Saturday, February 10, 2018- Cruise Day 18; Rio de Janiero Day 1

Saturday, February 10, 2018- Cruise Day 18; Rio de Janiero Day 1

We arrived in Rio de Janiero under cover of dawn. We had to set an alarm to get us up in time to get breakfast and down to our Best of Rio by 7:15AM. It’s becoming quite evident that amongst frequent cruisers, sleeping in is one big reason they like at sea days. 

We crept past the awesome crags of Sugarloaf mountain and slipped into the Port of Rio de Janiero early and docked right downtown. 

As soon as we stepped outside the ship’s air conditioned interior, we were hit by a wall of 90 degree 90 percent humidity air. It was marvelously sunny, but the humidity left a moderate haze in the air. We were glad to be climbing into an air conditioned luxury tour bus. 

Arriving during Carnaval is a mixed blessing. There are 4 cruise ships docked downtown, and an additional 2 million South American and other tourists are in town for the Carnaval, which is part of the Pre-Lent celebrations in this very Catholic country. 

As part of the Holiday, banks and many businesses are closed and many streets are closed for street parties and local parades. All over town and on city buses, people are dressed in all manner of crazy and zany outfits. For some reason, tutus are popular amongst both sexes. 

Traffic is a huge problem, and traffic is set up as a huge one way circle around Rio de Janiero so if you had to get somewhere by cab, it might take you several times longer than a more normal direct route. We were glad to be on a ship’s excursion with experienced guides and drivers. They seemed to know how to best avoid the worst of the congestion. 

For the most part, Rio de Janiero looks cleaner and more modern than Fortaleza and Ilhabela by a long shot. It actually looks like a nice city. Perhaps the 2016 Olympics can take some credit for that. 

Our first stop was Sugarloaf Mountain, the iconic peak that dominates the skyline. There is a two stage gondola that takes you to the very top for. Breathtaking view of Rio de Janiero, which is surrounded by water and mountains. It was interesting to see large airliners make their final approach over the city below us. We could see the statue of Christ The Redeemer becoming from the other end of Rio de Janiero. The view was well worth the wait to get in the gondolas. Since we were one of the first big tour groups to arrive, our wait was under 30 minutes and there was free WiFi, so we could get off some emails and photos.

It remained sunny and in the lower to mid 90’s all day, so we looked forward to each climb back into our air conditioned coach for cooling breaks. 

Our next stop was the railway up the backside of Corcovado Mountain- the perch for Christ The Redeemer. We had a much longer wait in line there because it was later in the day, but the steep train ride through the dense tropical forest full of jackfruit trees was certainly more interesting than a winding and twisting long bus ride up the backside of that mountain. 

The Christ The Redeemer Statue is quite a wonder- one of the 7 Man-made wonders of the World. Unfortunately it was very hot, humid, and crowded with clowns who all wanted to get their pictures posing in front of the statue with their hands outstretched like the Statue’s. We leaned that the head and hands were made in Paris, and that the hands are actually those of a woman’s. No calluses on those holy hands. 

The humidity hampered visibility for photos, but our guide said conditions were about as good as it gets. 

From the top of Corcovado, we had sweeping views of Rio de Janiero from a opposite perspective from Sugarloaf, which we could see in the distance and below. We could also see the famous Copacabana beach. 

We rode the tram back down the mountain and then drove to Copacabana beach, where he could hop out of the bus to take pictures, but with stern warnings from our guides to bring only our cameras and to avoid the bicycle path and beach, lest we end up the victims of crime. We got our pictures and made it back to the bus with our iPhones intact. 

It’s funny that earlier on the ship, they made an announcement overhead advising all passengers to password protect their smartphones and to take precautions amidst the Carnaval crowds. 

Our last stop was a Fugo de Chào Brazilian steakhouse for a late but very filling lunch. Talk about your classic meat induced comas. On our way back to the ship, we learned that our guide Celeste would be our guide for our upcoming Iguazu Falls overland excursion. 

We were happy to climb back into the comfortably air conditioned shell of the Island Princess for cold showers, a quick nap and bite to eat before attending a Folkloric show in the Princess Theater and then heading out at 7:45PM for our Carnaval Sambadrome experience. A small samba band and dance troupe came aboard to give us a taste of Carnaval complete with scantily clad feathered dancers. 

When we arrived at the Sambadrome, a specially built linear stadium seating 90,000 spectators, it was well after dark, but still nearly 93 degrees and very muggy. The concrete bleachers reminded us of a very crowded swim meet with bad air conditioning. 

One of the most important aspects of Carnaval is the Samba competition, whicha a matter of great national and regional pride. Favelas, or communities organize Samba clubs that involve thousands of participants. Each Samba club designs and produces a 45 minute extravaganza with an original Samba theme song, dances, parade floats and samba band. There are hundreds or even thousands of dancers in an amazing array of colorful costumes and incredible floats, some of which are more than 200’ long and 2-3 stories tall covered with dancers and gymnasts. It’s like each club has to come up with its own Macy’s Day Parade to compete with other clubs. There are many compulsory elements and a lot of originality. We had grandstand seats, which were originally very crowded, but many people left after the first two clubs finished at midnight. These parades start at 10PM the competition runs until 5AM. By 2AM the temperature had dropped to 89 degrees, but there was a breeze that helped make things a bit more comfortable. 

We didn’t stay for all 7 clubs to finish, but enjoyed a remarkable spectacle of unmatched paegentry. We would recommend it, but wished we had brought cooling fans, more water, and ear plugs.