Hot Day in Rio!

Yesterday morning we sailed into Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Here is what (part of) the skyline looked like from our deck. I'm also posting a short video of the Rio–Niterói Bridge, a bridge crossing Guanabara Bay that greeted us as we sailed in.

 

Sailing into Rio de Janiero, Brazil

 

Rio de Janeiro (“River of January”) is the capital of the state and the second most populous city in Brazil. The city is huge, with part of it a World Heritage Site named “Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea.” It is known for several things – its beautiful beaches (including Copacabana and Ipanema), Christ the Redeemer statue, Sugarloaf Mountain and the Carnaval festival among others. Thankfully, this year’s Carnaval is already over because we certainly wouldn’t want to get stuck in traffic while that was going on!

Yesterday was a fun (but exhausting) day! It was hot, hot, hot in Rio!! We walked probably a half mile to reach the 4 wheel drive jeeps that would take us to the almost eerily quiet 8,200-acre Tijuca National Park in the middle of a bustling city. Our first stop was at the Taunay Waterfalls where we observed these racoon-like animals in the wild as well as the waterfalls and people of all ages swimming and playing in the pools below. We drove further up the mountain where we got out and hiked for a distance in the dense forest, all the while our guide explaining about the many different species of trees and plants that we were seeing as we climbed.

 

4 wheel open air jeep

Taunay Waterfalls

other side of bridge - water from falls

South American coati

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

behaving much like raccoons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hiked through the forest with our guide stopping to name and give information about all kinds of trees and foliage as we went. It was amazingly quiet except for the occasional sound of a bird or monkey.

 

 

From there we rode up to the Chinese Lookout where we were surprised with views of Corcovado and Sugarloaf mountains and the famous Ipanema Beach. I was also surprised that we could see the Christ the Redeemer statue from that vantage point. This is where I wished I'd had a good telephoto lens!  You can't really see it in the photo below, but it sits atop the leftmost peak. Below is a short video I made standing on the Chinese Lookout.

Christ the Redeemer on left highest peak, Mount Corcovado

overlooks the city of Rio de Janeiro

The statue, though it looks tiny here, is 98 feet tall, weighs 635 metric tons (700 short tons) and is located at the peak of the Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca National Park. It overlooks the city of Rio de Janeiro. A cog train will take you to the top to see it, but I'm told there are tons of visitors there and the only way to get a really good photo of it (the postcard view) is by helicopter. So I was pleased to get the shots I did, given I didn't have a long telephoto lens.

The above photos were all taken in the Tijuca National Park but of course I took way too many so I will post the Botanical Garden photos separately.