Two wonderful days in Rio, with great weather. Mostly cloudy and temperatures generally in the high 70s – very, very cool for this time of year – summer in the Southern Hemisphere. For reference, Rio is about as far south of the equator as Puerto Rico is to the north of the equator.
On Sunday our tour took us along Rio’s famous beaches, such as Ipanema and Copacabana. Then we took a 115-year-old cogwheel train up to the top of Corcovado to get up close and personal with one of the world’s most famous landmarks – the statue of Christ the Redeemer. The statue is 125 feet tall and made of soapstone. Many great vistas of Rio below.
Then we had lunch at what in the U.S. we would call a Brazilian steakhouse. Appetizer and side dish food at a buffet; then many types of meat – pork, chicken, sausage, fish, filet mignon and five other cuts of beef – all delivered to us on a skewer and the server would slice of the desired portion. Yummy, but way too much food.
In the afternoon we took a series of two cable cars up 1,300 feet to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain for more scenic vistas.
Add in other highlights of Rio and our 8-1/2 hours tour was perfect for us.
Today, we took a morning tour that focused on a drive and walk through parts of the 7,900 acres Tijuca National Forest, a rainforest in the middle of Rio. The King of Portugal denuded the forest in the 1500s to farm crops. However, the soil was not rich enough to sustain the crops and the land stood empty until a reforestation project resulted in the planting of thousands of trees in the early 1800s. Now, there is no sign that the forest hasn’t always been there.
We saw a few monkeys and large turtles and loved the forest.
On to Uruguay and Argentina three days from now….
Addendum: Mary had red cactus ice cream for dessert at dinner tonight. Don’t ask!
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