Rio´s setting is spectacular - blue seas and white sands surrounded by mountains and rainforest - and even though we only experienced half a day of sunshine there, we could still understand why visitors love it and call it paradise!
One of our highlights was visiting the favela´s, where the poorest of the city lives. It was an eye-opening experience. Many dwellings consist of not much more than a few boards pounded together, and drug dealers and crime are prominent. We went into the Rocinha favela which is Rio´s largest, housing some 160,000 people! It was like a small city, with shops such as butchers and grocery stores (and even banks!) all located inside the favela. Access to clean water, sewage and healthcare is only enjoyed by a few of the larger favela´s such as this one. That Brazil has one of the widest income gaps in the world was very evident here - the Rocinha favela sat right alongside one of RIo´s wealthiest suburbs.
One of our major disappointments was when we went to see Christo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer), the huge statue on top of the peak known as Corcovado and with awesome views of the city. The weather was finally sunny, so we decided to head up, but unfortunately everyone else had the same idea. After a 3 hour wait we finally made it to the top, but by this time heavy cloud had settled in and made it difficult to view Christo Redentor (only about 20 meters away!) let alone see any of the city below...major fail! The photos below of this are about as good as it got! Fortunately we did manage to get some decent views of the city the following day when we went up Pao de Açucar (Sugarloaf).
Despite little good weather in Rio, we did still make it to the beach a couple of times to enjoy life as the cariocas (Rio´s residents) do...relaxing on the beach with a caipirinha in hand!
COPACABANA BEACH:
IPANEMA BEACH:
FAVELA VISIT:
CHRISTO REDENTOR:
SUGARLOAF:
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