Sue Vincent

I must honestly say that a trip to Rio was not at the top of my impossibly long travel wish list, but when good friends move to Rio and send you a heart-felt invitation to come and stay at their place...well, it becomes very difficult to ignore. I can also quite honestly say, I am now so, so grateful we didn't miss the opportunity (thanks Peggy and Mike)!

Never having been to South America, we had no real expectations. Travelling in October was a perfect temperature to explore, never too hot but a beach day every day as well.

Our Rio home for the next 7 of 9 nights was on the 14th floor of an apartment building just 5 gorgeous blocks from Ipanema Beach, an easy walk along tree-lined streets busy with people sauntering to work in their business attire or barefooting along the sidewalk with only swim trunks and a surfboard. I could have spent months just wandering up and down these streets, sipping Chope (Brazil's local draft beer) in one of the many sidewalk cafes, watching all the people come and go. Of course I couldn't go all the way to Brazil and just drink Chope and people-watch though, there were things that needed doing!

As it turned out, our hosts were experts at pointing their guests in the right direction so as not to waste precious time. Within 24 hours, we found ourselves on The Big Dude Tour booked through Brazil Expeditions for roughly C$56 each (http://www.brazilexpedition.com/tours-in-rio/carioca-expedition/).

The full-day tour was an excellent introduction to Rio, allowing us to quickly get a feel of the major sights Rio has to offer. In case you're not aware, "The Big Dude" that the tour name refers to is Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer), the 38-metre high concrete statue welcoming visitor's to the city from atop Corcovado Mountain. For such a huge city (pop. > 6,000,000), they certainly had a personal touch; the tour driver came directly to our apartment to collect us, and we were returned here at the end of the day!

The first stop was Sao Conrado beach where the hang gliders land after they take off from Pedra Bonita, and the tour guide will introduce you to the "gliders" and help you book the hang gliding tour for the next day, if you are so inclined. There is no pressure to book though, whatsoever. From the beach, we headed up the mountainside past remote favelas, or shanty towns, where the poorest people of Rio live, and into Tijuca National Park for a 20-minute, easy hike through the Atlantic rainforest before continuing to Christ the Redeemer. 

Our lunch stop took us through the hilltop neighbourhood of Santa Teresa to a local kilo restaurant in Gloria, with an abundant offering of every food imaginable and where you pay for the weight of the food on your plate. Bellies full again, and we were off to climb the Escadaria Selaron, the secret steps decorated by that artist in tiles collected from around the world.

The return journey to our home-away-from-home took us through the nightlife area of Lapa (which we did not visit on this trip) and along Copacabana Beach, back to Ipanema. It turns out the route was a great big loop around Rio - a really great introduction to Rio, don't you agree? And best concluded with a caipirinha with our friends!

Because we were so centrally located, we were able to do our own walking tour the next day around the lagoa, home of the Rowing venue for the 2016 Olympics, past the famous Flamengo Soccer Club's training facility and the Jockey Club, to the beautiful Jardim Botanico. We had an amazing traditional lunch, complete with farofa, in a whimsical little restaurant near the gardens called Bar Do Horto. 

Our days continued along like this, sprinkled with cafe meals, trips to the beach with rented chairs and umbrellas, freshly made caipirinhas, sunshine, grocery shopping in the little market, souvenirs from the creative and resourceful beach vendors, the Sunday morning hippy market in Ipanema (not to be missed!!) followed by the Sunday morning Flamengo football game at the gigantic Maracana Stadium! The stadium was built in 1950 to host the Fifa World Cup, and there were 199,854 standing people in attendance for the final game that year! Our BE tour guide had told us that in his opinion, "they" ruined the stadium with the 2010 renovations that put in seating to accommodate only 78,838 spectators, especially because the stadium didn't vibrate anymore. Mmhmm.

We also wanted to give our hosts a break from having us around so we planned a couple of nights outside the city. We booked with EasyTransfer to pick us up and deliver us, via bus and boat, to the wonderful Aratanga Inn on Ilha Grande.

The island once housed a leper colony and later a maximum security prison, but now the island is mainly for those wanting a quiet holiday. There are no cars on the island (exact opposite of Rio!) and with its diverse flora and fauna, and over 150 km of hiking trails, it really is a nature-lovers paradise. It was heaven. We were so fortunate to do the 2-1/2 hour hike to/from Lopes Mendes Beach, which as TripAdvisor says: #1 of 55 tihings to do in Ilha Grande, and by fortunate I mean that Mark woke up not feeling 100% and didn't think he could do it (until I mentioned that I was going anyway and would be back in time for supper)! I'll be fine!

The only negative was our EasyTransfer bus ride into the city, because we got stuck, as in stopped, in traffic, and throwing in a couple of wrong turns with our driver-in-training, it took us 7 hours instead of the usual 4 hours. That's okay though, we still arrived back in time for a caipirinha and dinner for our last night!

Because our flight home was departing Rio at suppertime, we spent a very leisurely day roaming around Ipanema taking pictures of the orchids tied to the tree trunks, the street corner key kiosks (and where you place your bets), the people, the beach. We watched a final game of FootsieBall (beach volleyball but with no arms/hands, just feet) and realized just how much we loved Rio!