Blogs from Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 5

Busy night in the Crowsnest Lounge , it was the ships Hallowe'en party. Surprisingly , quite a number of pretty good costumes. 2 hour delay disembarking in Rio. Seems the Brazilian authorities were not happy with something. We carried off our bags and it was an easy operation. We were not able to book the Latam Air flight to Miami as Air Canada does not have a reciprocal agreement with them. Next closest time would be 2140 with American to Miami or United to Houston and then later , Delta to Atlanta. Joined Jit and Manju at their hotel on Copacabana Beach for the day. Walked around like a couple tourists. Beautiful views , nice beach with white sand and good looking surf. Had lunch on the beach and were accosted by a record number of ... read more

Moving swiftly on from Sao Paulo, the resort town of Buzios, located roughly a 3-hour drive east of Rio, is a little-acknowledged beachside town dubbed by those in the know as the 'St Tropez of Brazil', so let's see how that translates into the context of the everyday. It is worth pointing out that this isn't the preseve of the yacht-owning elite who flaunt their vessels in harbourside moorings, though that said, Buzios may be somewhat overpriced for the Brazilian on or under the medium wage. A scattering of commendable properties makes staying here a fairly 'spoilt for choice' situation, and the Pousada El Parador scored higly for central location, amenities, and the fact that it did not appear to be anything other than a friendly, compact set of guest rooms w... read more

Thursday 27 July - Brazil We were awoken early by the taxi drivers strike as they tooted in procession past the hotel apparently accompanied by fireworks. There were on their way to the carnival celebration arena to present a petition to the Mayor, they were complaining about the Uber drivers undercutting their fares. Later we saw them in the arena, there appeared to be thousands of yellow taxis involved. An all day tour of Rio today seeing all the main sights. Up to Christ The Redeemer on the cog train and stop to go inside the huge Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian which was completed in 1979 and can hold 4,000 sitting and 20,000 standing. A photo stop to see the worlds largest mural, by Kobra, painted for the Olympics 2016, in an area of regeneration ... read more

Each time I reached for my wallet the guy pointing the gun at my head would start yelling. Why didn't he want my money? I put my hands back in the air and repeated, "No falo Portuguese!" To my relief, he lowered the gun. But relief was brief. He only lowered the gun to pull the hammer back. Now I was looking down the barrel again. I was certain he was about to pull the trigger. Oddly, I wasn't afraid. I found myself wondering what it would sound like. Would I have time to hear the bang? What would it feel like when the bullet hit me? Would I have time to feel pain? Unlike the townships of Johannesburg and Harare, the favelas of Rio are not on the outskirts of the city. Instead they are ... read more

This is day-2 of Rio. It was our last overnight in-port for this cruise. It was a nice smooth night without the ship rocking or anything. As explained yesterday, Janet did not have a tour today, but David still had to report to the Fusion Lounge at 7:00. He got up early and had a light breakfast in the Horizon Court and then brought a breakfast sandwich, chocolate donut, and a cup of tea back to the cabin for Janet. She has her sandwich and then followed doctor’s orders and went back to bed. She got a good restful morning and by the time David got back she was feeling much better. Maybe it was partly due to the sage advice she’s received from Stephanie about following doctor’s orders and you would recover more quickly. David’s ... read more

Manaus is a little bit dull but it has several million inhabitants, a very nice Opera house and science institution with giant otters and mantee, unfortunately for us it was closed, so we decided to move on to Rio early Christmas morning. Rio is like a beautiful woman it just takes your breath away, the forests, mountains, beaches and just the vibe of the inhabitants is intoxicating even for someone like me who thinks they have seen it all. We took the cable car to the top of the Sugar loaf discovered a troop of cotton top tamarins and just marvelled at the wonderful panoramas. Next we visited Copacabana perhaps my favourite beach to feel and experience the beach culture that is clearly the passion of this city. Ensconced in one of the many beachside bars ... read more