By the time the bus was nearing Rio we were a pair of very giddy kippers straining for our first look at some of the famous landmarks. A quick transfer dropped us at our hostel in Ipanema, The Mango Tree. It’s a really nice place with a huge bar area in the middle where everyone hangs out, and super friendly staff. Turned out there was an all stars football game at the Maracana stadium that afternoon between some of the old players which would have been ace as we really wanted to see a Brazilian game but unfortunately we were just too late.
So we dumped our bags and headed straight for the beach which amazingly was only about a 2min walk.
Later we headed out for dinner, our hostel seemed to be right in the middle of most of the bars and restaurants in the area and we chose ‘Garota de Ipanema’ which is supposedly where the song ‘Girl from Ipanema’ was written. The place is open air and was heaving with a brilliant atmosphere as the waiters dashed around at lightning pace. The food was pretty good too!
Next day we had another few hours enjoying the glorious sunshine on Ipanema and then walked to the end of the beach, crossing the small headland for our first view of stunning Copacabana beach. It’s bloody huge. People were spilling out into the many sidewalk cafes, we marvelled at the sheer amount of people and soon had to stop for a caipirinha!
Feeling refreshed we carried on and got about 2 thirds of the way down, to Copacabana Palace which looks pretty swanky and sat directly opposite one of the huge stages which would provide the entertainment for NYE. We then jumped in a cab to take us to the cable car for Pão de Açucar, Sugarloaf Mountain. It was about 5.30pm when we got there and we timed it perfectly as there were hardly any queues. The first stop about half way up offers a glorious view of the bay and the central districts as well as Christ Redeemer from a huge observation deck complete with shops and bars. The second cable car takes you to the top where you can see the whole city including Copacabana. We got there just as the sun was setting and the city lights were starting to twinkle and it really was the most beautiful view I have ever seen.
We were utterly in love with Rio by this point and as the sky turned black the lights of Christ Redeemer shone like a beacon for the city. Eventually we tore ourselves away and headed back down. Another long walk later we were starving and devoured thin crust pizzas near our hostel.
In the morning we chilled at the beach before our favela tour that afternoon. It might sound odd to do a tour of a place so many people call home, and it was rather but it was a safe and informative way to see what is an integral part of Rio and half the proceeds go back to a school in the community. Shame that our group were a complete set of fools.
The first we went to was huge, around 80,000 people living on the side of a mountain, constantly building houses on top of each other with some of the best views in Rio. This was a pacified favela meaning there is a strong police presence to reduce drugs & crime, you can stay in hostels here which offer an affordable option for travellers but we certainly weren’t brave enough.
We visited a smaller favela and got the chance to see the school though unfortunately the holidays meant the kids were off. We also wandered around the tiny alleyways between the maze of houses where there is barely any sunlight. I know we didn’t see how hard life can really be like in a favela but I’m glad we did it.
There was a lake a few blocks behind our hostel which had a beautiful Christmas tree in the middle so we decided to go for an evening stroll and check it out. As the lake is pretty big we decided to hire a pedal-powered golf caddy and off we went. There are several bars around the lake and the Christmas tree provided quite the light show, not that we had much time to admire it as we had only paid for 40minutes and vastly underestimated the size of the lake. So we peddled for our lives, with no bell to help navigate the throngs of people, Dan in charge of breaks and me in charge of steering I can honestly say it was one of the sweatiest and funniest things we have done!
Absolutely knackered we hit the hey. To be continued…
If you like Piña Coladas... 