We're Here!

 

We've officially landed in Rio de Janeiro after a very pleasant 10 hour flight from Houston to Rio. The plane was half empty in the back so we both got whole rows entirely to ourselves.  Though, I now know I need to get a face bra. You know, those funny things that you put over your eyes in the daytime? I guess technically they are called "eye masks" but when I saw Justin wearing one, all I could think of is face bra.

We landed in Rio, went through the fastest customs and immigration station ever (they look at your passport, your visa, and wave you through), grabbed our already awaiting bags off the luggage carousel and headed out to find a cab to take us to our hotel in Copacabana. We were walking through the terminal when a cute girl walked up and said "I know this is a strange question, but are you going anywhere near Ipanema or Copacabana?" We said yes so she asked if she could share a cab. Her name was Samantha and was from Michigan and was heading to a hostel in the Ipanema area in Rio. Ipanema is next to Copacabana, about a 5 minute taxi ride from each other. She joined us in the cab which I have to say was a nice addition since we arrived in Rio at about 8:15am which meant we were heading into morning gridlock. The traffic was terrible and so are the drivers. They drive similar to Asia (apparently the lines in the road are purely aesthetic). It turned out to be a 40 or so minute drive into Copacabana and I frequently got distracted from my conversation with Samantha due to a car coming inches to ours. I was really happy she joined us on the ride so I could try to concentrate on something else most of the time. We got into Copacabana and the cab driver found our hotel. As we pulled up we asked Samantha if she would like to join us for the day while we saw some sights. She said yes so we checked into the hotel and stored all of our bags in the room and headed out. We found a note on the front door of the hotel announcing an 8:30pm meeting with our GAP Adventures tour leader as well as the other members of the group. It was only about 10am so we knew we had plenty of time to see some of the sights. Those included the world famous Christ the Endeavor statue as well as Sugar Loaf and obviously, the beach! We walked 2 blocks down to the waterfront and walked down to the water just to check it out. The water was pretty warm. The beach, beautiful. We then started walking up the beach admiring the amazing view and loving the 85 degree temperature. We found an information booth and stopped to ask about how we could get to the Cristo statue. They said it was closed. Whaaat??? Apparently the bad rain lately here washed out some roads leading up the statue. The statue was also due for some restoration. We walked away disappointed but decided to go see Sugar Loaf instead.  Samantha instead decided she'd go back to the hotel, grab her bag, and make her way to her hostel and check in. She passed on Sugar Loaf since she had a friend coming into town the following day and wanted to be able to go with her friend. So we walked back to the hotel, got Samantha's bag, found her a cab, and decided to coordinate dinner plans for later that night. We'd meet her over at her hostel since it wasn't that far and it meant we got to see another area of Rio.

Copacabana and Ipanema to the left, Cristo up to the right

We said goodbye and Justin and I headed back out again to see Sugar Loaf by ourselves. Sugar Loaf is 3 huge mountains connected by 2 gondolas. Each mountain is higher than the next. By the time you get to the top, the birds are literally flying below you. That's how high it is. But what is even more intriguing about it is the mountains are actually ROCK, not earth. The sides are all bare and what vegetation is there grows out of the rock face. But let me say the view was breathtaking. You can see all of Rio, Copacabana AND Ipanema and some of the other districts we didn't even know were there. We could even see the poor Cristo covered in scaffolding. So while that sucked that we didn't get to see the Cristo up close, the trip to Sugar Loaf still made the day worth while. We stayed there for a couple of hours, even getting a beer at the snack shack, and then headed back down the mountain and back to the hotel to take a quick nap and get ready to head over to meet Samantha for dinner.

Justin and I both took a quick nap and grabbed a cab to Samantha's hostel. She lead us out into Ipanema to get a drink and a bite to eat. We settled on a little Mexican (I know…) restaurant that had a nice open patio 2 blocks from the beach. We all ordered Caipirinhas since it's THE drink of Brazil. It's made of sugarcane rum (cashaca, pronounced ca-shasa), lime, and sugar. It's pretty tasty, but SWEET. We also ordered some finger foods to satisfy our appetites. Guacamole with chips and French fries with chile powder and sour cream. Both were good though the fries were a little soggy. We all ordered a couple drinks each so instead of staying at the Mexican restaurant where the drinks weren't cheap, we decided to track down a grocery store. Samantha thought she knew where one was so we headed off. 15 minutes later, nothing so we started asking around. Samantha even asked a police officer where the "supermarche" was which I had to give her a hard time about (supermercado is the correct term). When he shrugged his shoulders she replied with "vodka". Even funnier! She said she figured "vodka" was a universal term and he'd figure out what we were looking for. LOL! Nope. So we kept going until we saw a hotel and I ran in to ask the desk clerk if there was a grocery store around. The answer, 2 blocks. Of course, Sam had to take credit for putting us in the right direction. I called shenanigans. We finally found a grocery store and got a bottle of rum and vodka and some coke and sprite to make our own drinks and made our way down to the beach to enjoy the evening with the sound of the ocean in the background. The only thing was we had wasted 30 minutes looking for the store so by the time we got to the beach, we didn't have much time to enjoy it. We stayed for about an hour then Justin and I had to leave by 8 to catch a cab back to the hotel for our first GAP Adventures meeting and meet the rest of the travel group. I'll be honest, I would have been plenty happy to spend the rest of the night there on the beach with Samantha but Justin said we really had to show up for the first meeting. Damn him…We walked Samantha to within a block of her hostel and grabbed a cab back to Copacabana. Upon arriving a few blocks away (it was easier to direct them to the Marriott and walk), I exited first and Justin stayed behind to pay for the fare. As he walked up to me, he patted down his pockets and said "my wallet is in the cab" and we both looked up to see the cab speeding away back into Rio traffic. Since we paid cash, we didn't even have a receipt for a number to call. He lost his driver's license, credit card, ATM card, and a few hundred dollars in US dollars. Day 1 of the trip, already a wallet down. I felt badly for him but he wasn't going to let it ruin his trip. We went back to the hotel to meet the rest of the travel group, get the trip itinerary, and then head out for a first drink as a group. It ended up being a lot of fun and the group is amazing. It consists of Justin and myself, 2 New Zealanders, James and Sarah, 2 Scots, Andrew and Elizabeth, 1 Irishman, Gary, and 5 Brits, Suzanne, Hannah, Lydia, Amanda, and Thom. We had a great night laughing and drinking and enjoying each other's company and are looking forward to day 2.