Rio de Janeiro, Brazil....hot and steamy! WTRD 44-46

Saturday, February 20, 2016 - Arrival - WTRD 43

We arrived quite late on Saturday night and arrived via taxi at our accommodation to find my brother already checked-in and in a pretty confused state of mind after being drugged and robbed the night before.  See previous blog for details.  As you can imagine we were happy to be together and in a safe apartment behind a locked gate, locked main door, and triple locked apartment door.  We all tumbled into bed, but as exhausted as we all were, we were quite keyed up and had a difficult time falling asleep.

Sunday, February 21, 2016 - A New and Better Day WTRD 44

Yesterday, Archie had contacted some local friends, and today they picked us up in their automobile to take us around town, primarily to the Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf) Mountain.  Our apartment is in the Leblon district close to Ipanema and Copacabana beaches.

Rio is situated in a beautiful jungle location with tall rounded mountains, many of which are islands in the ocean off the coast.  To reach the top of Sugar Loaf, we took a tram to a 3/4 way mountain, and then a second tram to the top of Sugar Loaf.

First tram to left; second tram to right

The temperature is in the high 90's, and the humidity is at least 60%.  We can feel the steam.  Despite some of the steamy apperance of some of the photos, the views from Pao de Acucar were spectacular.

Archie, Viviani, Leticia

Going back down from the Sugar Loaf

Shanty Shacks with a View

From the top you can see a couple of distinctive valleys.  This is apparently where Rio's impoverished people live, in Shanty Shacks.  We had a great day with Archie's friends and had a fabulous lunch at the Noi micro brewery not far from our apartment.  We ate lightly because we had a dinner meet-up with friends for dinner, but "eyeballed" a dish we hope to return for tomorrow night.

By 6:00 pm we were back in our apartment and tthe thunder was rolling and the sky lit up, then it was poring rain.  Our friends Angela and Otavio, whom we met when we were on the Danube River Cruise to the Black Sea, picked us up in the poring rain on the street corner at the end of our block.  Our street in front on the the apartment is totally closed while workers are frantically trying to complete an underground metro for the Olympics.  Locals have little faith that this will be complete by this summer.

With Angela and Otavio, we went to a nice restaurant, on the lagoon, and spent a wonderful evening visiting, and eating lots of different types of foods that are very Brazilian.  This was very special!  We meet the most wonderful people when we travel.  We move from stranger to friendship very quickly.

Monday, February 22, 2016 - Botanical Gardens and Ugly Monkies - WTRD 45

With no time schedule, we slept in this morning and then spent the better part of the afternoon in the Botanical Gardens where Monkeys play, Tucans and Parrots, fly from tree to tree high above in the jungle canopy.  Here are some photos of our excursion:

Beautiful outdoor fauna.

Really ugly monkeys. These guys have huge teeth and look like they were the models for the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz.

Just try to take this banana from me and you will be sorry!

Of course there are unusual fruits and roots

Flowers and geometrically intricate water plants,

Orchids,

and flowers that we have never  before seen.  Not sue, but this one looks like it might eat bugs.

After our botanical adventure, we found a geocache and made our way back to the Noi micro brewery where feasted on coconut filled with a rich shrimp and vegetable cream with rice.  Oh my, it was even better than it looked!

Tuesday, February 23, 2016 - Up to Christ the Redeemer - WTRD 46

After doing our homework, we decided it would be best to get an early start up to the statue that sits upon the rock mountain at 2400 feet above sea level.   We wouldn't be hiking up but taking a cog train to the top.  Apparently the queues can be several hours long.  The day is less cloudy than previous days, but the temperature will be over 100 degrees today.

We took a taxi to the train.

The train took about 30 minutes to wind its way through around and up to the top through the jungle.

By the time we arrived on top about 10:00 am, the platforms were already packed with people and the temperature was rising.

We are looking down on Sugar Loaf.

Spectacular views.

We returned to our apartment after stopping to pickup a deli lunch, and have been getting ourselves ready for the next part of our adventure.  We leave tomorrow for Iguazu Falls.  Our flight leaves around 10:30 tomorrow morning. But first we are going down to the beach and then to dinner.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel Rs and Archie in Rio.