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Published: December 22nd 2012
Christo Redemptor
Look for Violet at the baseWe awake much refreshed after a great sleep. We meet our friends downstairs and arrange at the hospitality desk for a tour of the city with an English-speaking driver. As our transfer to the ship is scheduled for 4:20 pm, we opt for a 5-hour tour focusing on the city's main highlights. We then enjoy a buffet breakfast in the hotel.
After freshening up, we connect with our driver, Lucio, at 10:30. The traffic is horrendous; getting anywhere in this city by car requires patience. Our first stop is the iconic statue Christ the Redeemer. Lucio points out some sites along the way and we learn a bit about him. He is retired from a career in "commerce", has two grown and married children and some grandchildren. Rio has quite a diversity of architecture; the French, Dutch, Spanish and, of course, Portuguese, have all had an impact on the city's appearance. The climate is kind to the buildings and many of them, hundreds of years old, are in excellent shape. I have already described the extraordinary topological backdrop of the city, which today strikes us even more strongly. I dare say that Rio de Janeiro is unique in the world
in terms of its geography.
One of Rio's interesting features is a huge salt-water lagoon right in the heart of the city. Right in the middle of it is a enormous Christmas tree constructed of metal scaffolding. Lucie tells us that it is lit up at night and is very pretty.
Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) is an enormous metal statue of Jesus, 38 m high, with his arms outstretched over the city towards the ocean. It stands atop Corcovado (hunchback), the tallest of the mountains that backstop the city, at 700 m. The entire mountain is now a protected park called Tijuca as well as a Unesco world heritage site.
At the base of the mountain, Lucio switches the car from natural gas to gasoline and turns off the AC. That's so the car can make the steep climb up narrow, cobblestone streets. At about the halfway point, there is parking lot where he will wait while we ascend to the summit by bus. Tickets can only be bought in local cash so we have to ask Lucio for a loan. The bus roars up a narrow switchback road with several 180° turns. At the top, we disembark and climb via stairs to the statue. Holy cow, it's big. The base houses a small chapel. We are fortunate to have a beautiful day with only wisps of cloud in the sky. The view is outstanding. The entire city of Rio is laid out to us in every direction. This is the first time we can appreciate what an excellent harbour Rio offers, called Guanabara Bay. The first Portuguese explorers, who came upon the site in January, thought it was the mouth of a river and so named it "January River" or Rio de Janeiro. But there's actually no river at all. We argue whether this or that boat in the distance is our cruise ship. Guarding the right of the harbour entrance we can see the twin peaks of Sugar Loaf mountain, our next destination.
We reconnect with Lucio and inch our way through Rio's ever-present traffic to Sugar Loaf (Pão de Açúcar). Lucio again waits in the parking lot. There are two cable car rides to get to the lower of the two peaks and then on to the tallest. Another spectacular but closer view of the harbour greets us at the top. Birds of various sizes and colours wheel and soar on the air currents. We also admire the native flora, which includes what we guess is a breadfruit tree.
We rejoin Lucio at the bottom and realize that our time is up if we want to get back to the hotel in time, given the snail's pace of traffic. We drive past the most famous of Rio's endless beaches: Copacobana, Ipanema, Leblon and lastly the beach that our hotel sits on, Saõ Conrado. When we get back to the hotel and say goodbye to Lucio, there is a suite served for cruise passengers to relax before the transfer. Our bags have already gone.
Another long, slow haul through Rio traffic by bus to the pier. We have a great look at Rio's beaches again as we inch along, as we are now on the ocean side. The beaches are quite crowded, although few people are swimming. Lots of beach sports are going on, lots of sunbathing, and muscular, tanned men and women stroll around with next to nothing on. I notice that on Copcabana beach, a huge stage is being constructed. I ask our driver about it: Stevie Wonder is headlining a free Christmas Eve concert right on the beach. I am also told that this was the same site the Rolling Stones played at a few years ago, attended by more than a million people.
Our ship, the ms Veendam, is a medium-sized ship as cruise ships go these days, 12 decks tall. We are fairly efficiently processed and soon are checking our cabin, which is small but cozy and functional.
We spend the rest of the day exploring the ship and sampling the various food and beverages available. An excellent musical show is provided to us in the evening. We sleep like logs. Departure is tomorrow.
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Colleen Talbot
non-member comment
Bon Voyage
Thanks for the details of your trip David. I'm thoroughly enjoying reading the commentary and I am following you on Google Earth. I saw what you meant about the topography of Rio... spectacular and probably more so in person. I sincerely hope that the remainder of your trip is smooth sailing (pun intended) with no recurrence of the health problems that plagued your last trip. Please say hi to Vi and Claudette for me. You are all truly blessed to be able to take this trip together.