We originally booked an Air Bnb here to stay in an area called Santa Teresa, but the more we spoke to people, the more we were told it is dangerous as it is surrounded by favellas and it wouldn’t be safe for us to walk the streets at night without being robbed. So, we cancelled and booked another place one block from Copacabana beach!
We arrived and the host met us and checked us in. We went for some food and then straight to copacabana beach for the rest of the day. The beach is huge and not very peaceful at all. All you can hear constantly is people walking up and down shouting whatever it is they are selling, for example… “Agua Agua Aguaaaaa”. At one point, Kerry took a video as there was 8 of them around us shouting things. In the evening we went to a bar which was recommended to us by the air bnb host and was very popular online. We wasn’t sure why as there were just plastic tables and chairs outside and everyone stood on the street, but it was a good atmosphere and it was cheap. We met a gay couple and had a laugh with them!
The next day, we walked to the lake and then spent the rest of our day at Ipanema beach. This was similar to Copacabana beach, but cleaner. In the evening, we went to a bar called Bip Bip for a ‘bossanova’ night. None of us knew what this was but basically there was a band on, playing instruments and singing and everyone was stood and sat around joining in and then when they had finished each song, rather than clap, they clicked their fingers. The system in this place was strange. There was an old sweaty, bearded, grumpy owner sat at a table in front of the entrance and a fridge of beers at the back. You went and got your own beers, gave the owner your name and he tallied it up until the end of the night.
The next day, we had a walk around Copacabana and then headed to the beach again. In the evening, went back to the same bar we went to on night one.
The next day, we went to Sugar Loaf mountain. We picked a pretty bad day for it, as it was the only cloudy day in our whole time here and when we got to the top, it wasn’t the best view (although it did still look good!). On our way up, we saw marmosets in the trees. Once we got down, there was a huge storm. We have never seen rain like it, there were huge puddles in the streets and we got drenched! In the evening, we went to an area called Lapa which is the party area and we both got very drunk danced to a samba band. It was a really fun night!
Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon was a bit of a write off. Rio 1-0 Kerry and Jonho. We think we are getting a bit old for the drinking. We stayed in the apartment all day and didn’t do much. In the evening, we went to the samba school performance as they were rehearsing for carnival. This was good to see as we won’t be here for carnival 😦 There were lots of dancers wearing next to nothing and huge feathered headpieces and a samba band.
The next day, we went to Christ the Redeemer. It was a really sunny, hot day and clear skies so it was much better than when we went up sugar loaf mountain. We both thought this was a better view of the city. After this, we went to Lapa to see the arches which is what Lapa is known for, and to see what it is like during the day time. We also went to the famous staircase which leads up to Santa Teresa. It started to get dark so we didn’t go much further than this, as we were told it can be dangerous. In the evening we went back to Bip Bip to see the sweaty old man again. There was a samba band on and everyone singing along again.
On our final day in Rio, we went to the botanical gardens. These were nice to walk around, there were some lakes with fish and turtles in and we saw more marmosets in the trees here! Afterwards, we went to Copacabana beach again. In the evening, we went to one of the beach bars and had drinks there.. The beer is so cheap here (£2.50 for a litre).
The next morning, we got up and packed. We are currently waiting to check out and head to the airport for our flight to MADRID…
Kerry and Jonho's Travels 