What a day! An early start as we arrived before 6 am – to see the Redeemer statue floodlit and the Sugar Loaf just being lit by the sunrise – magical! The ship slid into the harbour as the sun rose over the Brazilian Navy and then did a 180 turn to come into the berth backwards just ahead of MV Discovery as we had breakfast.
Our new friends the Moorhouses had a contact in Rio who had arranged Frank, our guide and a minibus to take us around for the day, so off we went on a private tour, starting with a trip up the rack-and-pinion railway to the top of the Corcovado Mountain with the Christ The Redeemer Statue. (Statue was built after a public vote to find a symbol for the city and built in 1931)
Just time for a quick coffee before our trip through the forest up the very steep track almost to the top, where there are 300 steps and a short escalator! What a view – perfect day, no clouds and a panoramic of the whole of Rio.
Next top the paraglide! It was Jaki Moorhouses’ idea and the rest of us had dismissed it as too dangerous, but when we got there it didn’t seem so bad, so Richard, Felicity and I agreed to do it – at ground level! Probably about the trickiest was the drive up, with all the pilots driving like Ayrton Senna up a winding track.
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| A proper liner |
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| Above the helicopters |
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| Northern Rio |
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| Landed! |
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| On the way down |
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| Aussies on CTR |
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| Ready to board |
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| Rio & lagoon |
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| Cablecar |
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| Base of the Sugar Loaf |
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| Coming in to land |
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| Copacabana |
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| CTR at dawn |
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| Monument silhouette |
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| Monument silhouette |
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| Rio at dawn |
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| Sunrise over the Navy |
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| Not that bad after all! |
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| Favella |
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| Flags in the station |
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| Sugar Loaf at dawn |
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| Intrepid tourists |
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| Landing beach |
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| Final approach |
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| The train |
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| Copacabana |
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| A large ship a long way off |
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| Felicity |
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| The North from the SLM |
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| Paraglider landing |
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| It's fun now! |
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| Cunard please note! |
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| Rio traffic |
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| On the way to the Sugar Loaf |
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| On the beach |
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| P at the monument |
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| Quarantine Island |
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| R & P halfway up the cablecar |
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| R at the Monument |
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| Rio and racetrack |
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| Ready for takeoff |
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| Christ the Redeemer in the sunlight |
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| Rio from the train |
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| View from SLM |
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| Rio and the bridge |
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| Sandcastles |
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| Sugar Loaf |
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| Sunrise |
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| Dangerous dessert |
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| Coming In |
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| Band on the train |
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| Monument at dawn |
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| Christ The Redeemer |
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| Monument from the train |
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| Poster at the top |
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| Track through the town |
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| Cablecar |
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| Rio from the train |
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| Ready & waiting |
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| We flew from there! |
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| Safely down |
Don’t ask about the take-off – suffice to say you don’t look down the almost vertical strip down which you have to walk or run to get lift! 15 minutes of exciting gliding and you’re on the beach ready for a beer. Paul and Pauline manned the bus and got the drinks in!
Frank took us to a brilliant restaurant for lunch – a buffet that put Cunard to shame! Then off to Sugar Loaf for a trip up the cablecar via the eye-candy beaches at Ipanema and Copacabana – sounds really chic! Millions of people on the beaches, which are really colourful with all the sunshades and sandcastles.
A new Swiss cablecar (original 1912) takes you up in 2 stages to a fantastic viewpoint at the top, with a different perspective of the city.
R & F left us for their hotel – they had a night ashore before their private trip to Iguassu to see the falls there, while we went back for a late cup of tea as the ship sailed into the night at 11pm – another romantic departure as the city lights provided a foreground to the mountains.
On our way to Montevideo now at a steady 19 knots – very humid – 2 sea days before we hopefully meet up with the independent travellers again.
Such a lot of photos on this page that haven’t titled them, but I’m sure you can work it out! The computer loads them in a funny way too, so they aren’t in the right order – never mind!
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