Our last destination in Brazil was the famous Rio de Janeiro! Our Hotel, Rio Othon Palace, is right before Copacabana Beach. With an ocean view from our window, we can see the Sugar Loaf and surrounding hills. The wave was a bit too big, and the water too cold for me to dive in, but the white sand was soft, and we enjoyed relaxing under an umbrella. There were lots of people and activities on the beach. We walked around and watched people playing volleyball, except they used every part of the body except their hands. It’s like a combination of soccer and volleyball; I can tell you it wasn’t easy.
We attended the Rio Carnaval 50 years ago and were impressed by the floats, costumes, and the 5000 participants for each Samba school. This time, we took a Samba lesson and went on a tour of the backstage carnival preparations in the City of Samba. This area has many warehouses where the 12 principal Samba Schools prepare their floats and costumes year-round. Every year, a “theme” was announced, and schools started to design the floats, costumes, and music based on the theme. The majority of participants were residents of favelas (slums) around Rio. Rio City government and TV stations sponsor the schools, and the top winners of Carnaval receive a portion of the prize money from ticket sales. The competitions were fierce, and the rules were strict. We got to try on some costumes, and a dancer showed us how to do the Samba. It was a very good tour to understand all the work behind the Rio Carnaval.
We spent a day touring all the famous sights of Rio. The weather was perfect, and we got fantastic views of Rio from the tops of Christ the Redeemer and the Sugar Loaf. The iconic Christ statue was built in 1922-31 and is 30 meters (98ft) high. Its arms stretch 28 meters (92 ft) wide. He stood there to welcome and embrace the world. Sugarloaf, at 396 meters high, is the highest peak in Rio. The original cable car was built in 1912, and the yellow one was used in the 70’s. Selaron Steps was started by Chilean artist Jorge in the 1990s. In later years, over 2000 tiles were donated by visitors from all around the world, including the Chinese ones. The Rio de Janeiro Cathedral was a total surprise because its concrete pyramid-style structure was anything but what you would expect in a church. The four stained glass columns inside were impressive.
We found this cute common marmoset digging inside a garbage can in Sugar Loaf Park.
On our last day in Rio, we visited the Museum of Tomorrow, an ultra-modern building by the port. The main exhibitions are Cosmos, Earth, and Anthropocene (Human History). There are many interactive stations where you can learn more about different topics. My favorite was Human History. According to the museum’s website, this room has six totems, each ten meters tall and 3 meters wide. Scenes show oil extraction, trash production, technological advances, telecommunications, urban population growth, agriculture, water pollution, and food waste. What scared me was the data showing that while human life improved significantly starting in 1950, the progress in these 70 years (my lifetime) has had disastrous consequences for our planet. The exhibit wants to inspire visitors to act. “the power of the Anthropocene is in each one of us; the impact is both individual and shared. Every action counts” said the film’s director Vincente Kubrusly.
While immersed in these activities, a group of Brazillian high school students approached us and wanted to talk to us and take selfies. I guess this odd American/Chinese couple was quite interesting to them. I always love to talk to young people, and we had a wonderful conversation. It reminded me of the attention we used to get from Chinese students in China.
I couldn’t believe we had completed this month-long journey to Brazil without any problems. All flights were on time, all planned tours went smoothly, and we saw a lot of very interesting wild animals. I hope you have enjoyed coming along with us!