Petersontravels

We had another guided tour on our 3rd day in Rio, this time a visit to Tijuca National Park, the largest urban forest (a large forest in the middle of a city in case Casey asks) in the world!  Here is a map made in Portuguese tile of the region of the park we visited. If you have visited Lisbon this tile will look very familiar!

This forest was originally deforested to create fuel, coffee plantations and for housing and feeding livestock in the 1700’s.  The end result was a destruction of the water supply for the fast growing city of Rio, so conservation efforts stated in 1817 when King Dom Joao VI (there were actually 5 Kings that decided Dom Joao was a good name before him?) issued a decree abolishing cutting the trees around the water sources.  New plantings started in 1846 and tens of thousands of plantings later you see the forest as it is today.

Our first stop was a small waterfall, fed by the springs of the Carioca River.

Here is a map of the entire Tijuca National Park, which is a UNESCO Heritage Site.

There are several excellent viewpoints, which our guide Rodrigo knew like the back of his hand.  This mountain is called Pedra Bonita.

Rodrigo took us to a spot in the forest that few people know about so we could get a little shower.  We hiked up a fairly treacherous hill (at least treacherous for 60+ year olds!), changed into our swimsuits, and got under the small waterfall.  Kim is grimacing from how cold the water was!  Felt great since it was quite the hot/humid day.

They say the camera adds like 30 lbs…right?  That’s my story and I’m sticking with it!

Rodrigo pointed out this banana tree, and I never knew they had this odd looking alien pod hanging off the bottom of the bunch (yes, a group of bananas is called a “bunch”).  The more you know!

We stopped in a forest cafe near the Pedra Bonita trailhead for a beer and a snack.

Then drove up to a spot where hang gliders took off, mostly to get the view, but we got to see the last hang glider of the day launching off the ramp.

We were supposed to climb up to Pedra Bonita but there just wasn’t enough time in the day.  Regardless, this spot has great views!  This is the view looking down at Pepino Beach.  Note the parasailer in the foreground, that launched just as we arrived.

This cool directional sign gave the distance to various world cities, including my birthplace, Washington DC, a mere 7,696km away!

This is the view to the east towards Ipanema Beach (I could have sworn it was “Impanema” Beach before writing this!).  The mountains on the right are known as the Two Brothers.

We of course had to get a group shot!

We stopped on the way back to the hotel to look back towards Pedra Bonita, which made for an interesting photo.

Our last stop of the day was for Rodrigo to point out his favorite beach, Vidigal, which lies just below the Sheraton Hotel (as well as a few hundred meters from Rodrigo’s home).  Gorgeous spot!  If only we had more time.

That night we had a special dinner at this intimate 2 Michelin Star restaurant called Lasai, which currently sits at #28 on the list of the “The World’s 50 Best Restaurants”.  Here is Chef Rafael Costa e Silva, who from our opinion after dining here deserves EVERY recognition coming his way!  Why he doesn’t have 3 stars is beyond me!

The dinner consisted of a 15 course tasting menu, mostly small snacks and a few main dishes, as well as a couple of desserts.  We did not leave hungry!  The attention to detail was amazing!

The restaurant is incredibly small, serving only 10 people at a time.  Here is a shot of the entire restaurant!  If you come to Rio, you must do this, but book well in advance, they sell out quickly!

Here is one last look at our hotel, the Fairmont Copacabana, as we stumble out of our Uber after our incredible dinner at Lasai.

Coming up, we fly to Foz de Iguazu and visit one of the “New Seven Wonders of Nature”, Iguazu Falls.

Our flights to Houston and Rio went without any hitches.  Our friends Tony and Julie were on the same flight, and even sat next to us on the second leg from Houston to Rio.  First up was the view of the Sierras!  I was unfortunately on the wrong side of the plane to catch Yosemite.

We passed some interesting rock formations in Utah.  I particularly liked the shadow this mountain made on the desert floor.  Yes, I look out the window a lot on flights.  That shadow looks a lot like Mont-Saint-Michel in France (a spot we have yet to visit).

We took a taxi from the airport in Rio to our hotel, the Fairmont on Copacabana Beach.  Quick note, the taxi’s get to use these special bus lanes, so we were able to avoid a LOT of bumper to bumper traffic!  If we had taken an Uber it would have taken at least another half hour to get there, likely more.  Something to keep in mind if you visit.  After checking in we got a cocktail by the hotel pool, overlooking Copacabana.

We splurged to get an ocean view and wow was the view worth it!  The downside of being right across from the beach is the noise can be pretty bad, particularly on weekends!  We took a walk on the path above the beach that first afternoon, and let’s just say the Brazilian women wear thongs no matter their body type…or age.  Avert thine eyes lest you perchance vomit!  Sorry, no photos to share….no way Jose!  I didn’t want to chance breaking my phone!

We had a full day tour on our 2nd day with superstar guide Diogo and his driver Carlos (who happened to look a lot like Johnny Depp).  Our first stop was Sugarloaf Mountain, a must see attraction in Rio.  This is the view from the parking lot, with Sugarloaf on the right.

The tour to Sugarloaf involves two gondola rides.  Here we are at the top of the first ride.  To the right of the photo, off in the distance, is Christ the Redeemer.  Looks tiny from this far away, which surprised us!

This is one of the original gondolas that was used when the cableway first opened in 1912.  The statue is of engineer Augusto Ferreira Ramos, who spearheaded the project, making this only the 3rd cableway in the world!

Julie took a shot of us on the way up to the top.

The view from the top of Sugarloaf is simply spectacular!!

We had to get a group shot from the top.  That’s Copacabana Beach to the right and the Carragas Islands to the left, so named as they are covered in guano (Cagadas, a closely similar word, is Portuguese for crap).  Seems the Brazilians are just as literal as the Australians!

This is the view from the gondola station on Sugarloaf.

Interesting to note that this was the setting for a scene from the James Bond movie Moonraker with Roger Moore, which frankly looks pretty silly these days, but that movie was awesome back in 1979!  Click on the link if you are curious.  It appears I can’t embed the video of this one.

Moonraker Cable Car Fight

Another view of Copacabana from the gondola station.

On the way back down, at the first gondola stop, there is a Sugarloaf Museum (that happens to be very well air conditioned).  Inside our guide showed us this actual “sugarloaf”, the usual form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until the late 19th century, and the reason the mountain with the same shape has it’s name.

Our next stop was the Christ the Redeemer statue, one of the “New Seven Wonders of the World”.  Constructed between 1922 and 1931, the statue is 98′ high and the arms stretch 92′ wide.  Our guide Diogo insisted we do this cheesy pose, which we saw replicated everywhere around the base of the statue.

Diogo also pointed out that there is a chapel inside the base of the statue, and they were actually holding mass.  I guess in Brazil it’s ok to wear a hat or visor at mass??  I’m not even religious and I can’t imagine being this disrespectful.

The area around the statue was like rush hour on a Tokyo subway!!  Holy crap!

The views are excellent however!  I really had to fight through the crowd to get this photo.

One last look at Christ the Redeemer.

The next visit was the Selaron Steps, a staircase that has been turned into a work of art by Escadaria Selaron.  It started out in 1990 as a renovation and decoration of the dilapidated steps outside of his home, but soon became an obsession where he decorated every step in the staircase with tiles from around the world.

We saw tiles depicting various places around the globe, including this sign for the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

This tile is from the Overloon Museum in The Netherlands, a spot we visited back in the spring of 2023.  I thought it was obscure when we visited it, so we were surprised to see this here in Rio.

Our last stop of the day was the Rio de Janeiro Cathedral, a very unique church that was designed to look like a Mayan pyramid.  It’s fairly new, being built between 1964 and 1979.  That’s young for a church!  Hell, I’m older!  Still, it’s gorgeous inside.

I have to say, it doesn’t look much like a church from the outside.  Maybe something out of a Star Wars ride at Disneyland?

Coming up, we visit Tijuca National Park, the worlds largest urban forest.