A Rainy Start in Beautiful, Reckless Rio

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After disembarking our bus piloted by a Colin McRae/Ganiel de Villiers wannabe, we made our way to our hostel we had sort of booked. As we looked for our hostel, the drizzle turned into our first rains of the trip. We found the hostel, or rather a delapidated building that should have been our hostel (with carnival masts in the front yard). The neighbour informed us it had moved, and with the help of a friendly pharmacist (much like our brother in law ; ), we found the actual buiilding. We stayed in a 10 bed dorm building site, I mean hostel... This was our attempt to make good for the fierce exchange rate that had seen our budget overspent from day 1. We met some cool Ozzie, Spanish and Austrian folk here, barr one snoring local who kept the whole dorm awake. Over the course of the week there, we came to realise that the hostel managers and owners would have been better as primary school teachers. They confiscated our clothing if it was hanging in the dorm, and frequently checked that we were adhering to the rules. The location was great, and we had a view of the Christ the Redeemer statue from our breakfast patio.

Our first evening we struck gold - a corner cafe with cheap food and an array of Brazilian snacks, which we proceeded to identify and taste over the coming days.

We spent our days at the main attractions - Corcovado with the Christ Redeemer, Pao de Acucar (SugarLoaf Mtn), Copacabana and Ipanema beaches and some older places in the city centre. The tram ride to the statue of Christ through the jungle covered slopes was very cool (complete with Brazilian buskers playing festive music). The views of the city were beautiful. Seeing the same city from the other side via cable car up the Sugar Loaf Mtn was even more breathtaking, as we did this at sunset. Up here, we were very aware of the similarities btwn CT and Rio.

We took a tram ride through the old city and some tram surfer dude who swung from the side of the tram, freestyling on and off the tram to the amusement of the snappy happy tourists. The electric guide would come undone every so often, which they corrected by means of a rope. On Sat, we awoke to a market right on our street. Fruit, veg and meat sellers were there, and we took the opportunity to fill our veggie stomach compartments which had been on zero since our arrival in Brazil.

Sunday, we hit the beaches. We stumbled upon the ´´astroturf´´ soccer finals between Italy and Brazil. We stolled along the beachfront, enjoyed the people playing volleyball and sipped our first coconut of the trip (which tastes gross).

We also found a local church where we were supplied with another translator - an Italian born Brazilian who had lived in the UK. Coincidentally, the pastor has done a lot of trips to SA and has a soft spot for the country.

Sat night was eventful. It started with the bus we were on in a dual with a truck, both fighting over the same lane. The truck´s mirror touched our bus, followed by us having to swerve to prevent a collision. While walking to our samba club, we came upon a digital festival hosting a famous band. Entrance fee was one book, which were conveniently being sold by an entrpeneur at the entrance. We´re not too sure what the organisers plant to do with the portuguese Astronomy book and Greek book we bought...
The samba club was expensive - so expensive in fact, that we could not afford a drink once inside. We ended up going to the dance floor, where we once again felt like equals and could enjoy the live band. Our trip home was the cherry on top - a minibus driver (possibly drunk), careering down the street, whizzing through all the red lights and weaving across lanes. We were glad to get home in one piece!

The Brazilians are surpirsingly similar to South Africans in the way they think and how they act. Brazil, as a country, is booming at the moment, and boast a strong economy, a World Cup and the Olympics on the way. Rio was a great city. We caught a bus up to Brazilia, but will have to write about that next week.

Hope you are all well, thanks for the messages - we do get them!

What we miss most:
Phil - rooibos tea
Marco - decent meals

Highlight
Phil&Marco - sunset views from SugarLoaf Mtn

Lowlight
Phil & Marco - our hostel

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Photos

Tram Ride
Going up Corcovado to Jesus Christ Statue

Corcovado
Our cheesy self portrait

Sugar Loaf
Moon rise

Cafe de Manha
Our standard breakfast - rolls and cheese

Sand art
Tourist pose on Copacabana

Ipanema
Sipping a coconut

Workout
Marco working on his upper body at one of the many gyms on the beachfront - Sugar Loaf in the background