Day 4 : 2013 Autumn Travels [Rio, Brazil]
This morning, after transferring hostels, I caught the bus
from Copacabana around to the Botantical Gardens “Jardim Botânico” at the foot
of Corcovado. The buses have two members
of staff on them, one driver and one ‘money man’ which is clever because it
means the bus moves off quickly. What is
less clever is the design of the money man’s seat – his legs are positioned in
the entry gate to the bus which means he spends his whole time either moving
his legs or seating at 90 degrees in his seat!
The bus also had seats for obese people, which made me chuckle!
The peaceful gardens have over 6,000 varieties of plants and
offer sneak peaks of Christ the Redeemer amongst the Brazilian and foreign
flora, as well as some tiny turtles.
I then headed onto the lagoon north of Ipanema beach “Lagoa
Rodrigo de Freitas”. I watched a
helicopter take off and land – super excited because I was planning to do one
myself that afternoon!
Then I stopped for lunch at a juice bar, treating myself to
a tutti fruit juice plus a chicken filled cheese roll “Pão de queijo”, a typical
Brazilian snack made of gluten-free manioc flour,
eggs, milk, and minas cheese.
I was joining my GAdventures tour group that evening for our
“In Search of Iguassu” trip and met a couple of people briefly in my new hostel before heading out for my
helicopter ride.
The helicopter trip over the city was absolutely
amazing. I sat up front with the pilot
and basically sat open-mouthed for the duration as we soared over the beautiful
scenery and unmistakable attractions.
I had never been in a helicopter before, however it was on
my ‘Things to do before 30’ Bucket List and I’m so pleased that I saved it for
such a memorable and incredible place – a massive tick and one that I will
remember for years to come.
That evening I met my tour roommate and the rest of our
GAdventures group and our Italian guide, Laura who outlined our upcoming trip. We were a full group, so 16 in total and
represented a mix of mostly European countries with mostly solo travellers,
like myself, giving a friendly dynamic from the off.
We headed to a “comida por quilo” restaurant for our first
group dinner which is a buffet where you literally pay for what your food
weighs. This would frequently result in
random food combinations....such as mixing fish and beef!
Then drinks in the Boteco I’d eaten in on my first night in
Rio, which seemed oddly suitable as it was my last night in Rio...
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