Well after so much time travelling now, it was hard to believe we were actually here! But Rio de Janeiro has been absolutely amazing!
We arrived to misty drizzle. Not exactly how you see it on tv. Apparently it rains a lot in summer so the last month of rain has been unusually early. So our first day was quiet, we had a wander around Copacabana where we were staying, then went out for our final dinner of the tour.
The next day we woke up hopeful, but unfortunately, misty drizzle again. So we canned our initial plan of a city tour, deciding instead to split up the sights by fine weather and wet weather activities, and went for a walk around Copacabana beach and to nearby Ipanema beach. The white beaches were stunning even in cloudy weather.
In the afternoon we went on a favela tour. It sounds horrible, going on a tour of one of Rio's poorest areas, but we had been told it was a must-do and it was really interesting. The favela we visited was Rocinha, which is the largest with an estimated 300,000 inhabitants. The favelas started when the poor could not afford city prices, so knocked down trees on the hills, where it was public land, and built houses. They are tiny houses all stacked together with tiny staircases and access ways sneaking between them. They tap government electricity so that they can have it for free, with lots of cables attached precariously to each power pole and street light. Our guide told us that many live in the favelas as the minimum wage in Rio is $650 Reais per month ~NZ$375, and the rental of even the tiniest city apartment in the south of the city costs ~$2000 Reais per month. They can make a living in the favela, some having shops in the bottom floor of their houses, or even owning multiple houses and receiving rent income, so some can even afford to leave but choose not to. It absolutely poured down and we were soaked, but the favela tour was an eye-opener. On the way back to the hostel the weather cleared briefly and we caught our first glimpse of Christ the Redeemer!
So the following day was still forecast to be cloudy but clearing, so we went to explore the city. The business district is very pretty, with some very old and some very new interesting architecture, including a round cathedral. This building was like an alien version of the beehive, with amazing stained glass inside. We made our way through the city to Lapa and the Selaron stairs (you know, the tiled stairway which features in the Snoop Dogg video 'Beautiful'!). They are awesome and we managed to find the kiwi-themed tiles and pose just like the video, great fun!
The sun had come out, so we decided to race to the Christ the Redeemer. Unfortunately, as soon as we got off the bus, we saw the cloud rise up the hill and over him, so we decided Jesus didn't want us to visit that day.
Sam Fact #1: Rio de Janeiro literally means River of January. It is named as such because it was discovered by the Portuguese on the 1st of January 1502. They believed they had found the mouth of a river, but in fact it was a narrow mouth of a large harbour.
Sam Fact #2: Rio has a total of 95 favelas. The name 'favela' comes from the name of a plant that was cleared to make way for the original Rio slum.
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