Rio de Janeiro

On the 3rd of January I arrived by plane to Rio’s International airport. I was greeted by Rio descending into a white poufy blanket of clouds. Vast un-touched hills were covered in grass and forests with meandering sandy rivers and lakes; houses only sprinkled throughout. After a rather bumpy landing, I had to wait almost an hour in the immigration line at the airport because the airport officials had cleverly opened 7 of the 10 immigration booths for the Brazilian passport holders and only 3 for the international passport holders; while almost the entire plane was just filled with international passport holders. I was quite anxious coming to Rio after watching City of God but I can assure you that Rio is quite alright if you stay in the respectable areas. I bought my taxi ticket to Catete, the neighborhood of my hostel where I was meeting the rest of the overland travelers. The staff of the taxi company was extremely nice and curious where I had come from, better yet the taxi driver was even more welcoming. As we drove through Rio we had a pleasant conversation about where I had come from and where I was going. He spoke very decent English and taught me about the numerous sites as we passed them.

Finally I arrived at the Art Hostel, the Hostel where we were meeting for the beginning of the trip, and together with Tabea and Danny we went straight to Copacobana Beach, Rio’s world renowned beach. In my Lonely Planet of South America on a Shoestring, I had read that nothing of value was to be taken to the beach, however, I found that quite ridiculous as it was just like any other European beach. One can by absolutely everything on the beach; it’s incredible, from cooked prawns on a stick to temporary tattoos. These poor men walk up and down the beaches selling their goods to the beach-bums all day in the blazing sun! On the day that I went it got up to 32 degrees Celsius! Mind you, I can from a miserable wet and cold 3 or 4 degrees back in Switzerland. I spent a whole day people watching and relaxing in a beach chair with a parasol above my head. It was heavenly after a very long travel from Zurich. Yes, be jealous. Unfortunately, I managed to get burnt on my knees and my shines; they must have in the direct sunlight when I snoozed the whole afternoon.

We returned back to the Hostel at around 5:30 for the introduction to the trip and the meet and greets. I consider myself very lucky to have such a fantastic group of travelers! I am the youngest but we also have Peter who is 65 and still travelling the world! We have some very experienced overlanders who have done this sort of travelling before and some newbies like myself. We have a fantastic crew who are really chilled and easy going: Colin, our Scotish driver and Sam, our Kenyian guide.

The next day we were introduced to Bob Esponja, the name of our big yellow truck, and set off for a half day drive to Parati.



I don't have any pictures of Rio because I was too anxious to take it out and use it. I will use my camera everywhere else where I feel comfortable using it.