Blogs from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America

The Frugal Expat names ten of the most dangerous cities in the world. I have been to four of them: Rio, Cape Town, Acapulco, and our own St. Louis, Missouri. The remaining six are in the Middle East, or Venezuela and Honduras. Though it has been over ten years since I have been to these cities, I will tell you that I (we) had very good experiences in these cities. Rio was one of our first trips to South America. We stayed on Copacabana Beach, and strayed only on a bus tour, along with famous Ipanema Beach, the Hippie Faire, and Christ the Redeemer. I do not recall feeling unsafe anywhere, though our drivers took us through some sketchy areas and favelas. I would love to go back, perhaps to the famous Carnaval celebration. The food ... read more

Carnival is an annual six-day Brazilian festival held, technically, only the Tuesday afternoon before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. During Lent, that forty-day period before Easter, many Christians, especially Roman Catholics, abstain from the consumption of meat and poultry. Those perishables would not survive through the end of Lent, so Carnival in Brazil or Mardi Gras in Louisiana or Fat Tuesday to many, began as a means of consuming perishables to prevent such wasteful spoilage, hence the term "carnival" evolved from carnelevare, "to remove meat." The Brazilian version of the festival is a celebration of music, dance and song whose rhythm, participation, and costumes vary from one region of Brazil to another. These rhythms were mainly developed by Afro-Brazlians and Pardos, incorporating and adapting many cultural influences, from the percussion beats of Africa to the ... read more

Most of you folks are aware Sheila suffered a stroke at the Falcon's game on 20 November. Yes, this has not been a pleasant experience, but this stout Bird continues to make progress through her hard work. She now walks with the aid of Bella (her name for the purple cane) in secure places or with a rollator (and, of course, Bird demands we supply the rollators name, which is Rosie) in locations with many people. About a year ago we made plans for a trip down south. After the stroke we anticipated cancellation would be required. However, every neurologist (four of them) indicate she is perfectly capable of taking the trip and, in fact, should go. Yes, of course, we are making significant modifications. We will not independently access the various sights. Rather, we are ... read more

Sugar loaf mountain Sugar Loaf, Portuguese Pão de Açúcar, landmark peak overlooking Rio de Janeiro Named for its shape, the conical, granitic peak (1,296 feet ) lies at the end of a short range between Rio de Janeiro and the Atlantic Ocean. At its base is the fortress of São João. The name Sugarloaf was coined in the 16th century by the Portuguese during the heyday of sugarcane of trade in Brazil. According to historians blocks of sugar were placed in conical molds made of clay to be transported on ships. The form of the peak reminded them of the well-known resulting”sugarloaf” shape, and the nickname has since been extended to be a general descriptor for formations of this kind We took the cable car runs to its summit from the adjacent Urca Hill with a ... read more

http://www.heygo.com 2nd May - Botanical Gardens Rio de Janeiro It was founded in 1808 by John, prince regent of the United Kingdom of Brazil and Portugal (later King John VI, for introducing and acclimatizing economically beneficial plants brought from other tropical regions of the world. Originally intended for the acclimatization of spices like nutmeg,pepper and cinnamon imported from the West Indies. The garden was opened to the public in 1822. The park itself consists of the Botanical Garden, research centers, museum collections, cultural centres. The diversity of plants is extraordinary and is mostly made up of vegetation from the Atlantic forest yet approximately 40% is cultivated on site. This unique setup is home to 140 species of birds including the channel-billed toucan and the white-necked hawk. It also boasts wild monkeys and which ... read more