Ilha Grande had a beautiful beach that was a 45 boat ride away from the town. Megan hiked it through the jungle 2 hours each way and I took the boat…worked out perfectly! A long shuttle to Rio and we had to find accommodation. Finally found a cute new guesthouse/hostel and made it our home for 4 nights. We walked a lot in Rio…we were warned that buses were not safe but then ended up using them quite a bit even though they were very confusing.
We took the cable car to the top of Sugarloaf mountain for great views and then walked the entire length of Copacabana Beach and Ipanema Beach. The rest of the afternoon we hung out at a kiosk on the Ipanema boardwalk drinking beer and watching the people. It was not too crowded…we are just after the high season so it perfect. Megan and I are now tan enough to be the girls from Ipanema!
We had a big day of clouds and rain so we made the best of it by visiting the central part of town called Lapa and Sta. Teresa. We took the antique train up into the old neighborhood and walked all the way back down. It´s great to discover cool stuff just by asking a stranger for directions.
Thursday morning it was finally clear enough to attempt to the go Corcovado with the Cristo on the mountain top. I went with an english couple while Megan went off to hike around the big local lake. We easily enough got there via bus but coming back we were on the wrong bus and ended up having to catch a taxi back to the hostel…oh well. The statue is covered by scaffolding for a renovation,,,,supposedly to be refaced so it white again. The statue itself was not particularly impressive but the views were AMAZING…Truly a beautiful city from that vantage point.
That afternoon we took a walking tour of a favela. We only decided to do this after much discussion…we didn´t want it to be a “human zoo”. The favelas are the giant slums built way up the sides of the hills of the city. We were taken to the top and then walked down the “shortcuts” though it all. We visited a school where the kids were doing capoeria..brazilian dance fighting. It was very good and we felt safe with our guides.
Then to top off our stay in Rio, Megan and I went back to Lapa and went dancing in the clubs and had a blast. Megan loved watching me dance the Samba!! who knew it could be so easy…just FEEL the music!
Megan and I took a taxi to the airport and her flight was much earlier than mine but it was so much easier to do it that way. She is off to BA to do her 1000km Patagonia bike ride and I flew over the Andes to Santiago, Chile. I arrived late last night and easily got a shuttle to my central hotel. There are some big cracks in the walls of my room from the recent earthquake.
This evening I meet the Dragoman group…met a few at breakfast and I think it will be around 20 people!!! yikes. I have two full days to explore Santiago…I thought it would only be 1 day so I am happy to relax and catch up….Let the adventure continue!
