The view was better in the morning, despite me apparently having something on the lens. God damn it, wish I would've noticed.





After breakfast, walked the beach a little. Here's the outsideof the hotel.



Then we went on the day's tour, which was to Corcavado first.

That's Ipanema down there, for the curious.



Sugarloaf in the background.



and the big statue



Noticed on the way up, he has rode sticking out of the back of his head. I assume lightning rods. Maria pulled up some pictures of it getting struck, pretty amazing.

Anyway, it was a madhouse to me with the crowds, but Maria knew how to navigate to get on the train, around the statue, and back down without too much problem.

Here's the business/financial center of Rio.



Around back in the pedestal part, there's a small chapel where people get married, and there are regular services, I guess.

Good thing we got there when we did; later in the day, we noticed it clouded up.

Next, it was over to Sugarloaf for the cable car ride up to the top.



That's the first half.

This is Corcavado, with the statue clouded over. If anyone could make it clear, you'd think it would be that guy.



Here's the original cable car. The statue in the back is the guy whose dream this was. Unfortunate timing I didn't notice the person right in front. He had kind of a grumpy look.



Second part of the ride



And, of course, great views. Copacabana beach. Hotel's a couple blocks past that taller, blocky building right beyond the trees.



Also had some marmosets up there. Unfortunately, stupid humans were feeding them people food.



After that, we took a ride through Ipanema. This is the bar where the famed song was written. Apparently, that's a copy of the original on the wall.



and this is the musical half of the duo, a little down the beach



What Margarida said was the song told a true story--they noticed this stunning young woman from the bar. They didn't get any contact info though. After it became a hit, they asked the bar owner if he know her; he did, so they were able to thank her for the inspiration.

Unclear to me if she got any royalties or anything, but Margarida said she had a successful "Girl from Ipanema" line of beachwear for many years, so did well. Died relatively recently.

Anyway, back to Copacabana. Went to a churrascaria literally across the street from the hotel on a recommendation of Margarida.

I'm usually a "just grab something", especially when on the road. To me, this was quite a nice restaurant (it probably really is). Some sides and a salad bar, and every few minutes they'd roll by with another cut of meat. Just my kind of thing.

Man, it was good. Tender, juicy. Not sure how to describe the flavoring. Sometimes a bit salty, but always tasty.

I see the bill translated to around $55. A bit out of my normal range, but well worth it. Highly recommend Churrascaria Palace if you're ever in Rio.

Pretty busy day, so rested a bit, then walked up and down the beach. They have vendors trying to see all manner of things, including drinks, along the way (in addition to the permanent places).

So, much like the Vegas strip, I grabbed a beer once in a while and people-watched.

They also had some pretty good sand sculptures.





Then back to the room. checked in for flight, pre-packed a few things.

Today was pretty boring. After breakfast, wandered down the beach, (saw some gold dogs playing in the surf) then turned inland. Just kind of stayed a block off the beach, as it was getting warm and there was shade over there.

Noticed moon was setting.



Wandered through some shops, found a Coke, just kind of saw a bit of the backside. Also found the Carnaval sign.



Checked out about noon, stowed the bags with bellman, and went for another neighborhood/beach wander. Yesterday when walking the beach, I'd noticed a sign that said something like, "Barracs das Colorados". I asked Margarida about that, and she said it was the fan club for the Internacional Football Club.

Seemed like it should be my club too, but I couldn't find any gear while out and about, either in the shops or their stand. Did buy a beer from them though.

Oddly enough, I was asking that while in the train line at Corcavado yesterday, and the couple behind us pulled out their ICF cap. Random bumping happened a lot on this trip.

Anyway, now just waiting for the airport pickup, due in one hour. United says flight's on time.

I'm ready to go. Despite staying in this really nice place, didn't sleep great. Too easy to get a beer or five and watch the crowd across the street, I suppose. Just need to exchange my Reals and get on the plane.

just found this, looks dope, very jealous

Thanks, Rick! Welcome to the thread.

Forgot to mention--yesterday looked at Denver weather, google showing things like 15/-1, 18/-3.

****, I'm going to freeze.

Until I realized those are Celsius. It'll be fine.

Through security at Rio. 2 5 hrs til boarding. Pretty tired, hope to sleep some on plane.

So far, only thing I know I lost is my glasses case. Still have a wallet, passport, and phone.

I think ~19 hours.

the waterfall pics were amazing

Thanks, Red. Didn't do them justice. Strong recommendation.

In Houston, couple hrs til last flight.

You know, the plane where the doors come loose.

Through customs, immigration, and security. Currently in United Club waiting for boarding.

I don't think the upgrade did anything for me, except by accident. Same seat with slightly more legroom, which isn't a problem for me.

I specifically chose the seat I did because the window seat showed as open. Grabbed the aisle, hoping I could get room. (This was a plane with a 2-3-2 configuration, I was in the last two).

Woman stows her stuff, says she's got the window. Rats. She goes to get a cup of water.

By the time she got back, the two seats behind us were still empty, and it seemed like everyone was on. So, she took those two.

Unfortunately for me, it was uncomfortably cool on the flight. Made a tent with the textra blanket over my head, trying to retain some warmth. Slept a little.

Checked bags need to be grabbed and rechecked, so was able to get a hoodie in case the next flight is cold.

Flying with a T, long sleeve T over, and jeans. Usually that's enough. Maybe the malaria is setting in. (Though it didn't feel like a sick coolness-no aches or fever).

Anyway, maybe I can get a hour on the plane to Denver and not be quite so tired.

Love the pictures and the way you share your travels through your authentic, no nonsense style of writing. Hugely appreciate the time and effort it takes. I hope that this trip was enjoyable and fulfilling in a variety of ways! You aren't even back home and im curious where you will go next, thanks GD.

Z

Thanks for taking us along!

You are both very welcome, I'm glad to hear that people out in the world are enjoying my travels.

zendout's right, I am pretty straight to the point. Maybe doesn't always make for good storytelling, but I hope it gets the experience across.

Anyway, back home. No problems flying to Denver. The flight plan showing us going between Dallas and FW, and I was on the port side of the plane. However, since I was aisle and not window, I didn't wave to mark.

Got off plane, helped young man seated next to me make his quickish connection to Spokane. Came down, bag on carousel. Down to the bus, it's leaving in 5 minutes. Neighbor came and got me. A long, but pretty good overall, travel day (despite the cold on the first flight).

Crashed a little, then took neighbors to lunch as a thank you for watching the place.

Back to the grindstone tonight. (Actually, I'm the third dealer. We often get enough players for three tables, but not always. So it could be a show and go).

I thought that was you!

took the liberty of touching up one of my favorites

This one was my favorite

I think I'm with mark. If one gets enlarged and framed, that'll probably be it.

Back in the days of film, I would occasionally sit for hours waiting for conditions to be right, because once you expose it, that's it. I've kind of held that idea in the digital world: have never used software to tweak photos.

So now I'm curious, red: what do you use, and what did you do? Mind posting a before-and-after?

well yeah mark, that one was obvious
golddog, i just loaded it on my phone and hit auto correct, the rest is magic!

Ok yeah the falls and jungle and rivers are all amazing but I’m here for girls in bikinis at Copacabana and Ipanema.

Heh. I walked quite a bit of Copacabana, being across the street. I will say that Brazilians don't suffer from being overly modest like a lot of Americans.

Unfortunately, the vast majority seem to be similar to Americans in body style. Lots of people wearing swimwear I didn't care to see them in. Not what I expected at all.

All measurements estimates:

• Miles flown: 12,928
• km on boat: 200
• km walked (nonurban): 10
• km walked (urban): 30

I'm sure I'll dribble out more info over the next while, ask I think of "oh yeah, I forgot to mention that." Overall, a good trip, with a couple of sideways bits that were stressful in the moment, but got through them.

Next adventure might be in April. My closest friend from high school and his mother moved from up north to N Central Arkansas. Haven't been to see the new place, and they're directly in the path of it, so a good opportunity.

Past that, kind of thinking about either India or Galapogos. Of course, I wasn't even considering Brazil five months ago, so who knows? Inviting advice and discussion.

The morning of the tour in Rio, I walked the beach beforehand, and noticed some people setting up a stand with a banner that said something like "Barracas das Colorados"

Asked Margarida what that was all about. It turns out that groups of fans are given a collective name, "Colorados" in the case of Internacional Football Clube. We decided that should be my club.

Unfortunately, could find no Internacional gear at the tourist shops. They're from the south of Brazil, so don't have much of a following in Rio.

I did go back to the stand on the last day in town to see if they had gear, but they just sold drinks. Bought a beer instead, explained why they're my club, we had a nice laugh about that.

I was surprised when going through customs and immigration in Houston that there weren't any forms any more. Seems like last time I was out of the country, they had little forms on the plane to fill out. Had to declare the T shirt I bought.

Since I have Global Entry, it was super simple: face up to a machine which grabbed my image, spend ~ 2 minutes in line then go to the officer who saw my image matched my passport and said, "thank you,".

Next, you have to grab and send your bag through security, as well as yourself. I assume that allows for people coming from places that don't adhere to the same high level of security (or aren't as paranoid, depending on your point of view, I guess). The latter doesn't have a TSA PreCheck, but it went pretty well nonetheless. Maybe 10 minutes, but it was ~5:40 AM and I was in zombie mode.

----------------

When I was prescribed malaria pills, the nurse warned me that this medicine may cause very vivid dreams. The bottle warns that it might cause dizziness. I feel kinda ripped off.

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Got the text about dealing yesterday, replied that I wasn't sure, still pretty tired. I could've gotten a replacement, but after a nap, felt good enough. Went down there in the evening. About 20 minutes in, started sweating and feeling intestinal discomfort. Probably not strong enough to be called cramps, but unpleasant.

Got through the evening after a couple hours. By the time I got through, thought for sure it would be a doctor visit today. Took cold gelcaps to help sleep. Don't feel great today, but much less discomfort. Still quite tired, had a nap after lunch. Another day or two, I hope I'm back to normal-ish.

Or it could be the dysentery setting in. We'll see.

Oh yeah, if anyone wants to flip through the hundreds of photos taken, this should be a link to the album I created.

Maybe you guys can tell me what we're looking at in a lot of them. I imagine there's something in the tree.

As is my custom in the adventure years, I have a calendar of pictures from Brazil.

When I flipped to February, the picture is of the Christ the Redeemer statue. Which I'd seen in person three days prior. That was nice.

Trying to motivate myself to chase the eclipse in April, ordered a couple pair of eclipse glasses from Amazon. They came today, tried them out.

Full, bright sunny day. With them on, I can just make out the disk of the sun. I imagine they're good. I didn't expect them to be quite so dark. Couldn't see anything else except when looking right at the sun.

Of course, I only did that for a few seconds as a test. Now, I hope for clear weather somewhere pretty accessible in April.

https://www.bluebonnettrail.org/