Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2007)

We took a flight out of Cuzco to Lima, then another flight to Sao Paolo, then another flight to Rio. Except that this looked a lot better on paper. We missed our flight to Lima because we were too late. But, we got the next one on standby no problem and got to Lima in time for our flight to Sao Paolo. However, when we were checking in for our Rio connection, the check-in person looked up at us with an expression of confusion, pity, and damn-you-must-be-retarded. Turns out, we booked the Rio connection for the day before, not taking into account that we had red-eyed it to Sao Paolo. With no other flights available, we hopped on a few buses and took off to Rio, which turned out great because we would have slept for 6 hours in Rio anyway so we just slept on the super comfy bus.

Rio was super fun. It's a lot like Los Angeles in that it has nice beaches, beautiful people, lots of art--commissioned or street, but also it's huge and has a lot of traffic. Brazil is very much like the US in my opinion, except that they seem to be well ahead of us on the energy technology front (6 different types of gasoline you can buy). My buddy from Oxford, Luiz, took us around Sugarloaf Mountain, Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, and into the restricted military areas (his dad is a General). We ate great Brazilian bbq and drank cachaca.

Luiz, on his cell phone, directs us around Rio.

Random picture of the street.

Copa…Copacabana.

A fine place to stay I’m sure.

What was that?

First stop, the private military beach accessed by Luiz’s dad, General Aragao.

Happy in black.

Down another beach.

Tree growing along the side of a wall.

Aragaos.

Walking around Sugarloaf Mountain.

The path was a lovely walk.

Vegetation growing atop a rock sticking out of the ocean.

Wonderful songbirds in the trees.

Looking up at Sugarloaf.

The tram to the top of the mountain.

Good view of Rio.

For a better view you can take a helicopter tour.

Sunset over Rio.

Boats in the water.

They look like toy boats or a team of ducks!

Down by the water with the Christ Redeemer in the distance.

Looking out over the city.

A fort seen from the water.

Church behind traffic.

The best Brazilian bbq place in Rio.

We and the Aragaos are ready to eat!

Fine selection of meat.

Complete with all-you-can-eat sushi too.

Luiz’s sister reaches for more while Carmel waits patiently behind her.

A train runs around the restaurant overhead.

Other stuff.

Who really has room for dessert anyway after all that?

Copacabana from above.

Carmel takes an evening stroll at Copacabana.

Nice sandcastle!

Lights of Ipanema.

Say Ipanema!

Carmel turns to smile on the Ipanema path.

An Aragao home-cooked feast! Yum yum!

A band with a repetitive catchy tune that reminded me of acoustic techno.

This happy man dances along.

Sipping a coconut on the hot day.