My Wild Weekend in Rio, August 7-8

After four weeks in the relatively sedate Brasilia I was ready for a change of pace and to see a different side of Brazil. So Friday night it was off to Rio de Janeiro for the weekend. Things did not start so auspiciously. I was waiting near the gate for my plane and it was getting later and later and no sign of the Rio flight. Finally I realized that they had switched gates and I don't understand Portuguese. I rushed over to the new gate and made it with just minutes to spare. Yahoo weather said it was going to be clear for the weekend but there was a steady drizzle as I rode in from the airport later that night. I just hoped it would clear by morning.

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The weather did clear up Saturday with some cloudiness but no more rain. With just two days at my disposal I decided to hire a private guide rather being shuttled around in a tour bus. My guide’s name was Lusi and she picked me up at the hotel at 9:30 Saturday morning. I told her I wanted to see the most famous sights, the Christ statue, Sugarloaf and the beaches but I was also interested in visiting a favela. More on that later.
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First up was the Christ statue. Our driver dropped us off at the cog rail train station at the foot of the mountain where the statue is. Lusi proved her value by skipping past the long lines and getting us on board on the train about to leave. Otherwise it would have been a 45 minute wait for the next train.

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The train took about 25 minutes to climb to the foot of the statue making its way through a dense jungle...


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The view was simply spectacular. Rio has to be the most naturally beautiful city I have ever seen with its mountains, jungles, water and beaches.






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To top it all off, there were monkeys up there too. I love monkeys!

Meandering

Saturday we started at the local farmers market. There were about 7-8 micro coffee growers with booths there since this is the center of Kona coffee. There are something like 700 growers in the area most with 1.5 to 11 acres in coffee. I tried them all and didn't think they were all that good though later in town I had a cup of Kona that was quite good. We stopped by one of the large growers and took a short coffee tour.




Then we visited an interesting little church...




...and a historical park.




Lizz and I did a bit of snorkeling and then back to the resort to soak in the hot tub and relax by the pool.

Sunday was a long day. Shopping and lazying about before heading home that evening. I'm now equipped with two Hawaiian Aloha shirts so I'm ready for any social or business occasion.

Back to the Beach

Today, Friday, we went to the Mauna Kea Beach which is right next the Haupuna. Our guide book says it is as good as the Haupuna but with better snorkeling. It's prettier but the waves aren't as good and there is a resort looming over it. Overall I like the Hapuna better but basically I'm just spoiled now.

The Luau

We were not going to do the luau thing but Lizz wanted to and we wanted to celebrate her recent masters degree so we decided what the heck. It was fun in a shlocky Disney/Lounge Act sort of way. The food was good and so was the show though the hula girls had rather modest costumes so that was a disappointment but don't tell Shawne I said so.

A Beach'n Time

We've been using a funny, irreverant guide called "Hawaii, The Big Island Revealed" by Andrew Doughty. I would highly recommend it. Anyway, in the section on beaches there is one beach, Hapuna Beach, that often is rated best in the USA by Conde Nast magazine. We spent the morning and half of the afternoon there and it was easy to see why it is rated so highly. It was beautiful with perfect air temperature, perfect water temperature and perfect waves for swiming and a bit of light body surfing. A nice change up from all the running around we did earlier.

Fire in the Sky

Tuesday we drove to the Kilauea Volcano which is part of the most active volcano system in the world. Along the way we saw a zebra,


a huge and very ridiculous subdivision built on a lava field called Hove,




the southern most point in the USA,



and a black sand beach with a couple of big sea turtles sunning themselves.



We had a quick dinner in the town of Volcano and then headed off to the point where the lava is flowing into the ocean. It was after dark (the best time for seeing action) and pouring rain and we had to make our way over pretty rough terrain for half an hour from the parking lot to get to the viewing area. Lava was splattering into the air as it hit the ocean. I would have like to have gotten closer but I suppose safety is more important than a surprise swim in a river of lava. We spent Tuesday night in rustic unheated cabins in the park but the night was not very cold so we fared pretty well.


Wednesday we drove around the main crater looking at sites. It is huge with lots of vents with steam and gasses. Very impressive. We walked through a lava tube that extended back several hundred yards in the midst of a rain forest. That afternoon Shawne headed back with Lizz and Ariel while Nathan Katherine and I took a hike half way around the rim of a smaller crater and then down across its surface which is an old lava lake. All in all two very nice days.

A Whale of a Good Time

Aloha oukou! Our latest adventure is a trip to the big island of Hawaii. We arrived yesterday and will leave next Sunday, staying on the Western side near Kona. We brought the “kids” and our daughter-in-law Katherine along for the ride. This morning was a snorkeling trip. We saw lots and lots of very colorful fish, a few large turtles (about 30” across) and some humpback whales. I also saw an octopus that turned from a good camouflage sandy color to white when I got close. Best of all was a whale shark that came bumping up along the side of our boat. It is huge, something like 10 feet wide by 40 feet long but harmless. I just wish that I had the presence of mind to jump in the water when it came up to us. Some of the people from other boats were hitching rides on it. It was totally docile. Tomorrow we go visit the volcanoes. A hui hou!