Photos from Rio
Trip Start
Apr 08, 2012
1
14
28
Trip End
Sep 25, 2012
Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Saturday, June 2, 2012
So after a quick breakfast with the monkeys we caught a bus to the train which took us to the top of the mountain.
Unfortunately by the time we got there the clouds had made their way to Corcovado. But we weren't in a big rush so we walked around for about an hour, stealing pictures whenever the clouds cleared enough to do so.
Even though it's the low season now there was a ridiculous amount of people up there. We had to elbow and glare our way through to get to the edge and once there we held our positions until it cleared again.
The statue looks pretty tiny from the city (Corcovado Mountain is more than 700 m (2300 ft) high) but at the bottom of his feet, he's massive.
After dozens of photos we headed back down and caught another bus to Pão de Açúcar or Sugarloaf Mountain.
It's basically a giant granite lump on a peninsula and it supposedly looks like a sugarloaf which was apparently a thing before the 19th century.
I'm not a city person. At all. But I do love Cape Town and Rio is definitely reminding me of it. The obvious reason for that is the fact that the ocean is right there and that there are mountains all over the place. It doesn't feel so much like a city when it doesn't extend as far as you can see and the natural world is right there.
To add to Rio's charm, there is a 120 square km national park bordering the city - Christ the Redeemer is within the Park. The Park is there to preserve the Atlantic Forest and many indigenous species still remain, especially the monkeys.
If I had to live in a city other than Cape Town, I could definitely do Rio. Except maybe for the weather. It's winter now and while the temperatures are nice from mid to high 20s, the humidity is mental.
So if you're going to visit Rio, do it in the winter because I can't imagine what the summer feels like here. Also, there will be less people which is always a good thing.
