Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2)

Rio is one of the most beautifully situated cities I have ever visited, in terms of its natural setting. The city sprawls between hills, next to forests and around lagoons, and is edged by kilometres and kilometres of long beaches. Cape Town and Honolulu are nicely situated, too, but Rio gets the blue ribbon.

Copacabana beach (almost 5 km of it) runs into Ipanema beach runs into Leblon beach. They are constantly busy, even during the week. They epitomise the sense that Rio is running on high energy all the time – lots of people, lots of sunshine, lots of noise, lots of traffic. Rio beaches have pipes running the down towards the sea, which sprinkle water on the sand. This cools the sand so beach-goers can walk to the water. Isn’t that clever?

See the very distinctive pavement design along Copacabana beach? Those wavy lines are constructed from the ballast in the trading ships. These stones arrived in a ship, and were replaced with sugar, rubber or coffee to take back to Europe.

This is our beach, Praia do Vidigal, where we stayed, a little south of Leblon. The section of the beach to the left of the big rock, with the white umbrellas, was reserved for us hotel guests; the part of the beach with colourful umbrellas was for everybody.

On the hill behind the hotel was the inevitable favela, an informal settlement. Every neighbourhood in Rio (except one) has a favela on the hill behind the more established houses. All of our guides have emphasised that most favela-dwellers are hardworking, decent people, and only a small percentage are involved in criminal and drug activity.

History is evident in the city, everywhere. It’s an old city, established in the 1500s, and funded significantly by sugar plantations and the slave trade. Portugal was the largest slave trader in the world. More slaves were sent to Brazil than anywhere else, other than the Caribbean.

Sugar cane and sugar production was the gold of Brazil. Okay, it also had actual gold (and coffee and rubber) but it was the demand for sugar by Europe in the 1600s and 1700s that really drove the trade at that time. No surprise, then, that one of the small mountains in Rio is called Sugar Loaf. It looks like the loaves that sugar was shaped in for transport to Europe.

There are two cable cars that go up Sugar Loaf. I approve of the fact that the ticket explicitly forbades acts of violence.

From the top, the view is sensational. The whole crazy city is laid out in front of you.

And across the way (sorry), is the statue of Christ the Redeemer. It stands on the hill called Corcovado and looms over the city, both physically and spiritually.

It's visible from the streets, from almost everywhere in the city.

The statue of Christ the Redeemer was erected in 1922 to mark the 100th anniversary of Brazil’s independence from Portugal. (Aside: Nothing was erected for the 200th anniversary in 2022, during Bolsonaro’s time. Apparently no one trusted him to make the right choice.) The statue is truly, truly beautiful. In Art Deco style, it has a simplicity and a grace that's moving, whatever your beliefs. The face is particularly beautiful. Can you see the heart?

The statue is visited by 2 million people annually and I estimate that about 1 million were there on the same day as us. I’m not even going to mention COVID. At least we were outside! If 2 million people visit annually, I reckon about 200 million selfies are taken with the statue. It was almost comical watching the young (yes, really) people with their phones. Almost comical, when we weren’t ducking phones and arms outstretched to pose with the statue.

No cable-car this time, but instead a tram that climbs the mountain. It travels through a national park, very dense, with lots of hiking paths. We’ll do some walking through the park next time, perhaps.

Ken took these videos at the top of Sugar Loaf. They provide a 360 degree view from the peak, in three parts. Orientate yourself with Christ the Redeemer statue.

Of course in Rio we had Brazilian barbecue and many, many caipirinhas. I learned how to make a caipirinha from a Carioca (a Rio local). Have bought some cachaça to take home.

Rio is wonderful, but it’s pretty full on. Maybe this is where all the energy for Carnaval comes from.

Next: Ilha Grande, on the south Brazilian coast