Rio de Janeiro…continued

The Beaches

Rio is famous for its beaches. Apparently, three of the more famous ones are Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana. We went to Leblon and Ipanema on day two of our trip and Copacabana on our third and final day in Rio. Day two weather wasn’t great but we made the most of it.

Below are some highlights from the three beaches across the two days:

Taking in all the beach activities, our hotel, a beach side gym, and a detailed walkway.

Slacklining and surfing at the beach.  Even the kids get involved!

Beach acrobatics: he used his elbow (left) and his head (middle) as a springboard - Impressive!

 Enjoying a samba serenade to go along with our lunch.

Pão de Açúcar

Our evening stop on day two was Pão de Açúcar – literal translation is “Bread of Sugar” (aka Sugarloaf Mountain). Along with Cristo Redentor this is one of the major attractions in Rio. To reach the summit we took two cable cars. The first stops at the shorter/smaller Morro da Urca, which gives you a decent view of the city and the second cable car runs from Morro da Urca to the peak of Sugarloaf Mountain. The idea was to arrive right before sunset and take in the amazing view and then slowly watch the city come to life before our very eyes. Unfortunately for us, the weather was not cooperating. It was overcast pretty much all day; I cannot even remember seeing the sun, much rather talk about it setting. On top of all this, it began raining when we arrived. Patience pays off because we decided to wait it out. The rain stopped and the clouds rose just enough to watch the city light up before our eyes.

 Now, I can only imagine how beautiful the sunset would have been but I would definitely recommend doing Sugarloaf in the evening to anyone visiting Rio. I bet it would be breathtaking to see the sunset and then watch the city slowly light up from this peak, especially since Cristo Redentor is only open till 6pm.

 Handgliding

This was a lot of fun and it happened so quickly. We showed up at the landing point, went to an office and saw all the fancy gadgets analyzing wind conditions – wind conditions were great, btw!

Perfect wind conditions

We signed the typical disclaimer, paid R$20 for our flight license (R$15 for the license and R$5 donation for the preservation of the Tijuca Forest National Park).

Don't try to pronounce the name..

On the drive through the National Park, we got a quick series of diving instructions. Here are a couple examples:

• Your instinct is your best friend; it usually tells you not to play with fire or step on a shattered glass. Today, your instinct is your enemy.

• Hang gliding is an extreme, just like marriage is an extreme.

• Hang gliding is an extreme like Yes and No – there are no in-betweens (no maybe, might, or I don’t know)

• When I say Run! You Run!

Most of it was a blur; I just remember laughing as he spoke. Seven minutes later, 1,700ft up in the mountains, we arrived at the launch pad. We put on our safety gear, did two practice “runs” (literal runs of 5 – 10 yards), got strapped in to the equipment and that was it. It was now time to walk to the edge of the mountain, run and jump. The rest, they say, is history.

My Mission Impossible Impersonation

On the runway getting ready to go!

Just after lift off!

In the clouds

"Welcome to my office!"

Uma and Me just after landing

My Favorite moment? 2,000ft in the air right when we descend from the clouds and my pilot, Brenno Chaves, turns to me and asks “Beautiful…no?” I forget exactly what I said – amazing, beautiful, yes, etc…honestly I cannot remember my exact words but he then smiled, took a deep breath and said really calmly “Welcome to my office” with a huge sense of pride.

Thank you Brenno and thank you Rio de Janiero!