Brazil: Rio de Janeiro

During our short visit to Switzerland, we decided not to fly back to Ecuador because the flights there were incredibly expensive. Instead, we chose Rio, which is one of the cheapest hubs for flights from Europe to South America.

We had booked accommodation in the Copa Cabana neighborhood, and it was just a short walk to the beach. Of course, we spent an afternoon indulging in sweet idleness on the beach, renting a beach chair and blending in with the crowds that dominated the beach on Sundays. However, swimming in the sea wasn't so cool as it wasn't very warm and there were quite high waves. So we contented ourselves with lazing around, drinking Caipirinha, and reading.

Naturally, at the beginning of our stay in Rio, we visited one of the absolute must-see attractions: Christ the Redeemer. We took a taxi to the funicular station that would take us to the city's most famous landmark. From the top, we enjoyed the view of the city and of course took the usual photos, with one person lying on the ground while the other stands above them to capture the entire statue without anyone else in the picture (even though there were plenty of other people around). There are even special lying mats for this purpose.
On the way back, we passed by the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, a small lake in the middle of Rio. There, you could rent paddle boats, take a stroll along the shore, or engage in sports activities. There were also some restaurants and snack bars where we ate something.

The next day, we took the metro to the city center. Right next to the station where we got off was the Campo de Santana, a beautiful park with many animals. From there, we walked to the Sambadrome, a long open-air stadium where the Carnival parades take place annually. When it's not Carnival time (which it wasn't at the time), there's not much to see there besides abandoned stands.
On our way through the city, we passed by the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Arcos de Lapa before reaching the Escadaria Selaron, also a popular attraction in Rio. At the foot of the stairs adorned with colored tiles, we came across a German restaurant where there was a wonderful Wiener schnitzel... with potato salad... without rice... Mmmhhh...
From the top of the stairs, we continued walking uphill and reached the supposedly beautiful neighborhood of Santa Teresa. It was quite nice, with pretty houses and several souvenir shops along the route. We treated ourselves to a Caipirinha before taking the Bonde tram back down to the city center.
What I liked best about downtown Rio was the contrast between the old buildings and beautiful churches and the modern buildings and skyscrapers.

For the next day, we had booked a so-called Favela tour. Favelas are self-built, slum-like settlements of the lower class. There are several hundred favelas in Rio alone, some small and some huge. 20% of the city's population lives in favelas. Our guide told us that the favelas originated from internal migration to the southern cities of Brazil and that the problem was massively underestimated by the government. Apparently, they assumed that people would eventually move on and the favelas would disappear. But that didn't happen, and so these settlements are part of the social reality in the country. Favelas are considered dangerous, so it is recommended to visit them only with a guide. However, not all of them are dangerous, but the fact is that there are gangs here too, involved in the drug smuggling business among other things.
First, we visited Rocinha, one of the largest favelas in the city. Here, we walked along the narrow main street, where there are many small shops. We also visited a private kindergarten.

Next, we went to a small favela called Vila Canoa, which is considered relatively safe. The settlement is located right next to a very expensive and elegant neighborhood of Rio. The people here have simply taken a small piece of land between the villas and mansions and built their own huts. But there is a very good relationship between the rich and their neighbors in the favela. They help each other, many of the people from the favela work as servants in the big houses, and the rich shop at the small stores of the favela residents. Here, we were even allowed to walk through the narrow, winding alleys and stairs and were greeted friendly by everyone.
The favela tour may not have been full of tourist highlights, but it was still very interesting to experience this other side of the hustle and chicness of Copacabana and Ipanema.

Naturally, we also visited Sugarloaf Mountain, another must on a trip to Rio. From here, you have a wonderful view of the city, this time from the other side, so you can see Christ the Redeemer as well.
Interestingly enough, while we were on Sugarloaf Mountain, the semifinal match of the World Cup between Croatia and England took place. As I strolled through a store, the saleswoman asked me where I was from. As always, I answered "Croatia", to which she kindly pointed out that we were playing right now! Later, when Jörg and I were sitting on a bench smoking a cigarette, the saleswoman came running out of the store with her phone to tell us that Croatia had just scored a goal! That's what I call service, thank you very much! There was actually a TV in one of the restaurants where the game was being shown. A large crowd of people had gathered there and we also watched the last minutes of the game. Who would have thought that we, who are not interested in football at all, would actually celebrate the victory of "our" team on Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio.
We stayed on the observation deck for a while, so we could not only watch the sunset but also admire "Rio by Night". Truly enchanting.

From the moment I first watched the Disney animated movie "Rio", I exclaimed out loud: I want to do that too! Do you know what I'm talking about? The scene where the bird named Blue sits on the sail of a hang glider to learn how to fly. Hang gliding over Rio! That's what I've been talking about since we planned our trip to South America, and this wish has now come true. Unfortunately, organizing the flight was not so easy because, at the time, there was a bad weather front, making the wind conditions unfavorable. The flight even had to be canceled once and postponed to the next day. When I finally received the SMS from my flight instructor saying, "Today it's going to happen," I was both happy and very nervous. My flight instructor, Karl, picked us up at the metro station near the landing area. There, I had to register and fill out the usual paperwork. Jörg, who had once jumped out of an airplane with a parachute, didn't feel like flying with me, so he waited down at the beach in the landing area to take photos.

Karl and I went to the takeoff ramp at Pedra Bonita. When we arrived there, the sail was set up, and we had to put on the necessary equipment. For my nerves, it wasn't particularly helpful to look down from this mountain. Man, it was high! How crazy do you have to be to jump off this mountain? Why did I want to do this again?! Right! Rio! Interestingly, Karl said that this animated film brought a huge advantage to the industry. They had already made advertising and documentary films about hang gliding in Rio before, but none of them were as effective as this Disney movie.

When everything was ready, Karl gave me instructions. He explained that we had to run together down the inclined ramp. I saw the ramp... it was inclined... and there was nothing below it... Konrad said: "Whatever you do, don't stop! You have to keep running! Just keep running until we're flying!"

I gathered all my courage... and ran... and ran... and then... I flew! It was cooooooooool! Once we were in the air, all the fear vanished immediately. It was wonderful. The special thing about hang gliding compared to paragliding is that you hang horizontally in the lines and actually see the world from a bird's-eye view. What an absolutely indescribable feeling. I started singing: "I believe I can fly! I believe I can touch the sky..." And Karl joined in. I enjoyed it tremendously.
Unfortunately, reality doesn't quite match the movie. In reality, you can't make circles around Christ the Redeemer, you can't even see it properly. You can't fly directly over the city, but slightly outside of it. This is partly due to the wind conditions, which don't carry you far enough from the takeoff ramp. In Rio, there is almost no thermals, so you can't go up during the flight, only down. Furthermore, the airport is located in the middle of the city, so it's probably safer to stay away from it.

But you do have a great view of the Rocinha favela, the mountains, the forest, and the beach. As mentioned, since there are no thermals, the flight doesn't last very long, only about 10 minutes before landing at Sao Cristao Beach.

But all of that didn't matter to me. It was the first time in my life that I did something like this, and it definitely won't be the last. It was absolutely overwhelming, and it was the perfect place to experience such a first time. Every time I watch the movie "Rio" in the future, I will certainly think of my own flight over Rio. What could be better in life than such memories? That's why we travel, after all...

For our last night in Rio, we had booked something special. Namely, a short Samba introduction course followed by going out together to a Samba club. The course took place in a hotel in Copacabana. However, during the course, we realized that we didn't really like Samba. On the one hand, we didn't like the music very much, and the dance itself wasn't our thing either. We definitely prefer Salsa, and it suits us better. Nevertheless, it was fun to try something new.
Afterwards, we were driven by cars to the Rio Scenarium, a well-known Samba club in the Lapa neighborhood. It was really a beautiful club with a nice ambiance, there was a live band, and it wasn't too crowded. We had a few drinks and tried out the newly learned dance steps a bit.

As the other participants gradually said goodbye and only we were left, our dance instructor said he would go to another club where the local youth hangs out and asked if we wanted to come along. We wanted to! So we ended up in a huge, pretty crowded hall where a live band was sitting around a table and playing. It immediately became clear that this was a much more authentic club, and we were glad we came along. The atmosphere was festive, the Brazilian temperament that is always talked about was definitely noticeable here.

We also had a few more caipirinhas here before we slowly made our way home.

Schließlich verbrachten wir fast eine ganze Woche in Rio. Zum einen sicher, da wir uns nach unserem ziemlich stressigen Aufenthalt zuhause etwas ausruhen und auch wieder in den Reise-Groove kommen mussten. Zum anderen gibt es in Rio wirklich viel zu sehen und zu tun. Die Stadt gilt wohl als eine der schönsten auf der Welt, und das ist sie ganz bestimmt. Die Lage zwischen den Hügeln umringt von Dschungel und Meer ist einzigartig und atemberaubend. Hierher komme ich gerne einmal wieder zurück.