Sunday, Day 113 - Apr 29 - 9am to overnight Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Rio has a little bit of a Carnival celebration everyday. From its famous beaches to its iconic statue of Christ the Redeemer, Rio radiates an air of exuberance that is hard to find anywhere else. Enjoy the scene on trendy Ipanema or take a cable car to the summit of Sugar Loaf Mountain and enjoy the amazing views. Sway your hips to the rhythm at a samba show or enjoy the tranquility of King Dom João VI’s Botanical Gardens and verdant Tijuca Forest.  Rio de Janeiro’s Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, consists of an exceptional urban setting encompassing the key natural elements that have shaped and inspired the development of the city from the highest points of the Tijuca National Park’s mountains down to the sea. It also includes the Botanical Gardens, established in 1808, Corcovado Mountain with its celebrated statue of Christ, and the hills around Guanabara Bay, including the extensive designed landscapes along Copacabana Bay which have contributed to the outdoor living culture of this spectacular city. Rio de Janeiro is also recognized for the artistic inspiration it has provided to musicians, landscapers and urbanists.

We were here for two days on the Mariner in 2011 and really enjoyed our two ship’s tours;  the all day tour to Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer with a lunch stop and a night time Samba show and our tour in a private car seeing most of the Rio old town sites. This time we are doing two ship’s free tours and revisiting our favorite places.

The day dawns clear and cool. We are up early and out on the deck by 7:15AM to watch the beautiful sail into Rio. It is one of the prettiest harbors in the world, especially on a beautiful day like today with Sugar Loaf Mountain and Christ the Redeemer on full display.

We go to breakfast at 8AM and then to the theater to get our tickets for our “Highlights of Rio” tour at  9AM. It is scheduled for four hours, but from the beginning things go wrong. First, we are docked in time to start the tour on time but the authorities don’t clear the ship until about 9:30AM so we are already 30 minutes late starting. This wouldn’t be a big problem, but we have a second tour to Sugar Loaf at 2:30PM. It is a long hike from the ship to the terminal, about a long block and a half away, and then through the terminal back the same long block plus and across the street to a parking garage where the buses are parked.

We then drive through downtown to the Cosme Velho district and board the cog railway for the 30-minute ride up to Corcovado. Emperor Dom Pedro II opened the railway in October 1884. At that time it was operated with steam trains but they were replaced with electric trains in 1910. The 2.5-mile railway itself travels through the scenic Tijuca Forest that covers an area of 47 square miles and the ride offers fine views. At the upper terminus, we have breathtaking views over the city. We take an elevator and escalator to reach the very top and the 120-foot-high statue. The view is just as breath taking as we remember.
It is a national holiday with a four day weekend and the area is packed with people also enjoying the grand views. We are told to meet at the train boarding point at 12 Noon to catch the next train down. Not sure if it was a guide foul up or people not getting back on time or just the mass of people, but we miss our train and wind up being divided over the next three trains! It takes an hour and 15 minutes to get everyone back down to the bus. It is now 1:30PM, when we were to be back at the ship, and we still have to drive through the city to the Sao Conrado District and past Rio's beautiful beaches. Normally this would be a nice drive, but the bus is in a big hurry and it is not a nice drive. We get back to the ship as they are loading the two buses for the Sugar Loaf tour. They tell us they will hold the second bus 10 minutes so we can get our tickets and use the restroom. Some people do go on to the tour, but after standing around for the extra hour waiting for everyone to get down so the bus could come pick us up, Dick’s knees are really hurting so we stay on the ship. It is 2:30PM, we are hot, hungry and very foot sore! After off loading the cameras we go to the pool deck for a hamburger. It is now 3PM and we are ruining our dinner! Oh well!

We sit around on the pool deck and read for awhile. It is really pleasant in the shade and the area around the old, port warehouses is very nice since it was cleaned up and restored for the Olympics. There are families and cart vendors all along the new park-like walkway so there is great people watching.

With the very late and large lunch we are not hungry, but decide to go to the Galileo Lounge for cocktails and listen to the music up there. Tonight they have the guitar player who is nice to listen to. One of our favorite waiters is serving the snacks and they have fried calamari tonight, yummmm!! He keeps us well supplied. Finally we decide we need something green after all the fried food. It is late and we score a table for two on the deck off Sette Mari where we enjoy a salad, roasted garlic, bread and olives overlooking the lights of Rio. Not a bad way to end the day.