RIO de JANEIRO, BRAZIL

A quick, cheap flight from Salvador brought us strait to Rio. Brazil has excellent domestic airlines which serve most popular destinations at very low prices. We were able to book flights between major cities at costs ranging from $100 to $150 USD.  This saved us many painful 20 to 30 hour bus rides needed to cover this gigantic country.

Nestled on the coast amongst the hills topped with lush tropical vegetation, the setting of the city is impressive. The urban beaches of Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon are fantastic but after having been on the Northeast Coast for several weeks we found the water much too cold. It's all relative, right?

The south zone, which most tourist visit, is modern and affluent. Lined with countless Gringo bars and cafes it was not the image of Rio we were expecting.

We met up with our friend Rafael, who we met in Forteleza a month before, and had the chance to experience a different  Rio. After visiting the neighborhood Santa Theresa we headed for a small enclosed plaza in the center of the city near Lapa. After having made our way through a maze of alleys, crossing on the way countless small children and future footballistas, we joined the crowd who was starting to gather there at the end of the work day. Within an hour the plaza was filled with people singing along and dancing to old Samba songs being played live. The atmosphere and energy was truly special.

We finished the night in Lapa, which on Fridays transforms into an enormous street party, The next day we awoke just in time  to grab a snack at the juice bar and make it to Ipanema beach for the sunset. And so went our week in Rio...

We lost all our beautiful pictures of Rio when the bag that contained one of our memory cards got stolen in BA, but at least we salvaged this live performance from the Irish gentlemen at the hostel. Enjoy.