Sunday and the sun is shining and the sky a blanket of blue. After a power breakfast, grabbed a yellow cab to Sugar Loaf cable cars. A helpful young man enquired if Hesk might be over 60 (thankfully didn’t ask me) – half price £10 (but must show proof) instead of £20 at the current rate of exchange for the cable car- some advantages to age! Blessed with the fab weather we were in awe of the views from the first station and indeed the higher second station (pics below) – unreal – visions that have to be seen to truly understand the awesome panoramic vista of a truly incredible city, that and the soaring 30 plus Condors and 3 or 4 Frigets gliding on the thermals surrounding Sugar Loaf. Had to look up what the birds were – beginning to get why a couple of my friends are twitchers.
The airport for domestic flights also entertains with aircraft constantly performing downwind procedures over the vastly populated hillside before turning on their base leg with a sharp left for finals – we stood and watched the real birds and aircraft mesmerised for longer than we meant too! If you do nothing else in Rio, this really is a must do destination.
Heading back to the cable car and in a short queue, I was checking my pictures on my phone when something large literally dropped on my head! Have to say was a bit shocked and a little bruised – turned out a very small child had upended a post thing with a notice in a metal bracket, that flew into the air and landed on my head. Needless to say a lot of concerned people gave me a seat and having assessed that I would live and wasn’t too damaged – more shaken than anything let me be! 10 mins later we all boarded the cable car and the little chap who caused the commotion was pushed forward to check on me – poor little fellow think he was a bit puzzled as to what he had done, Anyway we sat at the mid station for half an hour to check for any ill effects with some water before heading down to base and then to Ipanema beach.
We stopped and sampled a beer and a caipirinha and admired the huge throng of colour and people on the beaches. A hive of activity and bodies of all shapes and sizes. A people watching paradise. By night the beaches are just beaches, by day a colourful spread of squat sunshades and low folding chairs. Walking towards Copacabana beach and our hotel, stopped for a civilised lunch- weirdly Italian as it turned out, with a couple of glasses of vino. Pit stopping at the hotel before hitting the beach for a spot of late afternoon chilling on the sandy Copacabana beach! Later perhaps Lapa for it’s Bohemian bars, live music, open air samba jive and night clubs but somehow I doubt we will be late as the body clock still woke me at 5am this morning but David at 7am.
Argentina Travel Log 2019 
Fantastic photos, sounds a perfect place to visit
LikeLiked by 1 person