Rio de Janeiro - Curitiba

17/05/13 to 24/05/13 - Despite reports of Rio cabbies being crooked and trying to rip people off, we seemed to find a good one to take us from the bus station (he was too preoccupied watching TV soaps on his Sat Nav).

We had terrible weather for the first two days, with the kind of all day long drizzle we get in a typical English autumn. The weather finally improved and we could venture outside of the hostel and visit more than just the per-kilo buffets (a very fair charging system) that line the Copacabana main street.

We took a bus to the Barra district for a surfing competition, but we didn't know where to get off. Some helpful locals took some time to show (and walk us) to another bus stop, where a second bus took us to the beach. Unfortunately we arrived too late and missed the competition, but it was still a nice beach with an awesome sunset with the sea mist turning orange in front of the ‘two sisters’ mountains.


The next day was sunny so we took the train up Corcovado mountain to stand next to the statue of Christ the Redeemer and take in the view. The panorama is amazing and this must be the best natural location for a city anywhere in the world.

We made our way to Ipanema beach for sunset, where we bumped into one of Flora's friends from Paris on the seafront. We sat with a beer at one of the many beachfront bars and admired the skills of the locals playing beach volleyball... with their feet.

That night we had a rodizio grill where waiters brought endless skewers of meat to our table until we told them to stop (by turning over a disc from green side up to red side up). There we bumped into Kerry and Betty from our hostel in Barra de Lagoa a week or so before, so we joined them for a chat.

Next morning we walked up the Lapa steps and up to Santa Teresa on top of a hill with another good view. Santa Teresa used to be a favela, but is now a wealthy area, probably due to the nice views. Most other favelas occupy some stunning locations on the hillsides, but the buildings are ramshackle, made of cheap bricks and concrete. The lanes up to them are narrow and it’s dangerous to go in them without a guide. We can imagine that one day they will all be prime real estate, and could be developed into quirky little neighbourhoods (with some paint and renovations). For now though they are controlled by drug lords and we could hear fireworks from time to time throughout the city. These are usually to warn that police are nearby or that drugs have arrived.

We took a tour of Centro, visiting some museums and old buildings before taking the ferry to Niteroi and the MAC (Museum of Contemporary Arts), which looked like a flying saucer and with great views at sunset. We took the boat back and had a few drinks and snacks in Lapa.

The next day we went to the Botanic Gardens, and after escaping the groups of school kids, we saw an amazing small green bird hovering above a stream. Then it was off to Leblon for a walk on the beach before dinner.

The bad weather returned and the forecast looked ominous for the next few days so we decided to leave the following night for Curitiba on a night bus. We stayed just one day in Curitiba, really just to break up the journey from Rio to Foz do Iguaçu. We visited the Museum of Contemporary Art (designed by the same architect as the one in Rio, but this time in the shape of an eye rather than a flying saucer). There was an Escher exhibition there and we had some fun in the interactive installations. Then it was back to the bus station and on to Iguaçu.