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Published: February 19th 2009
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Landing into Sao Paulo, Brazil, we ditched our pathetic Spanish and mangled our way through with our even more minimal Portugese to get a public bus from the airport to the main bus terminal to head straight for Rio. Arriving in Rio we got a taxi to the famous Copocabana beach where a friend of a friend owned a Hostel.
This Hostel and Rio itself seems to be a non-stop party with happy hour in the Hostel from 7 pm and then people not going out to parties until at least 1 or 2 am. We experienced a variety of pubs and clubs and street parties all powered by their Rum-based Caipirinha drinks.
Cherie joining the drumming band at the Lapa street party and amazing all around her with her total lack of rhythm. Lapa is an area of streets that becomes a massive party every Friday, that left you wondering how crazy Carnival must be judging by the noise and in-your-face crowds.
As you can imagine there were many late nights and some rather unproductive days, but with the beach 5 mins from home we could still take in the local sights and culture!
Our most interesting activities in
Rio were the trip to the Christ the Redeemer statue which gave incredible panoramic views across the City as well as the opportunity to wrestle through the throng of other tourists to get pictures of us in front of the statue.
Another interesting day was the Favela Tour. The Favelas are the poor areas of the City and are famed for their drug problems and crime and this tour was designed to show that despite the existing problems it is showing the normal lives of the people within the area. We arrived at the bottom of the favela and jumped onto the back of a motorbike taxi who then procedded to race up through the winding streets to the top of the Favela. Relieved to be there in one piece we looked out over a Favela of 350,000 people. This was comprised of houses built on top of other houses, open running sewers and any electricity pole with hundreds of additional wires attached to it as people stole electricity.
For Cherie´s birthday and to take a well-earned break from the night life of Rio we went over to Ilha Grande which is a beautiful island off the Brazilian coast.
Hanging out in the Favela
The mountain seen behind us is the jump off point for hang-gliding... A highlight was 2 nights in a guesthouse that was a gift from friends in London and we had a beautiful room right on the beach. In the absence of card shops Andy resorted to writing "HAPPY BDAY CHERIE" in the sand that was seen as we ate breakfast.
Another highlight of Ilha Grande was a day trip to Lopes Mendes beach. The trip didn´t start the best when our boat caught fire on the way around the coastline - so continuing our run of bad luck on the water. However, all was ok and we were dropped at another beach for a short walk through to the Lopes Mendes beach. We arrived to see one of the most beautiful beaches we had seen through the whole of our trip. Beautiful white sand that squeaked as you walked and crystal-clear waters that were even inviting for Cherie to get in and enjoy - not least because with the waters being so clear so was able to feel confident that nothing near her was about to try and eat her...
We then headed back to Rio fresh and recharged and looking forward to do it all again.
An ongoing source
of amusement for Terry, the owner of the Hostel, was Cherie´s enthusiasm for Hang-gliding and Andy´s reluctance/ terror at the prospect of throwing himself off a mountain attached to a kite. So peer pressure winning out we set off for hang-gliding. Meeting the guide we jumped in his car and headed up the hill and he talked us through the process, and calming our nerves before the flight/ fall.
We were less confident when we went passed an ambulance that was apparently attending to someone who had been struck by lightning in the recent storm. We were, however, assured that we would be safe as we would not be in contact with the ground...
The storm had passed and slightly reassured we got to the top to see clear blue skies and a slight headwind which is apparently the perfect weather condition. We set about getting strapped into the harness and practising our takeoff which is effectively running alongside your instructor down a short downward ramp off the cliff face.
Andy was strapped and ready to first and after a few deep breaths and thinking he was still "practising" he was told to run and so off he went.
Expecting a slight drop as had been explained there was quite a shock for Andy as his Hang-glider banked sharply upwards catching the wind. However, the petrified screams did not quite reach Cherie who was busy looking at a monkey who was running around the ramp.
Next up came Daredevil Wilson to repeat the process and soon we were both in the air arcing and turning like the birds over the ocean and beutiful scenery of Rio. Cherie even found some time to do some research into property prices as she did her window shopping from the sky!
The flight itself was quite relaxing and you felt very safe. This was not the case in the landing. Andy´s instructor banked in sharply and extremely fast as they tilt the wing as an air brake as they approach the ground. Under instruction to start running when he got near the ground, Andy started peddling his legs rather sooner than needed and so would have amused all those relaxing on the beach around.
Cherie came in 2nd and was rather more graceful, albeit helped that she was half her instructors size.
After 2 safe landings and to help stop
the shaking our instructor bought us a celebratory beer and Cherie bought assorted video and photo footage that is available to view on request...
Before we left Rio we had one last big night out with Terry and Anna, Terry having just become a club promoter as well as Hostel owner. We taxied across the City to what the Gringos (tourists) call "Favela Funk Parties" and from our VIP section we got to look down into a massive warehouse-sized sea of people dancing to the Funk tunes that require dance moves and rhythm far beyond our gringo ability.
After extending our stay by a couple of days more than planned as everyone does when they visit Rio, we finally managed to leave and made our way to Iguaçu to see the waterfalls...
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