Then on to Rio where we stayed at the famous Ipanema Beach and absolutely loved it. We drove to the top of Corcovada Mountain to see the world famous Cristo Redentor, the 123 foot high statue of Christ that can be seen from all over Rio. We rode the cable cars up to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain for a view of Rio’s white sand beaches, blue sea and lush green hills that seem to erupt out of the ocean.
One day we took a tour to visit two of the favelas, the largest being Rochinha where 60,000 inhabitants live in a rabbit-warn of tiny streets with basically no services except on the one main street. Their homes are anything from cardboard to ‘found’ objects to bricks made from the mud. The neighborhood is controlled by drug traffickers whose strict code of self policing resolves problems within the community so it is a dangerous place to live. As far as the government is concerned they don’t exist but our tour guide told us that 20% of the population lives in favelas and there are 750 of them in Rio. It was an interesting look at a Rio that few tourists ever bother to see.
We also went hang gliding which was amazing, spent an evening at a Samba Club and another night in a Bossa Nova Club listening to the music of Carlos Antonio Jobim. Rio was a magical place and we definitely felt like the Girls from Ipanema.
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