My First Visit to Brazil, Part 6: Back to Rio

Posted in Food & Drink, My Trips, Rio de Janeiro, Travel Recommendations on 25. Feb, 2010

Hi all,

Leaving Vitoria was bittersweet. I already missed Junior, Simone, Claudete, and all of my new friends. But I knew with certainty that I would be back.

And ahead of me, less than an hour by plane, lay Rio.

It seemed like forever since I had stuffed myself into a stupor at the rodizio in Rio the day of my arrival. So much had transpired in the intervening week.

My travel agent, Tony, had friends in Rio. Marisa and her grown son, Alexandre, were to meet me at the airport and be my guides. I would stay with them for the next 3 days.

Everything went very smoothly. Alex met me inside the airport and whisked me out to the car where Marisa was waiting. After hurried greetings, we were off into Rio traffic. I was glad to have Marisa to chauffer me around. I had had my little adventure driving in Espirito Santo and had no desire to take on Rio. Rio has all of the traffic problems of any big city, plus several kinks created by its odd geography.

Marisa and Alex lived across town in the bairro of Gavea, in Zona Sul past Ipanema and Leblon. It was, and is, a nice area: quiet, affluent, and home to PUC, a prestigious private university.

Marisa asked me what I wanted to do. I deferred to her judgment.

It was a bit late in the day to begin the full-tilt sightseeing. However, Marisa and I dressed up that night (practically the first time I’d worn long pants during my trip!) and hopped over to neighboring Leblon to catch dinner and the mulatta show at the Scala theatre. The dancers wore the kind of costumes you’ve probably seen in film clips about Carnival and danced very high-energy samba. Kind of touristy, I’ll admit, but then, I was still a tourist at that time.

The next day, we headed off to Pão de Açucar, aka Sugarloaf Mountain. In case you wonder why it’s called Sugarloaf, sugar used to come in cakes, called “loaves”, shaped likes the granite cones which dot Rio. Sugarloaf is one of the most beautiful of these cones, and is sited right beside Guanabara Bay.

Sugarloaf Mountain, Rio de Janeiro

Sugarloaf was featured in the James Bond movie Moonraker. The 360-degree views from atop it are breathtaking on a clear day. Sometimes tourist sites don’t live up to the hype, but Sugarloaf is well worth the visit.

After Sugarloaf, where Alex taught me my first Rio slang (Sapatão, for example, which literally means “big shoe”, is slang for “lesbian”) we hopped over to Corcovado. We drove to the top. On a later trip I took the cog train up through Tijuca Forest, which is a much better way to ascend.

You get more great views from the top of Corcovado, including better views of Zona Sul than you have from Sugarloaf. And of course you can have you picture taken under the statue of Christ.

View from Sugarloaf, RIo de Janeiro

I think it was after leaving Corcovado, and on the way back to Marisa’s place in Gavea, that I saw the hang gliders circling high above us. I had been hang gliding once before, in North Carolina. There I had been launched from the back of a pickup truck (Did I mention it was in North Carolina?), released slowly by a wench, and flown like a kite.

So, seeing the hang glider above us, I made the mistake of saying, “I’ve done that.”

Alex said something to Marisa, and before I realize it, we are pulling up at the beach of São Conrado, where all of the hang gliders land.

Alex had interpreted my comment as a request. Being such fine hosts, Alex and Marisa didn’t want me to feel I’d missed anything.

I found myself standing on the beach, Alex negotiating a price, and the crew breaking down the glider for the ride up to the launch point atop Pedra Bonita. Did I have any say in this???

In a future post I’ll tell you in detail about the flight. It was a blast, and I’ve done it again since. You really should seriously consider going hang gliding if you visit Rio.

Hang gliding over Rio de Janeiro

But what I remember most from that first visit was a day on Ipanema Beach. Marisa, Alex, and I went to Post 9 (the lifeguard posts are numbered, and uses as meeting points) on Sunday afternoon. Prime time at the prime spot. We rented chairs and a beach umbrella and plopped down. Marisa introduced me to air biscuits, and Alexandre taught me more slang. (A baranga is a woman with an unattractive body.) I bought a caipirinha and sipped it as I took in everything. The beach was similar to the beach at Vila Velha, but with many, many more people. It was a rodizio of bikinis. Off to our right lay the rock formation Dois Irmãos, the Two Brothers.

I began to chuckle to myself. Marisa turned to look at me. “What is it?” she asked.

“It’s just…that I’m here. On the beach. In Ipanema.” I couldn’t really explain it. It was just…everything. I chuckled again.

Marisa looked at me and raised her eyebrows. Crazy Americans. She slipped another air biscuit from the bag and began to munch it contentedly.

Two beautiful young girls sporting fio dental scampered by, laughing conspiratorially about something.