Picture Perfect Rio
I used to look at an incredible poster on my ex's bedroom wall of Rio De Janeiro. That was really my first image of Brazil, imprinted on my brain. That famous view looking out over the bay, the arms of Christ the Redeemer outspread and all encompassing, and the unique shape of the mountains. That view then, had seemed so far off and unattainable as I stared at it on a dingy bedroom wall.
Little did I know, it would be some 12 years later, but I would be there looking at that same view for real. The same view but no doubt different from the passing of time. I wonder if that poster is still on the wall?
Rio De Janeiro was the first place I flew to on my South America travel journey and at this point, I was completely new to the travelling experience. I arrived at the airport in Rio and felt immediately overwhelmed by what felt like a swarm of taxi drivers, propositioning you to take their cab. I had no idea which one to take. But learned that Uber was in fact mostly safe to use in Rio. I can say this only because I used it to get about for most of my stay there and did not encounter any problems. My advice however to solo travellers, is to do a little research in advance of visiting any new city as to which modes of transport are deemed safe. Uber isn't always.
Top Tip for where to stay: I stayed at the Selina Copacabana Hostel. It had a good location and a beautiful roof top bar and view over Copacabana beach. I was happy to stay there just for the view . See below picture!
Picture perfect.....
So, leading on from that fabulous beach view above, my main observation of Rio de Janeiro was that it is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. From Christ the Redeemer, you can see a 360 degree view and each and every angle was simply stunning.
The main beaches, Copacabana and Ipanema, for city beaches were incredible white sands and beautiful clear, wavy waters. They were kept very well. I actually found myself wondering what the landscape would have looked like had humans not inhabited it and built a great big city there. But even still with the man made skyline, I was impressed by the scenery! I believe the bay/harbour itself has been called a natural wonder of the world and the surrounding areas of trees are in fact deemed the largest urban forest in the world - Tijuca National Park. So there is plenty of evidence to back my observation of it being one of the most beautiful cities!
The Tijuca National Park covers 39.58 square kilometres and is home to Christ the Redeemer and also some beautiful waterfalls meaning it does attract a lot of footfall. An interesting fact is that it is largely the result of reforestation. Much of the original forest was destroyed in the 1700's for wood to use as fuel, coffee growing and land for live stock. An even more remarkable fact was that the complete reforestation was the result of just 6 people, who were thought to have replanted over 100,000 trees after becoming enslaved by the Portuguese.
5 things to do and see in Rio
You won't be short of things to do in Rio, but if it's of any help, here are 5 recommendations.
1. Selaron steps (or Escadaria Selaron): These steps tell such a magical story. Jorge Selaron was an artist from Chile. He moved to Brazil in his forties and began the art of decorating a stairway of 215 steps, with coloured tiles. Selaron was fairly poor but very passionate. He sold his paintings to make a living and to try to help fund the steps but it was a constant struggle. However, he persevered and as the steps became more and more complete and more of an attraction, tourists visiting from around the world started to send Selaron tiles for the steps, to help him continue! The steps today are made up of 2000 tiles from over 60 different countries around the world. Selaron intended the steps as a tribute to Brazilian people, and it is so special that tiles from all over the globe helped contribute to their completion.
2. Sugarloaf Mountain: You can take the cable car (2 cable cars in fact) up Sugarloaf mountain for sunset, when the city lights, light up the bay and surrounding land. It was a magical view. You can of course go anytime of the day, but I liked the sunset best. It is such a unique shaped peak, that is a landmark of the Guanabara bay in Rio. It is named for its resemblance to a sugarloaf which I of course didn't have the slightest clue what a sugarloaf actually looks like. I imagined some sort of sugary loaf/cake thing, so was surprised to see it is in fact like a triangular tower of hard sugar!
3. Christ The Redeemer: Such a famous figure and apparently one of the new 7 wonders of the world. I guess you have to go see this when in Brazil. But be prepared to withstand the sheer volume of people! As mentioned above the views are spectacular but it was a challenge to take a decent photo due to the crowds and I couldn't hack it for very long. None the less it is a remarkable monument, remarkably placed. Not sure you get the true size of it from my photo below but have a look at the hands of Christ, apparently they are modelled on those of a female as male hands looked out of proportion. Surprisingly the statue gets hit by lightning 2-3 times per year due to its position at the top of a mountain and once lightning broke one of the thumbs!
4. The Cathedral ( The metropolitan Cathedral of Sao Sebastian): A visit to the cathedral need not take long, but it is well worth it simply for the architecture and design. It was constructed between 1964 to 1979 and many say it is not much to see from the outside. Shaped like a pyramid with a flat top it boasts Mayan influence and is not obviously Catholic from the outside because of the absence of a cross anywhere to be seen. However, this is part of its design as they intended the beauty to be on the inside. 4 colourful stained glass windows cascade down from a cross at the centre of the buildings peak, brightly contrasted against grey. While you are in the area why not visit the Museum of modern arts too which is close by.
5. Favelas: Although this is something many tourists choose to do when in Rio, a tour round a favela was not on my list, because I wasn't sure how I felt about impoverished living being made into a tourist attraction. I don't know enough about it to really say, but if real people were living their lives in this way, I didn't want to stand and gawk and make a spectacle out of it. Although on the other side of the fence, perhaps seeing it helps the outside world know about it and what it's really like or maybe even contribute some wealth from tourism that might actually benefit the people who live there? But I just didn't know. This is something if you go to Rio that you can decide for yourselves. There are over 100 favelas and I was happy to see them from distance (see video below for a view from a distance of one of the larger more famous favelas) but I'm am sure there is much to learn from an actual tour inside one of them.
Safety in Rio
So, I don't want to deter anyone, especially solo travellers from going but I also want to be honest, Rio isn't the safest city to visit. Although nothing happened to me directly, I witnessed jewellery being ripped off a tourist's neck in broad daylight, bags being nabbed on the beaches etc. Sure, these things happen everywhere in the world, but I think it is a much higher percentage in Rio, I saw these crimes on day 1 of being there. So, top tips for safety are this:
Don't go out alone at night
Don't wear any expensive jewellery out, it will make you more of a target
Never leave your belongings unattended. A cross shoulder bag that can't be unclipped, (has to go over you head) is a good idea and can be worn at all times. A money belt under the trousers or t-shirt also a good way to not show anything obvious to steal and of course a waterproof money belt for the beaches is a real gem!
Don't walk around using your phone openly in your hand
Try and blend in rather than look like a tourist (easier said than done!)
If you do a tour to a favela it's very important you go with a legitimate guide, so be careful where you book it from.
I followed these rules and was fine so perhaps in summary I'll just say be savvy! But it's not worth fretting about safety all the time. You have to go for it and enjoy your time there! What will be will be!
Happy Travelling
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