two guys from Arizona. We then went to a couple other stops and picked up: 2 girls from the Bay Area (!), a couple from Argentina/Lebanon, and 2 ladies from Mexico. We began our tour and started for the Sugar Loaf. We arrived and went to the cable car station to board to the first level of the Loaf. We looked around a bit, and then headed for the next station, which lead us to the top of the Sugar Loaf. From here, you could see a nice 360 view of Rio’s environs, yet the haze disappointed us for nice pictures. We came back down the mountain and by this point, were pretty chummy with the girls from the Bay Area, Jackie, and Melissa. Melissa is studying abroad here for her final year at Berkeley.

After the Sugar Loaf, we headed back to Copacabana for our included lunch. It was a buffet and we had all sorts of meats, fruits, and vegetables. The food here hasn’t been stellar, but there have been some good items.

After lunch, we then headed for Maracanã, the largest football stadium in the world. This was an interesting area, because it was more downtown. We also went to the site that holds Carnaval, a festival Brazil is worldly famous for.

We then drove to a church called ***** in downtown Rio that had amazing colored windows in an interesting dome. Here was a good place to get some great shots of downtown Rio–the architecture looks so old and blocky! We then headed up to the ‘Cable Car’ Station to go through the old colorful favella called Santa Teresa. This was a very cool excursion through the windy hilly roads of the colorful buildings and houses of Santa Teresa. Although it’s called a cable car, there was definitely a motor and no cable–it was very rickety, but gave a very interesting view of the hills up to the top to overlook all the city of Rio. It’s quite interesting how all the ‘prime’ real estate is actually favella land..

After Santa Teresa, we drove through the mountains and Tejuca Forest to Corcavado, the Christ statue. As it was approaching evening by this point, we were very anxious to get some nice shots of the city from this vantage point. It was incredible, and the statue, so peaceful. I must have taken 50 shots from up there! Clouds started to come in and the view started to disappear between white fog as we were so high up, we were actually IN the clouds. We enjoyed the view so much though, that I think I’ll definitely make another trip up during the earlier afternoon, to enjoy a lunch overlooking this grand city.

After we got all our pictures, it was already dark, and we headed back to the city to drop everyone off at their hotels/apartments. We were very tired, and you forget how draining visual stimulation can be.

After our drop off, we exchanged contact info with the girls, and said we’d like to meet up for dinner one night this week–Joe and I headed to Copacabana for an Italian dinner by the water. Days like these are why I am addicted to foreign travel…

After spending a few hours in the sun, we decided that it might be nice to bike a little bit, so we found a bike rental place and headed for the bike pathways that lead us down Copacabana, through a tunnel, and then out around some curves to see Christ looking down on the city. This is the first time I’ve really had a good look at the statue, as you can see it really well from this part of the city–his arms open wide. Tomorrow we will see the city from Corcavado’s point of view! We biked for just a couple of hours, and then headed to dinner at a restaurant in Ipanema, and enjoyed the nice summer evening.

Today was laundry day, and we started out thinking we were going to a tour, but it was canceled, so we’ve rescheduled for tomorrow. We brought our clothes and had them valeted for us to pick up at 6pm that night. We then headed for Copacabana just two blocks, and spent the day in the sun. I still can’t believe it’s winter!

After hang gliding, we decided to go to the Hippie Market, which according to our guidebooks, is the best place to get cool souvenirs and artwork. We walked through and saw some traditional ‘fight dancing’ and some musical instruments, along with some very great paintings, but nothing so awe-inspiring that I felt I needed to splurge and purchase. There was however, a nice leather burned map of the world according to the Portugese in 1605, that was hand painted that I might be interested in, but we shall see!

After we found a pizzaria for lunch, we headed back to the beach for some rays and to pick up the artwork Joe had asked to be painted. We waited for the artist to arrive, but decided to go down to the beach and wait. We went to Gracie, a very cute girl who’s teaching me some Portugese, and we got our chairs from her. After an açai and some relaxation, we headed back up to where the artist was waiting–the works were phenomenal. It’s exactly what I and Joe had imagined, and it was completely custom-painted! So I will go back tomorrow with an idea of what I want painted, and purchase mine :)

After we got the paintings squared away, we headed to the Hippie Fair in Praça General Osório.

This morning, our taxi arrived at 10am to pick us up at our apartment. We headed off to Tajuca forest as our jump off point. Driving down the beach-side drive past Ipanema, we headed around the curves to start up the hill around to the other side. Once past several colorful favelas (ghettos), we arrived at the landing spot of hang gliders. It was a part of the beach with lines drawn in the sand of landing signs. It was absolute beautiful.

We then met Fernando, our pilot, who shook our hands and showed us to our car for the drive up to the jumping point. Going up the hills was really full of trees and greenery, and then there was a sharp turn to go up the rest of the way. This tiny little path way at a grade much similar to those of San Francisco, showed us our hilltop for our jump.

We decided that Joe would go first, and I would watch, take pictures, and then await their arrival back up to the jumping point to then do the same for me. I got great shots of Rio and hanggliders alike, and then waited for Joe’s jump to start. Before I knew it, they were running down the little runway, and off they went! With a small dip and an upturn to the right, they were off on their journey as a bird looking down at the sights.

During my watch of others, I saw many other jumpers using parasails as well. One guy started his run down the hill, and what’s supposed to happen is that the parasail fills up with air and he can be lifted up. Something went ary and before I knew it, his sail deflated, and he dropped down before he even went off. Everyone ran towards him, and, everyone seemed like everything was fine, but I watched and watched, and I never once saw him come back up..

Finally, it was my turn, and before I knew it, I was being strapped into my harness and running with the instructor for practice. The key is to sync your run and run hard down the runway and keep running even into the air. So, we queued up and got strapped in, and he yelled something in Portugese, to alert everyone here we come! 1, 2, 3 and we ran perfectly in sync and whoosh—silence and floating. It was amazing. For so long I have always been able to dream of flying, and this is as close as I’ve ever been. You’re hanging above the land looking down and hear only the wind passing by as you float through the winds. It was absolutely beautiful. We could see the Sugar Loafs and Corcavado (The Christ Statue) looking down on Rio and the endless bluish green sea. Words can’t describe the feeling.

Once we floated down closer to the beach, we started to take a quick turn which dropped my stomach and gave such a rush! He then unstrapped my leg and I was dangling in the wind as we came rushing towards the ground. I started to get a little freaked out because he didn’t say anything about a fast landing or how to land… He said, don’t move! and stand up when I say STAND! As we started careening through the beach I thought it was going to be such a rough landing so I started to prepare for such a hard jolt. But, when he said STAND! I stood, and we lighted just like a feather to a 10.0 landing. AWESOME!

This morning, we woke up to the noises of people around the apartment building–and it’s a good thing. The weather was absolutely beautiful and perfect out! We got our stuff together and headed to look for a rental place for bikes so we could bike along the beach pathways. As the time went by, we ended up at Ipanema soaking in the rays, and then left for some lunch at a nearby restaurant, next door to Bofatado. I had a ‘bauru’ sandwich made up of beef, ham, and egg with a side of french fries. It was really great. We then headed for a bike shop, but we didn’t have enough money to leave a deposit–so we opted to head back to Ipanema to enjoy the beautiful weather. We ran into Don and his crew again, and set up near the same area. We kept our eyes peeled for hang gliders jumping off of the cliffs behind the ‘Twin Brothers’, but, we never saw any.

After the beach, we headed back to where Joe was having a painting created for him. It’s a scene of Rio, but split into 3 paintings. I really like the work of this guy, and I think I’ll be commissioning a painting from him myself. Price is really reasonable, and one can never own too much hand painted art from Rio :)

While we were sitting with the artist, a guy named Alex started up a conversation with us and spoke of his times in California to learn English. He was really enthusiastic about English, and Star Wars (even knew trivia about George Lucas) and wanted to meet with us again so he could practice English and show us Rio. We invited him to come hang glide with us tomorrow!

We’re now off to a sushi restaurant that is paraded as one of the best views of Rio as it is near the Lagoon, and looks out over the statue of Christ the Redeemer. This should be fun!

This morning, we woke up to the sounds of life in our apartment block. We have rented an apartment in the locale of Posto 6, one block away from Copacabana. It’s perfect location and we are really happy with it. After a quick granola bar and a bottle of water, we headed off to Ipanema to find some shops for a bathing suit for Joe. We found some great shops, and we ended up wandering around the area just looking at stuff. Once on the beach, we met Don who just moved to Rio from San Francisco. His two friends are visiting from San Francisco as well, and we set up camp at the beach right there. Joe got a henna tattoo and I tried my first cup of the Brazilian Icee made from fruits–it was excellent! It’s a dark mixture of fruits that almost looks like Coca Cola, mixed with ice, but then has granola flakes on top of it. It was really good! After a couple of hours on the beach, we found out from Don that there is a festival tonight with cultural music from the North, barbecues and food out on the streets–so we will be heading there tonight.

So everyone has warned me about safety in Rio de Janeiro since day one of me planning this trip. In our experience so far, we feel safer here than in the tenderloin district of San Francisco. The reason? Everything, including the beach, is very well lit, people are out enjoying the ‘winter’ weather, and police are seen everywhere. Not to say that we aren’t being watchful and smart with our belongings–ie: leaving the passport and credit cards at home. But, in all, we are really relieved to feel safe in our area. Oh, one more thing, there are hardly any homeless that we’ve seen so far, and the ones that we do see, are handicapped some how or offering an artisan service for money. So, all in all, we are really enjoying learning all about Rio and Brazil–and we’re picking up a lot of the language too!