Rio de Janeiro

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Well, we have reached out final destination- the great city of Rio de Janeiro. As with our other blogs of places we stayed for quite some time we'll split this up into sections based on what we did/where we visited.

Brazil vs. South Korea volleyball match:

Our first night in the city we totally lucked out and got the chance to watch the Brazilian National volleyball team play a match. All the best volleyball teams in the world are currently competing in a league called the World League. Each country competing gets a chance to host the other 3 teams in their group for 2 matches and luckily our first weekend in Rio Brazil happened to be hosting. The venue the match took place in was really cool. It seemed to be specifically for volleyball and it was packed with people and VERY loud. Brazil ended up winning 3-1 which was perfect because S. Korea happened to win the first game (a surprise) but that ensured we'd get to watch a slightly longer match than expected. This was definitely a bucket list event for me (Greg) and I loved every second of it. I must say, it was pretty weird to see women wooing over volleyball players.....once again, we are a long way from Canada.

Bairro Lapa: older, a bit dodgy, great nightlife, every walk of life

For our first day in the city we took a bus into one of the many neighbourhoods (barrias) of Rio called Lapa. We had planned to check out an antique market which was mentioned in our guidebook but instead we found one entire street devoted to antique stores. All the stores were jam-packed with beautiful pieces of furniture, clocks, lamps, etc. (some very expensive). Laura was in heaven but gutted at the same time when reality struck that we couldn't exactly fit these pieces in our carry-on luggage.

We went back to Lapa on two separate occasions for nights out both of which were great. For one of the nights we went to a really cool club called Democraticos where on Wednesdays they have a live Forro band (Forro is a Brazilian type of music/dance). We found the dancing to be very similar to salsa and the people actually doing the dancing were incredible. Laura and I went out a few times to give the Salsa we had learned in Colombia a try but we obviously couldn't compete!

Our other night out in Lapa was on a Friday when they host their famous street party. People flood the streets and there are vendor stands selling meet, beers, Brazilians drinks and anything else you could think of. It was really cool and we met some hilarious people (it turns out young Brazilian men who speak some english have a thing for foriegn girls and many of the girls from the hostel found out!). The night ending up being one of the most surreal of our lives but the details of the story would be better left for an in-person conversation.

Bairro Copacabana: "everyone has a Grandma in Copacabana"

This is where our hostel was located. You'll probably recognize the name which also is the name of the beach that lies in front of the barria. To celebrate the World Cup Coca-Cola and Sony teamed up to set-up a giant "FIFA Fan Fest" right on the beach which had a variety of games as well as a GIANT screen for up to 20000 people to watch the games. Inside the barriers were restaurants selling food and beer, a zip-line running above the crowd, a smaller theatre which showed goals in 3D (long lineup for this one) and a merchandise tent. Everything seemed very well run and it seemed as though the event was kind of a practice run for Rio since they are set to host both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. Our first game in the Fan-Zone was Brazil vs. Ivory Coast which Brazil won 3-1. We showed up 2.5 hrs early to ensure we would get in and basically spent our time relaxing within the gates with the rest of the beautiful Brazilians cooking in the sun. We also watched Brazil play Portugal (0-0 tie, awful game) and then their first match in the elimination round versus Chile (3-0 win, awesome atmosphere and VERY loud). We also chilled out on the beach a few times in Copacabana also which was really nice and a totally different setting (city front) from any other beach we have visited. We had a few nights out here as well, one memorable one started at a 50 year old bar which had a live samba band and finished across the street 2 hours later, the entire time spent getting a Brazilian history lesson from a local Rio resident who spoke good english.

Bairro Ipanema: newer, more expensive, more popular beach

We spent one day walking around Ipanema checking things out. It was filled with nicer clothing shops than Copacabana and you could feel a generally more upscale vibe. We also visited a hippie market, both Sundays we were in Rio which was really good. It was filled with your typical tourists souveniers but also some great paintings, a ton of leather and some great sweet snacks.

Bairro Leblon: chic Rio

We also spent an afternoon walking around Leblon checking it out. Leblon is definetely the most upscale area in Rio. Prices here are significantly higher than even in Canada which we quickly realised after walking through two shopping centers which were filled with desginer cloths and expensive furniture, all of which was far out of our price range. You'll also find most of Rio's best restaurants here, anything from sushi to Italian to authentic Brazilian food. The highlight of our visit to Leblon was a random stop in a wine store. We decided to take a peak and as soon as we entered the owner (we think) said to us "wine on the house!" We laughed as we assumed he was joking. It turned out he thought we were American (who had just qualified for the round of 16 in the World Cup minutes before) and so he wanted to reward us for some reason. When we informed him we were Canadian he jokingly took back his offer but I ensured him we still deserved the wine (still jokingly). He then left the store and we thought nothing of it but then 5 mins later as we were looking around one of the other employees walked over to the shelf, grabbed a $20 bottle of French red, picked the price tag off it and gave it to us! He had no idea what was going on but just acting at the owner's request. Brazilian people are great!

Favela Vila Cruzerio:

Favela is Portuguese for "slum" and there are over 500 of them in Rio de Janeiro. Rio is known around the globe for their favelas as nearly 1/3rd of it's population lives in them, often in very poor living conditions and surrounded by violence. While we were on the Amazon we were lucky to get hooked up with a contact of the director of the community project IBISS which works on many of Rio's favelas, and has a permanent project underway in Rio's most violent favela, Vila Cruzerio. Nanko's (the director) job is essentially to walk the streets of these favelas and build trusting, honest relationships with the people so that his organization to effectively do their work (this includes health projects, a swimming pool, sports with kids, etc.). Nanko has been working in Rio since 1988 and so you can imagine he has built up quite an impressive amount of respect with these small communities he helps. We were fortunate to get to tag along with Nanko for the day and meet a ton of people. After a tour of his building and a short walk we hung out at a street side shop enjoying and beer and basically just people watching while asking Nanko questions. One thing you should know, some of Rio's favelas are protected by gangs, one per favela, and these gangs are essentially at war with the police year round. If the police attempt to enter a favela guarded by a gang to make a drug bust, there will be gun-fire....this is accepted. When activity like this is the norm, you can probably imagine that the gang members don't exactly conceal their weapons. So, during the course of our stay we saw basically every type of gun you can imagine. The "soldiers" openly carried their guns in defense of the favela, open to starting war the second police attempted to enter. Now this sounds dangerous, and it had the potential to be but under the accompaniment of Nanko we were in good hands. Nanko has known many of the soldiers since they were young children and has the respect of ever the most feared members of the gang. This type of relationship is necessary for IBISS to function effectively and it was truly fascinating to watch Nanko interact with people of all ages. It goes to show that even in a hostile environment like this, a foreigner can be accepted and respect over time. This went down as the most surreal and fascinating experience of the entire trip. If you're interested, ask us when you get a chance, we learned a ton from this day.

Christ the Redeemer:

The Saturday before we left for the homeland, we went to the famous Christ Redeemer (or in portugese: O Christo Redentor) statue that overlooks the city. It's a statue of Jesus Christ, is considered the largest art deco statue in the world and is one of the 7 wonders of the world. Our only mistake was going on a Saturday when the area was littered with tourists (which always takes away some from the experience). We took a taxi up and up and up to 700m ontop of a mountain. The statue is truely breathtaking and absolutely enormous. You don't get a sense for this seeing it from a distance, but when you are standing underneath it, you truely appreciate this work of art. It's almost 40 m high and 30 m wide and is surrounded by walkways where people take endless pictures imitating the statue and enjoying the beautiful views of the city. This event was very meaningful for Laura especially, not for the religious aspect of it but because we knew from the beginning of our trip that we would end in Rio, and this statue (for Laura) marked the end of our 6 month adventure. This paired with the fact that Laura was a bit tired from the night before lead to many many many tears. Apart from the massive crowds of people, visiting this statue was a great way to spend one of our last days of our trip.


Sugar Loaf Mountain:

The sugar loaf mountain (or in portugese Pao de Acucar) is a large mountain right in the midst of this bustling city. It is very picturesque and is always the center piece of photographs of the city. We made the mistake of trying to go to the top of Sugar Loaf on a day that Brazil was playing Portugal in the World Cup. We took a bus to the mountain only to find out that the cable cars were not running due to the 'festival de Brazil' to commemerate the game. We returned a few days later in the late afternooon and took the cable cars (one to the top of the first mountain and another across to sugar loaf) which has beautiful views in and of itself. Once at the top of Sugar Loaf, there are wonderful panoramic views of the city and it is absolutely stunning as the sun starts to go down. We stayed for sunset and night fall to get pictures of both. From sugar loaf you have a great view of the Christ Redeemer which is lit up at night so that all you see is a statue of Christ floating in the air overlooking the city. Another great way to experience the beauty of Rio.

Hangliding over Rio:

We had both talked of going hangliding in Rio which is always at the top of everyone's list as a must in Rio. Unfortunately, with Greg's fear of heights, it was not plausible for him, so I (Laura) did it for the both of us. Greg and another friend came to watch as two of us girls prepared for the event. We drove up near the peak of Pedra Bonito mountain at approximately 550m. I went second for the tandem flight with the instructor which in hindsight made me more nervous watching someone else jump off a cliff. I got all suited up and the instructor taught me how to run and what to do once we were in the air. We got all suited up and positioned at the start of the runway with the handgliding kite waiting for the right wind. We were waiting for about 20 minutes before we finally got a good wind (the waiting definetely adds to your anxiety). And then it was 1-2-3 and we were running off of a cliff with someone running behind me to make sure I didn't stop running (and to push you if you did!). The feeling of flying like a bird is truly incredible and breathtaking. I wanted to cry it was so beautiful and such a unique experience to have on the last day of our trip. We flew for about 7 minutes over the Atlantic rainforest (apart of the largest urban green space in the world), the high rise beach front condos and then the Atlantic Ocean. We dropped down very gently (surprisingly so) on the white beach with everyone cheering for us. It was probably the best way to spend my last day in Rio and the last day of our 6 month adventure in South America.

Well folks, that's all! We have been home for a week now getting back into Canadian life which to be honest is a bit weird, but a welcome change and it's great to see family and friends. So here are the stats;

- 7 countries (to recap: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil)
- Swam in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans as well as the Caribbean sea
- 31 404 kms in total travel (21 979 kms by bus or boat only)
- 460 hrs (aprox. 19 days) spent actually travelling (bus, plane or boat)

Many, many thanks to everyone who followed us on our adventure. Simply put it was absolutely incredible. It's going to be a tough trip to top but we plan on trying our best! 😊

Until our next adventure,
Greg and Laura

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