Rio de Janeiro Photos
I took a bit of time off during the last two weeks of my South American trip to visit Rio with Sam. The photos from that trip are now up on flickr.
To be perfectly honest, I don't think either of us will call Rio a highlight of the trip. When we arrived the hostel was a bit dodgy (as you'd probably expect in South America, but it wasn't cheap either.. about $80CAD/night). With no air conditioning in 35+ degree heat and high humidity... it was a bit too much for either of us to handle. We moved to a hotel after a few days and then to an apartment for the final week. Well worth the hassle to get some A/C.
Unfortunately January is in Brazil's rainy season (which is much less gloomy than Vancouver's rainy season) and the majority of the trip was a bit cloudy and rainy. Rio is South America's second most expensive city and I think it was actually more expensive than Vancouver by a fair margin.
Other than that, some bad timing, and some illness... the trip wasn't all bad.
Title: View from Sugar Loaf
Taken: 28 Jan 2009 - 3:58pm
Rio is well known for it's mountainous / ocean landscape, it's very similar to Cape Town. Though I personally preferred the vibe of the city in Cape Town. It really is a beautiful city. Rio is also known for it's great surfing, and I'd decided it was about time I tried it. I went a bit out of town to a place called Rio Surf n' Stay to get lessons. It's a bit far from Rio (just under 1h to get there), but it was interesting to get to see a bit more of the 'burbs. I'd probably only recommend it if you wanted to spend the night there and were a bit more serious about surfing than I am.
We ended up spending most of our time walking around and on the beaches, as well as in one of their malls that had free wifi coverage when we needed to get some work done. Rio internet was super unreliable, with only one ISP in the country they have little incentive to improve.
The weather turned around during the tail end of our trip, and we got out to the beach a little bit more. We managed to get up to Sugar Loaf and around the Lagoon. About half our time was spent in the Ipanema side and the other half in Copacabana. I think I'd like to go back at some point... and try to aim for a less rainy month.
Title: Copacabana Beach
Taken: 29 Jan 2009 - 1:37pm
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