Rio de Janeiro - Part 2

Arrival & day 1

From the Hotel Pousada Salvador Paradise to the airport it was only a 10 minute ride. The flight to Rio was uneventful. When you arrive in Rio Santos Dumont Airport you have the option of buying a prepaid taxi, which we did. It cost 60 BRL to the hotel Mirasol Copacabana Hotel. You might get it cheaper if you just hop on a regular taxi. The hotel was nice, but the pool was closed for maintenance. After some discussions with the manager, we were upgraded to a nicer room with a private sauna & whirlpool. We also had a nice view to the Christ the Redeemer and the Copacabana beach.

Unfortunately the weather was not great, so we decided to go the the Museu do Amanhã. It was really interesting, very interactive and very modern. The area around the museum is also nice to visit. You can get there by metro (7 minutes walk from the stop Uruguaiana).

Day 2

On the next day we joined a free walking tour for downtown Rio and Lapa. The 3 hour tour was informative and we had a nice tour guide. It included the Municipal Theater, the Imperial Palace, the Colombo Bakery, the Selaraon steps and much more. I am never quite sure how much to give, but with the 50 BRL per person we were probably at the top end. After the tour, we knew where to go to have a nice coffee: the Colombo Bakery. We also walked again to the Cathedral of St. Sebastian to see it from the inside which was very impressive.

In the evening we joined the free walking group again for a pub crawl. We visited 4 different bars, tried to dance samba (it looks easier than it actually is) and learned how to make caipirinhas. The tour included all entrance fees, one caipirinha and a discount for other drinks/food. Additionally you are allowed to jump the queue in the busy clubs. The tour costs 50 BRL. Make sure you bring your photo ID, some of the clubs register you first and you pay when you leave.

Day 3

On our second last day we finally had nice weather in Rio, so it was time to visit the Copacabana again in the morning and enjoy the sun.

For the afternoon we had something special planned: a tour in the favela Rocinha. The tour costs 90 BRL, the planned duration was about 4 hours. It was easy to book it via Whatsapp. Even if the weather is nice at the Copacabana, bring something long-sleeved for the favela. It was a bit chilly due to the difference in altitude. After everybody was picked up at their hotel (this can take some time!) we drove to the top of the favela to get a good overview. The nice thing about this tour operator is, that all of the guides are locals. It was cool to walk through the favela with our guide who knew many people living there. You learn a lot about the community and how people live together. Our guide told us that you have nothing to fear from the locals and we really felt it. It was no issue to carry a camera openly.


Unfortunately we still had a dangerous situation - but not caused by the very friendly locals living there! At the top we already saw some fireworks and we were told that drug traffickers who live & “work” at the border of the favela close to the mountain pay kids to warn them using fireworks in case the police is coming. Our guide told us that the fireworks are normal, so we kept on walking. When we reached the streets we saw a car of the Brazilian SWAT team "Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais" (short BOPE). At this time we did not realize what that means and we were taking pictures. A couple of minutes later we heard several gunshots, getting louder and louder. The traffic in the streets got more hectic, people were running around and told us to hide. Our guide told us that apparently the BOPE team was storming the favela for a special operation against the drug traffickers. One the one hand good news for us - we were not the target. On the other hand you don’t want to be in the middle of something like this. When the frequency of gun shots got less we cautiously continued our walk towards the “exit” of the favela. It started again quite heavily and we were lucky to be close to a church where we could hide (sounds a bit like in a movie, right?). We stayed there for about an hour until it became more quiet. While waiting there, we tried to calm down ourselves and local children who had to hide there as well. At one point, it got more quiet again and we decided to carry on. We managed to get out safe and sound. At the end of the favela, a news team was already waiting asking us questions how we experienced what just happened.

When we came home we were asked by friends if we would go there again: yes, absolutely! We met so many friendly locals in Rocinha and in general we experienced it as a safe place. No doubt it was a frightening experience, but there are other areas in the world (like Brussels or Paris) where being at the wrong place at the wrong time would be really really bad.

After this let’s call it eventful afternoon, we treated ourselves with a very nice dinner in a fancy restaurant called Aprazivel. The views up there are really great and the food was divine. We had grilled palm tree hearts as a starter and a steak as a main. The main dish cost around 90 BRL and it was really worth it. To get there you need a taxi (about 35 BRL from Copacabana). Unfortunately there are no normal taxis in this area to go back, but the restaurant offers a taxi service (60 BRL to Copacabana).

Day 4

We saved one of the main attractions for our last day: the Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain). A taxi from Copacabana to the lower terminus cost 15 BRL, the cable car 76 BRL. The views are breathtaking, we thought it was even better than the views from the Christ the Redeemer statue. You can do a short walk once you reach the top and enjoy the views from different sides. From up there, you will also see the Vermelho beach, which you can visit by foot from the lower terminus.

Before leaving to the international airport (65 BRL by taxi), we enjoyed our last caipirinha and a last Acai at the Copacabana while following a beach soccer tour. Brazil is incredible, if you have the chance to go there, do it!

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