Usually when you tell people you are going on a holiday somewhere they respond with ‘that’s awesome’ or ‘so jealous’ or ‘you are going to have the best time’ etc etc. However when we told people we were going to Brazil during the World Cup their excitement for us was almost always accompanied by a warning to be safe. Although I appreciated their concern, it gave me mixed feelings toward Brazil leading up to our trip. I was so excited but also nervous mainly because everyone who I had met travelling South America seemed to have some horror story of things getting stolen or being held up.
Our flight was scheduled to arrive in Rio at 5am, which was not an ideal time for us because I knew we wouldn’t be able to check in that early and would be walking around in this foreign (possibly scary) city with not many people about. As we were catching the bus to our hostel the sun was just rising and we got to have a good look at the city. The morning rays cast such a beautiful light over Rio bringing out the bright colours of the houses that I was blown away and completely understood why it’s called the “Cidade Maravilhosa” (the Marvellous City). So I guess it wasn’t all bad arriving so early!
After waking up the hostel owner and dropping our bags off, we headed down to the iconic Copacabana beach. One of the first things we noticed was the police presence everywhere parked at intervals along the beach (I think outside World Cup it would be a completely different experience). This helped us to relax, knowing a policemen was in sight anywhere we went. At that time of the morning, we almost had the whole beach to ourselves, which was perfect for us to enjoy the contrast in scenery of the ocean, mountains on either side and the high rise buildings surrounding the beach. We spent the rest of the day walking around Copacabana and settling into Rio (as soon as the hostel owner said Copa was relatively safe because it’s so touristy, my mentality about the place completely changed and I no longer felt nervous being there).
The next day we decided to go for a free walking tour around downtown (I’m not sure if they are on all the time or just because of the World Cup). I am a massive fan of walking tours because it’s a great way to get your bearings in a new city, show you all the main tourist spots whilst providing detailed information and the guides are usually always locals who can give you good tips about best places to eat/drink/party. The tour was three hours and some of the highlights were:
– Escadaria Selarón: 250 steps covered in over 2000 tiles from all over the world. This was a project by Chilean artist Jorge Selarón who started it in 1990 and continued working on it until his mysterious death in 2013, when he was found at the bottom of the steps with burn marks on his body.
– Aqueduto da Carioca or Arcos da Lapa: A 270 metre aqueduct in the heart of Lapa that was built in the mid 18th century to bring fresh water from the Carioca River to the people in the city. Towards the end of the 19th century a new water supply in Rio, left the the aqueduct redundant. As a result, in 1896 it was transformed into a bridge for a tram, to connect the centre of Rio to the hills of Santa Teresa neighbourhood. The trams are currently not running after one of them derailed in August 2011, unfortunately killing five people and injuring 57.
– Catedral Metropolitana de São Sebastião: Arguably one of the ugliest exteriors of a cathedral I have seen. It is in the shape of a cone 75 metres high, and apparently it has a modern design based on the Mayan architectural style of their pyramids. Inside it is quite beautiful with the alter in the middle, seating around the outside and four large, colourful stained glass windows that you can’t help but look up towards.
After the tour, when Xave was speaking to the guide about the best surfing spots in Rio, the guide also mentioned that he was going to an open party at a favela that night, which happens on the first Saturday of every month. The party starts at 5ish and if you get there in the light you can watch the sunset over Rio. We didn’t have any plans that night so decided to go along.
Unfortunately we lost track of time during the day, so when we got off at Botafogo metro station it was dark and we were in an unfamiliar area walking along Rua São Clemente to get to Santa Marta favela where the party was. After about 7 mins of walking, on the right hand side there was a little park, a road winding up a hill, a sign saying Santa Marta and some policemen. We took the policemen to be a good sign and in very broken Portuguese and charades tried to ask where the party was. They pointed up the winding hill and kept saying ‘Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson’ which meant absolutely nothing to us. As they hadn’t deterred us from going up the hill we decided to walk up it. As we were walking, we passed people hanging outside houses turned supermarkest/bars watching us go by and I started freaking out (our second night in Rio and although pacified we were walking into a favela)!
Xave adamant that our tour guide wouldn’t have recommended us this place if it wasn’t safe encouraged me to keep going. We eventually reached a fork where the road continued to the left one way or straight ahead, stairs led up the hill. Not knowing which way to go we tried to ask people but couldn’t get an answer. Feeling so out of place and unsafe at this stage I pleaded with Xave to get out of there. He eventually agreed so we started walking down the hill again. Luckily we ran into a Brazilian couple who could speak perfect English and were going to the party as well. At the fork in the road we turned right up a ramp (we hadn’t even noticed before) which led to a funicular that took us up the hill.
Once out of the funicular we followed some narrow lanes and ended up in a courtyard where a samba band were playing in the middle and little tables selling food and drinks around the outside had been set up. Because we were up so high we had a great view of the twinkling lights that made up the city below but were kicking ourselves for not getting there earlier to see the sunset. Just near the look out is a statue, yep you guessed it, of Michael Jackson!! The reason for it, is because he filmed some of his film clip ‘They Don’t Really Care About Us’ which was released in March 1996 (I googled the film clip when I got home and it was exciting to see the favela where we had just been).
The party was great and a highlight of our trip so far. We got to try some local stew and of course plenty of their famous cocktails Caipirinhas which is a combination of Cachaça (distilled sugar cane liquor), lime juice and sugar. The party was mostly locals, we were basically the only gringos there (english-speaking foreigners) so lucky the couple we were with wanted to hang out with us because we can’t speak any Portuguese. We felt completely safe the whole time we were there, kids were running around trying to sell us pictures that they had drawn and the inhabitants of the favela opened up the houses so you could use their bathrooms for a small fee (R$2). It very much had that community feel about it where people look out and help each other. I guess you would get to know your neighbours well when they have built their house right on top of yours!
The following day, Copacabana beach on a weekend was completely different to our weekday experience. There were so many people on the beach it was hard to see the sand. It was a mission trying to find a spot to sit and then to actually get there without knocking over the hundred of colourful umbrellas or stepping on the thousands of towels scattered everywhere. One of my favourite things about Copacabana is you can buy almost anything you need for the beach without moving from your position. Vendors selling food, drinks, beers, sunglasses, sarongs, towels and even bikinis are constantly walking around trying to get you to buy their products. Unlike in Asia they don’t harass you either, once you say no they just move on to the next person.
All too soon we had to leave for Manaus to watch our FIFA football matches.
Every Country 