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| Getting ready for 2014 Carnival Season |
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| Long pier in Rio to accommodate hundreds of cruise ships arriving in Rio each year... |
Arriving from latitude 63 degrees south to latitude 23
degrees south, needless to say that 40 degrees further north the temperatures
rise inversely to the number of latitudes lost. Rio was hot, steamy and –
luckily – without rain.
The steamy and hot attributes not only apply to
temperatures, but to the general ambiance as well. From bikini clad crowds on
the world famous beaches, Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon to the equally steamy
night life with all night bars and hot blooded samba shows.
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| Corcovado - Christ the Redeemer |
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| Trams on Corcovado |
It being my second time here, I needed a quick re-familiarization
with the lay of the city and took a morning tour to Corcovado, the huge
monument of Christ the Redeemer on one of the many spectacular conical
mountains within and around Rio. It definitely gave plenty of time to see the
streetscape of Rio, as traffic on a Friday afternoon was even slower than
normal walking pace, thus leaving extensive opportunities to observe Cariocans
(name for Rio’s citizens) at work and on the beach.
A cog-wheeled tram took visitors from city level to the
summit of Corcovado, a peak which allows an impressive 360 degree panorama of
the huge city, its lagoon, the many green spaces, high-rises and favelas
(slums) and a long row of crescent shaped beaches amongst rows of sugar loaf
shaped peaks. Sugar Loaf itself almost looked dwarfed from the summit of Corcovado,
where the monument rose another 30 meters above the peak itself. Christ is so
large, that door in his shoulders give way to a little path that end on the
figure’s massive outstretched hands. One daring visitor once took the plunge
via parachute into the deep from Christ’s palms.
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| Sugar Loaf Mountain |
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| The Lagoon of Rio, with Ipanema and Leblon Beaches in the background |
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| Corcovado Tour Guide |
The summit platforms
were teeming with tourists, many of them took it into their heads that the best
way to photograph Christ was by laying on their backs and pointing the camera
skywards. One had to be careful not to step on ponytails, pointed tows and
prone bodies.
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| Ipanema boardwalk by night |
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| Samba Show dancers |
We stayed overnight in Rio, so a Samba Show visit was in the
cards. Off I went to a forgettable dinner – followed by a memorable show. Although
actual Samba rhythms were almost absent, the performance combined African
drumming, the karate style local dancing, and an overwhelming display of
spectacular carnival costumes in all colours of the rainbow, and defying
gravity with their towering construction.
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| Colourful costumes... |
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| African Drumming |
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| Wild head gear... |
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| Not too much clothing...after all - it's hot here... |
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| Feathers and glitter |
Midnight in Rio, and people were still playing beach volley
ball on Copacabana Beach…
