Brazil 2013 - day 4 - mall and beach day

Day 4 included the mall for supplies for Lyle (and me) because he was in Rio for work after all.  So we did the bus trip, missed our stop and had to do the return trip from Ipanema to Botafoga.  After sussing out all the gorgeous shoes and beautiful clothes... Lyle got his work related goodies and I scored a hot little bikini.

We opted to be savvy and headed back to the hotel in Lapa which was in the opposite direction to the beach.  Did a quick costume change and headed back out to catch bus 424 to Ipanema.  

One thing we've got to hand to the natives is that they're active.  There was an array of beach soccer, beach volley soccer and then this interesting tight rope thingy.  I've included a clip so that you get an idea of what these talented people did.  Me... I just splashed in the water like a tourist and lazed on the beach.  I felt more at home once I had a "homeland" bikini.  We, South Africans, are far too conservative.  Even the old aunties were rocking tanga bikinis or the gstring with the shortest shorts.  For me it was quite liberating to see considering my changing shape and that encouraged me to join the throng :-)

Pretty sky hey?

Despite the weather, we enjoyed the beach.  Water was still warm and not as many natives on the side headed for Leblon.

A busier section of the Ipanema beach.

Volley soccer... people kicking a ball over a net... like in volleyball.  Nogal a serious business. Pic from Day 1

Beach soccer... check Lyle out...  Pic from Day 1

Brazil 2013 - Day 3 - Super Tourist

It is mandatory, in my opinion, to do the whole tourist thing.  This I have discovered to be especially important because one is not 100% when you'll have a similar opportunity to visit a particular place again.  In our instance - we had an amazing opportunity to go to Brazil and more impressively (yes, I said impressively) we were in Rio de Janeiro... whoop whoop!!!!

And so after our self directed stint in Ipanema yesterday, upon the suggestion of our hotel, we went with their preferred tour company and saw the sites.  This was really one of those "click 'n go" experiences.  Questions weren't really encouraged because our guide had only been on the job for two weeks.  At one point, Lyle asked her a question and her response was - "I can Google that quick"  - much to the annoyance of my love.

At least we got some good pics... and that was all worth it - I suppose. We were the only English dominant clients on the 15 person tour bus so that was a bit frustrating.  But in general... we got to see the sites... and that is after all the aim of being a SUPER TOURIST!

Lyle's morning Portuguese lesson... courtesy of his iPhone

A cathedral built in 1976 which is dome shaped.  Beautiful stain glass windows all around.

This was our driver lady and the 2 week old tour guide.

This is at the starting site for the famous Carnival ... notice the g-string bottom thingy at the back... very provocative.  We got a chance to try on the hats and pose :-)

This is Sugar Loaf Mountain.  There's two cable cars to get to the top... and it was hot!!!!  Very beautiful view of the north and south of Rio... We stayed on the right hand side of the mountain.  Where the town is and the fancy beaches on the left.

View from the top of Sugar Loaf... apparently the sunsets are stunning from up here.  There's even a helipad where people can do tours of the peninsula.

Graffiti was a popular art form... in some instances (like this one) it's artistic and in other instances the typical gang tagging.

Christ the Redeemer.  Large and in charge.  As Lyle's mate, Damon, said that despite the physical presence of Christ he experiences Rio as being far removed from Him.

Early Friday night and the start of the evening bustle in Lapa, the area that we stayed in... it's actually a queue to go into a club.  Notice the graffiti on the wall and the yellow cabs... on the wrong side of the road.

Brazil 2013- day 2 Ipanema Beach

Despite a crazy day of travel behind us and gaining 5 hours... We still woke up at 4am. Opting to navigate our own way around, we opted for a map with the bus routes and off we went to Ipanema for the day. 

Sun, sand, sea and a coconut - perfect way for me to people watch while Lyle swam and played a game of football with the locals. 

Dinner on the beach with tasty prawns and $R 17 plate of fries, we took a bus back to the hotel to rest our suntanned heads.

Brazil 2013

Mostly a day filled with travel. Our start time was 4am ad that just so that we could get the boys organized and ourselves to the airport on time... No pics... Sorry!!!

Very long flight though! Ten and half hours to Sao Paulo and then two hours before the next flight to Rio.  Pick up was quick and painless and off we went to Lapa.  The best part of a taxi trip is usually trying to make sense of what you see and matching it to what you know from home.  Most confusing part was the fact that so many people looked just like us... but did not at all sound in any way... like something I knew.

Here's to Brazil 2013.