This was our first trip to the country of Brazil. The only city in Brazil we visited was Rio de Janeiro although we did see the airport at Sao Paulo as we made a connecting flight from Santiago, Chile to Washington DC.
Brazil offically known as The Federative Republic of Brazil is the world's fifth largest country. It contains three main regions. The Amazon basin in the north covers more than half of Brazil. The Amazon, the world's second longest river (first is the Nile River), has a far greater volume than any other river. The second region, the northeast , consists of a costal plain and the inland plateaux and hill country. the main river in this region is the Sao Francisco. The third region is made up of the plateaux in the southeast. This region, which covers about a quarter of the country is the most developed and densely part of Brazil. Its main river is the Parana which flows south through Argentina. The capital is Brasilia.The Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvarez Cabral claimed Brazil for Portugal in 1500.Brazil declared itself independent empire in 1822 and a republic in 1889. from the 1930s, Brazil faced periods of military rule and wide spread corruption. Civilian rule was restored in 1985. Brazil adopted a new constitution in 1988. The population of Brazil is approximately 188 million compared with the United States of 301 million. The offical language is Portuguese and the Currency is the Real. 160 Reals = 1$US. The country is 80% Catholic. Rio de Janeiro was the Capital until 1964 and than it was changed to Brasilia.
As we started our decent into Rio, we could see the density of the population squeezed between the mountains. The clouds formed near the foothills. As we got near the airport the number of housing complexes came in view. After a long airplane taxi ride we arrived at the terminal.
OUR HOTEL: We stayed one night at the Sheraton Rio Hotel and Tower. We were given a room almost at the top of the tower over looking the Leblon and Ipanema beaches. Connecting the the beach on the other end of Ipanema are the beaches of Copacabana and Leme. The two beaches which were the most famous were Ipanema and Copacabana. Ipanema because of the song "the girl from Ipanema" and the Copacabana because of the Hotel Copacabana and expensive living here. I took 5 images from the room window. The first 3 images were taken on the first day and the second two were taken the next morning and you can see that some weather has moved in. The Statue is of Christ the Redeemeer and is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The other six are, the Great wall of China, the Colosseum, the Taj Mahal, Chichen Itza, Macchu Picchu, and Petra. Gail and I have had the fortune, between us, of seeing them all.
CORCOVADO MOUNTAIN: After Breakfast Gail and I met Mauro Novis our driver, who drove us from the airport the previous day. Because of the weather we decided to go to the top of Corcovado Mountain to see the Monument of Christ The Reedeemer.About one-half way up the mountain we stopped to take in a fantastic view of Lake Rodrigo de Freitas. At the far end of the lake is a canel in which the lake flows into the Atlantic Ocean and separates the beaches of Leblon and Ipanema.
On the way down from Corcovado, we decided to visit the town of Santa Teresa. Santa Teresa was originally named after the Carmelite convent founded in 1750. It is set on a hill and has cobbled streets and is compared to Paris' Montmartre an artist and music community. It also has the bonde that is the last of the historic streetcars. Coming down from the mountain we seen a number of trees which contain "Jack Fruit". We we're told that this fruit has a sweet taste and was brought to Rio by the original Portuguese immigrators. Santa Teresa, similar to all of Rio contains a lot of Graffit. Some of it is really art.
After coming down the mountain from Santa Teresa, we took a tour of Downtown and the Metropolitan Cathedral. The Downtown area displayed many ultra modern buildings. but the highlight in my mind was the Metropolitan Cathedral. The Cathedral's walls and top are built such that air flows through them giving a ventilation effect. It provides cooling in the hot days.
The beaches of Rio de Janeiro are quite imoressive. Our hotel was at Leblon beach,next to it but separated by a channel is Ipanema beach, next to Ipanema is Copacobana beach, and the last beach is the least known called Lemi Beach.Along Copacobana beach is the famous hotel where the rich and famous stayed. A number of towns are spreading throughout the town an artist rending of an animal. Longmont had Geese, on the beaches they have cows, These cow are displayed in different colors and positions.
After visiting the beaches of Rio de Janeiro for the last time we headed to board the Ship.
