Chapter 5 - Cozzies, Caipirinhas and Corcovado

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My flight into rio didn't land until 8.30 pm and after having to detour to a dr during the day, although I was ok, I needed the evening to go smoothly and it did.

Leading up to Rio without exaggerating, every person that found out I was visiting there on my own told me how dangerous it is. Don't wear any jewellery, don't go out at night etc etc so it was rather hesitantly that I waited for a cab at the airport.

There were no issues however and I was beachside after a 20 minute drive and checking into the best hotel of the trip thus far. The hotel, Miramar by Windsor, has an understated grandness about it. Giving me a welcome glass of champagne anywhere instantly lifts my mood, every single staff member I came into contact with has been helpful, friendly and spoken excellent English, the rooftop infinity pool is probably the best on the beach, they make a mean cocktail, breakfast was superb and all of the machines in the gym actually work.

I knew that Good Friday would mean a lot of places would be closed so I used that as an excuse to have a day with nothing planned. I explored the beach front in the morning (it's 4km long) and spent the afternoon on the beach. The hotel provides chairs, umbrellas, towels and waiter service to any of the bars set up along the beach. Sydney has some of the best beaches in the world but there's nothing like having a cocktail delivered to you whilst laying on the sand.

Not unexpected the people watching on the beach was superb. No boobs out but I have never seen so many bare butt cheeks in my life. And it's not just young women... Regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, body type and shape people were letting lose like I've never seen before. I felt overdressed in my seafolly bikini! People were in a good mood as it was a holiday and just when you thought it couldn't get any better a samba band would start to play in the distance and someone would start BBQing meat near by. The sights, smells and sounds of the beach were overwhelmingly Brazilian and I loved it.

I spent the whole afternoon at the beach with my book and a cocktail. The weather forecast for my time in Rio was 5 days of rain so I took advantage of the sun whilst it was out. The water was the perfect temperature and not as rough as it (apparently) can be. It was the first time during the trip that I had spent hours doing nothing but relaxing and it felt so good. So good that I decided I needed to have more free time whilst in Rio, whilst ensuring I visited all of the must see sites.

Private tour guides aren't the most cost effective way to see a city but they sure are the most efficient. We all know I have a penchant for efficiency so went on to trip advisor and booked a private tour guide for all day Saturday figuring if I spent the whole day sightseeing I could relax Sunday and Monday. If I do say so myself it was an excellent plan.

I was extremely lucky with my tour guide, Rafa. He was friendly, caring, informative and most importantly passionate about his city and country. He was generous with the information he shared about his family life and personal situation which only added to the experience.

We started out by visiting Christ The Redeemer and had good visibility - often when cloudy you can't see the top of the statue. It takes some time to wind your way to the top of the mountain and the drive is spectacular. They city is surrounded by and punctuated with the lushest of mountains. It's really quite something to see. It was crowded at the statue and I'd hate to be there during peak season, but I got my photo. Or should I say Rafa did ... Completely unprompted he just laid down on the concrete so he could take a photo of me with the full statue in the back ground. The round trip up and back took two hours and we then went for a walk around the bohemian suburb of Santa Teresa. We stopped for the best coffee I've had on the trip and saw some fantastic street art.

Rafa didn't quite tell me where we were going from one spot to the next (which the control freak in me struggled with a bit) and I was surprised when we stopped in the middle of a suburban neighbourhood. Even though I knew I wasn't Rafa's 'type', my guard instantly went up as I followed Rafa into a building for a surprise part of the tour...thinking that perhaps I was being sold into the sex trade I was relieved to learn that Rafa was taking me to his house so that I could see how a typical person in a Rio lives. He also insisted on walking up his partner who is a nurse and was sleep after a night shift. Whilst it was generous of him I felt profoundly uncomfortable intruding and politely declined when he offered to cook me lunch and asked where we were off to next!

From there we went into the National Park via the outskirts of one of the favelas. The favelas occupy approx 40% of the city and from a distance look rather picturesque - many of them climb up the hillsides in around the city. Up close is a different story but it certainly wasn't as dire as others had told me it would be. I appreciate that not all of the favelas are the same however and spent a lot of time talking to Rafa about government assistance and the establishment of police presence in a handful of the favelas. Apparently there is a growing middle class population in the favelas and having grown up in a favela can be a source of pride, largely due to the fact that the countries best football players tend to come from the favelas.

The national park is essentially in the middle of city and being so close to the hustle and bustle I wasn't expecting much in terms of tranquility so was amazed to find a sprawling sanctuary of green wilderness awaiting complete with monkeys, waterfalls and walking trails. The contrast to the city, exacerbated by its close proximity, was intense and I'm glad we got the chance to see it. Winding down from the hills also gave way to some great views as well as a hidden beach which I am told is not referenced in any tour guide.

We then drove to a dock and did a boat tour of what Rafa called 'the wetlands', an area predominately for locals that can only be reached by water. It is comprised of little islands dotted with homes and restaurants. To make our way around we crossed the water approx six times and never waited more than 5 minutes for a water taxi. I appreciated seeing a part of Rio I wouldn't have seen without a private guide.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Ipanema. Although Copacabana is right next to Ipanema I hadn't visited it yet and used this opportunity to travel the beach end to end.

I spent the rest of the evening by the pool with my book and a cocktail and stayed there for dinner, leaving only when they turned the lights down too low for me read.

Sunday and Monday were supposed to be cloudy with thunderstorms and when I awoke on both mornings to brilliant sunshine that was the only persuasion I needed to spend the day walking from the beach to the rooftop pool and back and not much else. Doing the private tour has assuaged any guilt attached to this as anticipated and I had two of the most relaxing days I've had in a very long time.

On Monday night I checked out of the Miramar and into the Copacabana Palace which is an Orient Express Hotel. That probably doesn't mean much to most people... It didn't to me until I was lucky enough to stay in one when was in Lima years ago. Since then I've wanted to treat myself to another night in one of their hotels however they only have a handful all over the world. I knew there was one in Rio so this was one of the treats of the trip (I could only afford one night).

It was a really nice way to end my 5 nights in Rio and I would have regretted not taking the opportunity to stay there... But for what I was paying and the high expectations I had it wasn't worth it and it was (surprise surprise) very pretentious.

As I finish this off I'm having my last breakfast in Santiago and am looking forward to coming home. It's been an amazing trip! I've seen so much and mer some amazing people... but I've missed 'my people'. One of the reasons I travel is to appreciate my home and Im certainly doing that right now.

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