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We arrived in Rio this morning to a beautiful view of the beaches, Sugarloaf and the spectacular Christ the Redeemer statue. There was a bit of “haze” and we learned that this means it will be a swelteringly hot day today…(we are starting to miss the cool of Antarctica!).
One thing unique to arriving into the port of Rio on a cruise ship (so we found out) is the focus placed on colored gemstones. We like jewelry shopping (and buying) as much as the next passenger, but we weren’t prepared for the “attention” the ship got from some of the major jewelry retailers. These jewelry companies actually have “representatives” (sales people) who come onto the ship and sail with us as passengers for a period of time…some of them for weeks! We didn’t realize this and some of the less scrupulous among them hid the fact they were sales people as they worked on befriending us. Now we know. They do offer to take you on free tours (that culminate at their jewelry stores of course!).
Most people know that Rio is famous for it’s Carnival, unfortunately we missed this event by 1 week so, while we won’t be able to experience it, but then again…we also don’t have to experience the unbelievable crowds! We did get to see the stands at the Sambadrome, which is the street where the main Carnival parade competitions take place. But Carnival type activities are taking place much of the year as the Samba-crazed city never seems to stop showing off!
We started our tour by heading, with our H. Stern sponsored tour guide, straight to Sugarloaf Mountain hoping to avoid the crowds. It was very hot (in the 90’s) and humid as we went to get our tickets to the great surprise that NO ONE was in line. We bought out tickets, boarded the cable car and roasted as it climbed to the first of two stops. You have to get off the car and then walk a bit to the next stop but, along the way, you have spectacular vistas of Rio.
Our tour guide, Priscilla, pointed out that there was a helicopter tour that took off from a helipad right on the mountain side at the first cable car area. We decided to sign up for the tour but had about a 1 hour wait so we caught the next cable car up to the top of Sugarloaf, roasting a bit more (by now the sweat is just dripping off you and you’ve given up trying to get cool). It helps that the view just keeps getting better and better. There are more viewing areas at the top, some eating and drinking areas and still the crowds were quite modest. Our plan had worked!
Heading back down we had to wait about 20 minutes for the helicopter. We ran out to it and got in with Margaret, Sherrie and Nick sitting in the back seat and me, as the designated photographer, sitting in the front. Keep in mind that this ride is only 15 minutes long so you get on sort of an adrenaline rush for both the ride and the picture taking opportunities. We zoomed up and around all the major sites in the city and I took pictures constantly. It was a very hazy day but I think the pictures came out pretty well. Check them out on the link below. It was especially cool flying around the Christ statue! Rio Helicopter Tour: http://gallery.me.com/travelwithdmcontent/100465
How do you top that? You go to eat at Porcao’s BBQ, right on the water with a view of Sugarloaf. Here, they have a fantastic buffet complete with incredible sushi and sashimi and then, in Brazilian steakhouse style, they walk around with skewered meat of every type imaginable. It is totally disgusting and oh so good.
We decided to forgo going to Corcovado mountain, where the Christ statue is located, since we had seen it up close and personal from all angles in the helicopter and the crowds would be significant at this point (and it is REALLY hot today!). So instead we headed to Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, checked out the Sheraton where Margaret had gone 25 years ago with her family and then went to the H. Stern headquarters store.
At H. Stern we checked in and went through their self-guided tour that gives you their history and shows the process of mining gemstones and preparing them. It was an interesting and well-done tour of their facilities. Then, we were divided up with a sales person and spent about an hour talking about what we were interested in and checking out jewelry.
Margaret found a beautiful ring at a great price and after trying to negotiate realized that they really don’t negotiate prices here… We knew we had found a great piece at a great price so we checked out and went to find Sherrie and Nick. Sherrie had found a watch she wanted and was quite excited! (PS: Turns out that this WAS a great ring at a great price and Margaret has really enjoyed it!)
With the ladies happy with their purchases we decided to walk around in the high end shopping area of Ipanema to find one of Margaret’s girlfriend back home an official Brazilian bikini. But, unfortunately, the store our guide had highly recommended had a power failure and we couldn’t even go in! Ugh. We came all the way to Brazil for a Rio bikini and were shut out.
We headed back to the Mariner to cool off and get ready for dinner!
Our 2nd day in Rio we went on a tour in open-air 4 wheel drive jeeps that held 8 people each. It was another blazingly hot day…but, we made the best of it driving in the heavy traffic of Rio, heading to the Jardim botanical gardens and Tijuca park. Both were interesting and we learned that the Tijuca was, at one time in the 1800’s completely deforested. A wealthy, far-sighted man decided to invest in reforestation and it is now a full-fledged jungle area! There were some beautiful waterfalls, some very nice viewing areas and it just kept getting hotter and hotter. So again we went back to the Mariner to cool off! It was nice to see this part of Rio — it is an interesting and diverse city.
Today we said goodbye to some new friends as Rio is the culmination point for segement 2 of the “Discover South America” cruise. We are expecting 400 or so new “friends” to join us as they embark on the final leg of the trip — from Rio to Ft. Lauderdale. Only 21 days left! But, we leave you with a ton of Rio pictures. (PS: Galleries 3 and 4 were added later so check them out)
Rio de Janeiro 1 Picture Gallery: http://travelwithdm.smugmug.com/Travel/South-America/Rio-Feb-22-2010/25177252_vJFDZj#!i=2065046447&k=NtNWsP7
Eric Glander - Cool!!!Hope the beaches are fun
Astrid - can you please go back to Rio? I forgot to ask for an official Brazilian bikini as well…now that you have to get 2, it will be worth the trip!! thanks! XOXO
Paul Byrne - Hey Dale and Margaret,
great summary and wonderful photos of Rio.
we hope you guys are still enjoying yourselves while we slowly reimmerse ourselves into the real world.
we enjoyed meeting you guys.
Paul and Sue Byrne