Rio De Janeiro Brazil
Adventuring
Thursday, April 24 2008
Me relaxing at the Eco Lodge in the Amazon.
We left the Eco Lodge this morning and arrived at the
Manaus airport via a short boat cruise and then bus ride. We traveled with
our new friends Frank and Angela. They were fellow lodge guests and we got
to know them on our many guided excursions. Frank
and Angela is a young Chinese couple that had been living and working in New
York. They had left New York and were on their way to Hong Kong being
relocated by Frank's company there.
The flight from Manaus to Rio was a real pain as it went
via Sao Paulo. This added more time to the journey by itself but when you
added the disorganization we encountered at Sao Paul airport the trip ended
up taking 7 hours. We were picked up at the Rio airport and deposited at our
excellent hotel in Copacabana. The hotel was very nice and made up for the
horrid flight we had just taken.
Friday, April 25 2008
Julia at a waterfall on our way up to Parrot's Peak.
After a lovely buffet breakfast we were picked up by our
guide from Rio Hiking and driven to Tijuca Park. This
is a very beautiful park right in the center of the city. It is full of
magnificent jungle and was replanted after being cut down to grow coffee and
tea. This venture failed and so in 1857 seven slaves started replanting the
jungle.
It took them 30 years to finish! Anyway the place is
certainly fantastic now. We hiked up a mountain called Parrot's Peak which
took 2 hours and was up hill all the way. The last 15 minutes required us to
scramble over steep rocks to reach the top. The view of the city there was
inspirational. We were glad to get back to the hotel, have dinner then go to
bed after this excellent day.
Tijuca Park In Reo
Saturday, April 26 2008
Me looking very happy soaring like a bird over Rio.
What
a day this was! In the morning I went up a peak in Rio and leaped off of it.
I had a hang glider strapped on my back so it was a smooth landing on a
beach and not a bone crushing splat.
Hang-gliding Video
Julia did not make the leap of faith citing that she just
did not want anymore broken bones after her broken arm last year, which she
received when we went rollerblading in Oakland; who could blame her.
Julia surrounded by vultures as we made our accent of the peak.
Once
the flying was over with we returned to our hotel for some lunch by the
Copacabana beach.
Then we were picked up by a Rio Hiking guide and driven
to Sugarloaf Mountain which is another huge peak in the city of Rio; we then
hiked and rock climbed up to the peak of Sugarloaf Mountain.
Sugarloaf Peak Video
The views on this excursion were magnificent and
breathtaking. Julia and I both agreed that Rio has replaced San Francisco as
our most beautiful city we have experienced so far.
Julia making her fist ever difficult rock climbing
move.
Not
only was there some very strenuous hiking required on this trek, but we had
to make a fairly difficult rock climb at the top of the hike.
The climb was even more difficult as it was very exposed
and Julia had never climbed before. The guides gave excellent instruction so
we all made it safely up to the top.
Julia looking pleased with herself after completing the climb.
Rock climbing Video
The views at the top of Sugarloaf were spectacular and
once again we were very happy to make it back to our hotel and to sleep
after another very exciting day.
Sunday, April 27 2008
Julia on the river.
It
was an early rise for us today so we could make the two hour drive to our
river rafting experience. We travelled through some not so nice areas of Rio
on our way to the river; this gave us a view into a side of Rio we had not
seen; very depressing.
We were soon on the river bouncing up and down on the
waves and rocks. It was a beautiful day warm and humid so being on and in
the river was the right place to be.
River rafting Video