The Marvelous City of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (continued)

Tue Dec 6
On our next to last day we visited Rio de Janeiro. This has got to be one of the world's most beautiful cities with the surrounding nearly vertical mountains of solid rock, the tropical vegetation everywhere, the beautiful beaches, lagoons, islands and etc.

Notice reflections of adjacent buildings mirrored in the glass surface of this building

There are so many unique places to see and experience. Bus tours are always difficult for taking pictures except at stops and one-day tours in such a diversified city are barely able to scratch the surface. Much more time would be needed to really enjoy Rio. The first highlight was the very steep train ride to the 120-foot tall Chirst Redeemer statue on the top of Corcovado mountain at 2330 feet above the city below. Because the track is so steep the required drive is a cogged wheel engaged in the linear gear laid between the tracks.

Train station

A little fun while waiting for the train

Pictures never seem to show steepness

 

I say the train ride was most interesting because the statue was barely visible through the fog and the beautiful views below were totally obscured. We were very disappointed to say the least.

Part of what we could have seen without the fog

From there we toured the city and Ipanema and Copacabana beach areas. These are incredibly beautiful beaches with very wide expanses of sand.

One of many really neat and detailed sand sculptures we passed

We lunched at another churrascaria restaurant but the setting and crowd did not make it as pleasant as the one in Ilheus although the food was very good. From there we visited Sugar Loaf Mountain which is 1300 feet above the surrounding ocean. There are modern trams to take people up two separate levels to reach the top.

Tram terminal from the city to the first level

Tram terminal from first level to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain

Ride to first level

Ride to first level

Approaching top of first level

Approaching top of Sugar Loaf Mountain

While there was still some misty fog blowing off the ocean it was very beautiful with a 360-degree panoramic view of the city, beaches, lagoons, marinas and islands.

We are enjoying a delicious Brazilian blended fruit drink called a "vitamina"

We were lucky enough to spot a tiny wild monkey in the vegetation on the top level along one of the walkways around the crown of the mountain.

The statue of Christ on Corcovado Mountain across the valley was cloud shrouded and could still not be seen. For the first time the tour focused on sightseeing and did not include a stop exclusively for shopping. In summary Rio has been, scenic-wise, the best port of call on this cruise in spite of the foggy conditions. Tomorrow we end our cruise and prepare to travel home.