Rio denJaneiro -Tijuca Forest

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Parque Nacional da Tijuca is one of the worlds largest urban forests. The park is 15 square miles and is home to countless species of plants, birds and mammals. The park also has waterfalls and is a peaceful escape from the city. We hired a private guide to take us for a hike in the forest. We used Trips in Rio, www.tripsinrio.com, Alexandre Ghiggino was our guide. There are no public buses that go to the park so you need to rent a car or take a tour. The trails are not marked so a guide keeps you from getting lost. Be sure to bring water and a snack if you go on a hike. Our guide picked us up at our hotel and drove us to the park. We stopped to take pictures at a overlook and stopped agin to see the waterfall. We hiked for three hours. Our guide pointed out different types of trees and we talked about Brazil culture and politics. The hike was a nice change from the craziness of Rio. We left our hotel at 8:00 am and there was no one else on the trail on our way up. We did run into people heading up as we hiked down. The forest was also cooler than the city, the temperatures have been in the high nineties. I enjoyed my hike in the forest.

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