by Greg

Brazil; home of football, corruption and now we are finding out you are basically living in a bubble if you are middle class or above. A huge discrepancy exist between rich and poor, maybe the widest of any developing country. We are staying on the recommended south end on a hilltop (the Santa Teresa and Lapa areas) overlooking Rio – basically as safe as it gets outside of having our own mobile brinks alarm system and armored car. We set out on our standard day of exploring on our own and once again we were told to take taxis after dark. So what are we expected to do?? Hop in a taxi and grab dinner, hop in another taxi and head to a bar, club, or show, hop in another taxi to go home. Not our style, we need to find some middle ground between being courted by a local travel guide and doing our own thing while staying safe. Maybe we should go back to bird watching . I chalk some of this feeling up to the day one jitters of going into a new city where everyone and everything is new…including the language (we were just getting the hang of Spanish, and now it is Portuguese). By day two we have typically settled in and can enjoy our surroundings with fresh eyes, day three we might as well be locals, except we don’t speak Portuguese and as much as people say it’s just like Spanish no one understands what we are saying in English or Spanish. This morning for breakfast I did my usual point to the menu item approach, all was good until I attempted to get my omelette cooked well done. I was served a plain egg white omelette, not the worst meal considering I had my first bout of some food poising yesterday. While on the subject of breakfast the yogurt and juices in South America have been off the charts! We can’t get enough. The Lindy’s have been on the fresh juice bandwagon for quite some time…they’ll be in heaven when they get here.

Rio is undoubtedly improving in many aspects of life however the entire country has a long way to go. Our guide thinks it is safe but then again he has been held up a knife point and once in his car by gun. He feels it’s still safe because only a few incidents in his whole life and they all happened “quickly” as he said.  This perspective gives you some perspective on how different locals perceive safety versus the general US perspective on safety (3 perspectives in one sentence, now thats talent).

Today we set out on bike and rode up and down the lake and beaches, this area is the reason people come to Rio so you can forget my earlier comments on safety.  Just stay out of the city area, probably a good decision in most large cities across the world. Take for instance D.C. where three quarters of the city has never been seen by most people who have lived in the area our whole lives. Not sure why when traveling we want to see and do things that you would never do at home. Have you have taken a tour or had the desire to stroll down some random streets in SE? Point made! Now back to paradise, hundreds of mini soccer fields and volleyball courts line the beach where speedo wearing men and g-string wearing females fill up the courts. Sprinkled among the organized games a groups of four or five people juggling a soccer ball amongst themselves, probably a warm up while waiting for the next opening to play.  At the end of the beach you will find small restaurants lined with coconuts waiting to be cracked open for the water and an ocassionally make shift group of guys playing samba music. Then the wide walking path next to a bike path sets the stage for daily strolls of people watching, this would never get old. I dont know about you but I can look at brazilian butts all day:).

We made our way to Copacaba Beach, beautiful like the rest of the area with not much differentiating it from other areas. It is basically over played its hand and now the hot beach called Ipanema next door is where the action is at.

Time to jump in the car and head up the mountain to the famous christ the redeemer statue, set on top of a 3,000ft point overlooking Rio makes it a dramatic experience. Views from the platform are breathtaking and now we have a better perspective of why Rio is viewed as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

The next day we drove three hours south along the coastline, very reminiscent of the PCH in California. Large S turns hug the coast with the road high above small beach towns nestled into small bays. Every ten minutes the road swoops down into another small village we pass by, we are having “no schedule” envy for the first time. We need to make our way back here and spend some unplanned time stopping in these small towns to blend into the local life where I’m sure there is not a care in the world especially since Brazilians are known for living in the moment. The mountain ranges take a beach town feel and mash it with a jungle next door so you can have the best of both worlds. Surf and chill on the beach in the morning then strap on the hiking shoes and go trekking up a mountain or repelling in the afternoon.

The old colonial town of Paraty awaits us then a three day Kayaking trip down the coast…

For Rio pictures click here: Rio de Janeiro