Sun, Surf and Sand - A Brazilian Paradise

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Sun, Surf and Sand - A Brazilian Paradise

Ipanema, Rio De Janeiro
11th March 2009 - 15th March 2009


11th March 2009

After a 10 hour flight, we arrived in Rio de Janeiro at 6.30pm. As taxis are relatively cheap in Rio, we decided to catch one from the airport to our hostel, ‘Margarida’s Pousada’. This pousada is in Ipanema and was recommended by the Lonely Planet. The elderly lady, who owned the pousada proved to be very kind and friendly, however did not speak a word of English and unfortunately we only knew how to say ‘thank you’ in Portuguese. Given our level of exhaustion after a 10 hour flight (and as it was midnight, Madrid time), we collapsed into bed, in our spacious corner room.


12th March 2009

The next morning we had a lazy start. During breakfast, we met a French couple, Sebastian and Miriam and agreed to go with them to ‘Cristo Redentor’ (huge Jesus statue in the hills overlooking Rio) that afternoon. During the morning, we went for a walk along Ipanema and Leblon beach and Stacy went for a swim in the “great 3 foot shorey”.

After lunch, we met Sebastian and Miriam and together we caught a taxi to the funicular, which would take us to the top of the hill. Upon reaching the top, we were greeted with amazing sweeping views across Rio. We could see the sheer rock faces plunge into the coast line with buildings and favella’s nestled amongst them. After taking plenty of photos, we relaxed in the cafe, with a luscious mango juice. We then caught the funicular back down to a taxi which took us back to the hostel. That night we had dinner and a few drinks in our room.


13th March 2009

We woke early and walked from Ipanema to Copacabana (which is about a 7.5km walk) in an attempt to find the cable car up to ‘Sugar Loaf’, another viewing platform. After getting hopelessly lost, we caught a taxi to the bottom to where the cable cars depart. When we reached the top, we again had spectacular views over Rio and its beaches.

We spent the afternoon lazing on Ipanema beach before going out for a traditional ‘kilo’ meal of mixed grill meats and amazing Caprioska’s. The Caprioska’s were something to behold: the waiter brought 2 half litre glasses to the table, each half full of crushed limes and sugar syrup. He then took the bottle of vodka, and filled each glass to the top! They were so strong, but beautiful!!! After that one we shared another! One and a half glasses was enough to give us a stinking great hangover the next day.


14th March 2009

After a slow start to our day (which was much needed after the previous nights cocktails), we spent the morning arranging our travel to Ilha Grande for the following day. During the afternoon, we went swimming and people watching at Ipanema and Leblon beach, before wandering around the Brazilian bikini shops in Ipanema. We agreed that Erin needed a Brazilian bikini in order to avoid looking like a ‘Gringo’ in Ilha Grande (a ‘Gringo’ is what the locals call a foreigner or tourist).


Ilha Grande
15th March 2009 - 19th March 2009


15th March 2009

It was an early start to ensure we made it to the bus station on time - if we missed the 10am bus, we would miss the 2pm ferry, and then we wouldn’t make it to Ilha Grande! We hailed a cab, which was very easy (as every 2nd car is a cab) and in disjointed Spanish, Stacy told the driver where we needed to go. The driver acknowledged that he knew where we had to go; however unfortunately, he took us via the scenic route! Therefore we arrived very late and we got ripped off! Oh, the joys of travelling……

At 9:55am we bought a bus ticket, and jumped on the 10am bus - not a minute to spare, but not a minute wasted! The bus ride was the first of many trips through windy roads, scary near misses, and general bus chaos in South America. But, we arrived safely, and we made the 2pm ferry - ready for the 2 hour trip out to the island of Ilha Grande.

When we arrived, we threw our pack on our backs and started walking to our accommodation, ‘Manaca Pousada’. Stacy had looked at a map earlier, and knew its approximate location. Unfortunately, after walking for almost an hour and asking every man and his dog where it was, we still hadn’t found it! The pousada ended up being very near where we thought it was, but it had no road access (it only had a street address!). The only way to get there was to wade across the creek on the beach and walk in off the sand. The accommodation ended up being lovely, and was worth the effort to find.

That night we dined with a couple (Mirik and Michel - from Prague) that we had met on the ferry.


16th March 2009

The next morning we woke to the most amazing breakfast imaginable. Fruit salad, mango, muesli, ham, cheese, fresh beads, eggs, etc - beautiful!

After eating enough to keep us going for the whole day, we took off in the hope of going on a boat tour around the island. We ended up taking a half-day trip to Lagoa Azul (Blue Lagoon), Freguesia De Santana & Praia de Japariz. At the Blue Lagoon we swam in the crystal warm clear waters and at Praia de Japariz we sunbaked on the white sand. On the way back we ate fruit and took in the views as the sun started to set.

Before we went to dinner we hit the supermarket in preparation for the following days hike across to a beach on the other side of the island.

That night we went to another traditional ‘kilo’ restaurant. They served the barbequed meat to your table and cut it straight off the bone - as fresh as you can get!


17th March 2009

Again, we had a huge breakfast. We ate a lot because we knew we were about to embark on a 3 hour hike to the other side of the island. We hiked from Abroa to Lopez Mendez beach. The walk took us through rainforests, across beaches, up and down very steep terrain, and gave us some spectacular views along the way. Whilst walking we ended up meeting another couple, Marcos & Katia, from central Brazil.

Upon arriving at Lopez Mendez, Stacy was cheering - the surf was a solid 6-foot, the wind was offshore, and the waves were perfect. So he headed over to a guy on the beach who was renting boards. Within 10 minutes, Stacy was out there - and didn’t come back in for hours! He had a great surf! Meanwhile, Erin was on the waters edge, battling the huge currents caused by the big swell - just having a ‘dip’ was almost impossible without being dragged away. In fact, as Stacy got to the waters edge to jump in, some guy came running up to him screaming, yelling and pointing out to sea - his girlfriend was caught in a rip and had been dragged all the way out into the huge surf! Stacy jumped straight in and paddled out to her. She was exhausted and had been hit by so many waves that she could hardly keep herself afloat. Luckily, Stacy was able to pull some “Baywatch manoeuvrers”, dragged her onto his board, and paddled her back to safety (play Baywatch theme tune now).

After being in the sun for so many hours, and feeling dehydrated, the thought of hiking back for 3 hours did not appeal to us. So we hiked to the nearest jetty, which was 30 minutes away, and caught a ferry back to the village.

That night we again dined with Mirik and Michel. We took them to the ‘kilo’ restaurant that we had gone to the previous night.


18th March 2009

Breakfast was again one of the highlights of our day. Stacy almost ate till he burst! At 9am we took off for another hike, this time to see the islands’ aqueduct and Cachoeira de Feiticeira waterfall. After only 30 minutes of walking we were at the aqueduct. The waterfall however was a solid 2 hours away, and was quite hard to find. After scampering up an extremely steep hill on all fours, we finally got to the waterfall. It was nestled amongst the rainforest and was well worth the effort to get there.

After spending about an hour at the waterfall, we continued our walk down to Praia de Feiticeira - a beautiful little white sandy beach. We took some food with us and ate that at the beach. Stacy had some very dodgy mini frankfurts in a can, which ended up making him very sick! We caught a boat back to the village, and took a much deserved late afternoon siesta.

That night a huge rainstorm came through whilst we sat outside having dinner at a pizzeria. As it was our last day on the island, we reminisced about our adventures from the past few days.


19th March 2009

We took the first ferry back to the mainland, called “Fast Connect”. What we didn’t realise was that the “Fast” part of the title didn’t refer to the speed of the boat…. We took a very small boat, that maxed-out at 6 knots, and that had very little shelter from the sun. Erin ended up hiding behind the mast to try and find some shade! On the bright side, our connection was fast! A private car was waiting for us that took us all the way through to our hostel (Casa Aurea) in Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro.

Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro
19th March 2009 - 21st March 2009

Santa Teresa is a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. It sits high on the hill above Downtown Rio, and has expansive views of the area. It is a well known little township, as it used to be home to the rich and famous during the industrial revolution. It is home to many an artist, and has a general bohemian vibe. The cobblestone streets are lined with huge mansions that lie neglected, or even vacant. Whilst the area has very ‘cool’, ‘hip’ and ‘market’ feel to it, nothing can hide the fact that this town is unfortunately a shade of its former glory. It seems sad that the area has become so neglected - so forgotten. But there is the feeling that the area will have its time again. Probably not as a home to the rich and famous, but an area that is known for its bohemian culture, its artists, its musicians and its general ‘hippy’ flavour.
20th March 2009

We got up early as today we had organised a Favela Tour with “Be a Local” tours. This tour ended up being one of the true highlights of our trip.

A favela is what a shanty town is called in Brazil. The population of the favelas is growing faster than the population of Brazil as a whole. In 1950, only 7 percent of Rio de Janeiro's population lived in favelas, in the 21st century it has grown to 19 percent or about one in five people living in a favela

We visited ‘Rocina Favela’, one of the largest Favelas in South America. It lies only 10 minutes south from the heart of Copacabana, and its entrance is only 200m from the beach. As we arrived, the tour guide told us “do not take photos of anyone with walkie talkies or machine guns. They are drug dealers and do not like to have their photo taken”. Well if this wasn’t enough to get us on our guard, then it was only 5 minutes later when we saw two motorbikes ride by, with each of the guys on the back holding a machine gun out in broad daylight! This place was serious…

Gangs run favelas - normally drug dealers. In this favela, a gang called “Amigos Dos Amigos” or ADA (ADA is their ‘tag’), which stands for “Friends to Friends”. They control the favela in ‘zones’ - it’s a very militant style of dominating or controlling an area. There is only one ingress and egress point. This is checkpoint A. No one can get in or out, unless they pass this point - this is critical for them to control the area. Furthermore, there is only one main road - it runs right through the middle of the favela. Everything on this road is in this zone A. Then, there are sub arterials - roads off the main road. At each of these points, there is someone else standing guard with communication devices. Behind each of these sub-checkpoints, is the next ‘zone’. The gang members avoid being caught because each of the checkpoints keep tabs on were the police are within the favela, and communicate it through the network. Hence, the gangs always stay one step ahead. They control it so well, and are so willing to use force, that most police do not even enter the favela.

We entered the favela with the tour guide. He is well known in this area, and so we are able to enter freely. His Favela Tours bring tourists and therefore cash to the favela; so many support his activities in the area. He told us, “if you were not with me, you would not last long in a favela on your own”. He put us all on the back of motorbikes at the bottom of the hill, paid each rider a small amount, and then they rode us straight to the top - at pace, swerving through the traffic, people, animals and general chaos! Erin’s rider however, took his time - he apparently enjoyed having Erin’s arm wrapped around him.

We walked from the very top of the favela, all the way back down the hill to the entrance over a period of about 2.5 hours. What was evident from the outset was the stench - raw sewage runs through the narrow footpaths. The further you go downhill, the more sewage there is, and the worse the smell gets. What’s also obvious are all the kids - so many of them. Like most developing nations, contraception is not widely known of nor used. So the population grows at a very rapid rate. This causes other issues, such as overcrowding, lack of infrastructure, a shortage of schooling facilities, and a failure to contain the ever increasing amounts of human and man-made waste.

One positive thing of note was the UN sponsored child care and schooling program that is run by volunteers. We visited the kids, watched them in class and as we left, we donated money to help keep the school running into the future. Most of the kids living here will never get the opportunity for a proper education, nor will they have the opportunity to live outside of a favela. It is sad to think that this place is the only place they will ever live.

As a tourist in a favela, you can’t help but think that you are taking enjoyment from someone else’s misfortune - that was Stacy’s first impression, but that was soon to change. Once we were there we could see first hand how our tourism injects much needed business into their micro-economy. For example, a portion of our tour fees went directly to the development of the favela; we bought cakes and drinks from local vendors; we donated to the UN schooling program; we gave business to the taxi-bikers; and we bought goods from their local favela markets. There is no doubt that tourism gives a boost, even if it is only a small one.

That night we had dinner at the hostel on the cheap. We sat around, mingled, listened to music, and had a couple of drinks.


21st March 2009

Today we strolled through Santa Teresa’s streets and soaked up the atmosphere that is so unique to this place.
Our first stop on our walk was an old mansion ‘ruin’. It has recently been converted into a lookout and a tourist attraction. The building typifies the neglect that the area experienced once the rich industrialists died out, and their children moved on to the more affluent area of Sao Paulo.

We took our time wandering through the gardens of “Museu Chacara do Ceu” which is on top of the hill. It is a former industrialists’ mansion from the late 1800’s displaying his private collection of furniture and art.

We then jumped onto the old rattly tram that runs up and down the hill from Lapa (an area in Downtown) and winds its way through the hillside areas of Santa Teresa. It is the last true tramway operation in South America. The Santa Teresa Tram (known locally as the "bonde") commenced electric operation in 1891, replacing horse-drawn trams. It was a great way to take in the views, and see all of the main streets in the area.

Late in the afternoon we decided to find a nice restaurant for dinner. What became obvious to us was that the restaurants didn’t cater for the bohemian locals - they were expensive! So we opted out of the classy restaurant idea, and headed to a local favourite, “Bar de Mineiro”. It was Sunday afternoon and the place was heaving! It had such a great vibe - a local vibe…. “Anyone speak English ?!”

When we got back to the hostel, we met a group staying at the hostel. They were all architecture students from the USA. We hung out with them for a few hours whilst having a few drinks, and then the two of us went into town to a traditional Samba Club. The club did not open until 11.00pm, so we headed down quite late. The place was just a huge hall with a long stage and tables and chairs around the outside of a dance floor. Nothing kicked off until about midnight when the 9-piece samba band came on. As the band started, so did the dancing! Guys quickly ran round and found girls to dance with, and raced to the dance floor. They really put on a great show too. Most were excellent dancers, which made for a very intimidating environment for Samba hackers like us. Erin was keen, but Stacy chickened out! We were home by 2:30am, just in time to get some sleep before our flight to Peru.

Although we didn’t spend much time in Brazil, what we did see was amazing. The coastline is absolutely stunning, and the people are friendly and outgoing. We would certainly have loved to have spent longer, but with a whole continent to see, time was against us! But without a doubt, we will certainly go back to Brazil!

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Photos

Our Hostel at Ipanema Beach
Magarita's Pousada

Kids in the Favela
Do I detect a couple of future gansta's?

Comments

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WOW
Guys, have enjoyed all your travel blogs and am very jealous that you have seen so many awesome places. Rio looks amazing. See you soon@!