January 12th and 13th Rio de Janeiro.

Boa tarde---or good evening in Portuguese! We have just had our sailaway from Rio and I have come to believe that Rio looks a lot better from a distance. We had a day and a half here in Rio, arriving 5 hours late due to strong winds and high seas. Shore excursions were rescheduled for later in the day. The sail into Rio is really beautiful with Suger Loaf and Corcovado with the statue of Christ very visible landmarks. Rio stretches out on the sea with a string of hills and mountains making up her backbone. We passed lots of beaches: Ipanima, Lebron, Copacobana, etc and David had his telephoto lens hoping to catch a glimpse of his first Rio bikini. There is a local airport right in the midst of downtown and it is awe inspiring to see the planes land and take off on this small strip of runway jutting out into the bay. The planes must clear the cable car cables of Sugar Loaf and Sugar Loaf itself during takeoff. We were able to watch several takeoffs and landings as we sailed into the harbor. There is a new international airport outside of town that handles the jumbo jets. We docked right downtown, not a very safe or scenic area.

 After a prolonged visit by customs and immigration (I think Brazil makes the cruise ships pay bribes for clearance and departure), the ship was cleared for passengers to go ashore. We took a taxi to Sugar Loaf, and David, being much braver than me, took the cable cars to the top. The cars go first to an intermediate stop where you change to another cable car and go to the top. I found a seat right under the path of the cable cars and could look into them as they began their assent. People were stuffed in them like sausages! Yikes!! The tour for David took about 1 12 hours and I sat on my bench and people watched. Rio is really a blended, multi-racial culture. I saw some of the most beautiful children with cocoa colored skin, light eyes and golden curly hair. Evidently, Sugar Loaf extends discount rates to Rio residents, Cariocos, just like Disneyland does to those living in Orange County, so there were many, many families. David's photos were impacted by the haziness that surrounds Rio. Natives call it fog, but it looked like smog to me---brown in color, just like Los Angeles. After Sugar Loaf, we took a cab to the shopping center where Crystal's shuttles were. The cab driver wanted $20 to take us, David said "too much" and one of his colleagues said don't pay more than $10 so the original guy drove us for that. Interestingly, they won't accept crumpled or old US dollars, we had to give him crisp ones. 

The shopping center, Sol Rio, was modern with many familiar shops. Very few people, even in the stores, spoke English. Portuguese is similar to Spanish in some ways, but is much more harsh in its melody, sounding more like Russian. We caught the shuttle back to the ship and saw a bit more of Rio from the bus. There is a financial district and some wide avenues, but very little of the colonial architecture remains and it has none of the charm of Buenos Aires. Most of the buildings are circa 1960's apartment blocks, and even the middle class housing is poorly maintained. The best business to be in in all the major South American cities seems to be iron bars. All the houses and apartments have them, even on windows 5 and 6 stories high. 

Very few people signed up for the Samba Show tours because the caveat by Crystal made them very unappealing. Seating was supposed to be crude and guests would be sharing the shows with other folks. We had an early night after second seating dinner because our tour for today left at 8:10 am. Our tour was to Cocovado and the statue of Christ that is the symbol I have always thought of when I thought of Rio. Our bus took us through the downtown business district and through several nice areas with newer apartment houses and a marina. We took a train up the back side of Corcovado, through a lush forest. At the final station we transferred to elevators and then to escalators to get to the top. The statue is mamoth, extending close to 200 feet into the air. It was completed in 1931 and is done in an Art Deco style. The views were better than SugarLoaf and, although there was still smog and haze, I think our photos came out better. 

After our ride down the steep hill on the train, we boarded our bus again for more of a city tour. We passed favalas, the slums that Rio is famous for, and they are dilapidated, crumbling housing perched on the hillsides. I have never seen such poor housing. They make the inner cities in the US look like Beverly Hills. Evidently the favalas developed when agricultural workers moved to the cities looking for work. They weren't qualified for any of the city jobs and so their children began supporting the family through crime. There is a strong code of ethics in the favalas (honor among thieves) where a drug lord is the chief and everyone else answers to him. He offers protection and doles out punishment for thievery in the favalas, infidelity among married couples,etc. Evidently, you can leave the doors of your house open and nobody will steal anything, even a pile of cash in full view. The responsibility of the residents of the favala is to maintain a code of silence. Nobody sees anything or reports anything to the police. Apparently, the police jobs in the favalas are considered plum because they never get any calls. Police sometime switch sides and work for the drug lords because the money is much better. Our guide said the the gangs in the favalas are better armed than the army, with rocket launchers, etc. In contrast to the favalas,  and not very far from them, are beautiful beaches with trademark artistic patterned sidewalks that don't hold the heat. Lots and lots of bikinis and speedos. Bikini bodies aren't a requirement to wear bikinis in Rio. Lots of tushies showing, because the back of many of the suits are more like thongs, or as they are known in Rio, dental floss.

We passed the historic Copacabana Hotel which is in the process of being refurbished. Flying down to Rio with Carmen Miranda, Doloros del Rio and a host of other stars corresponded with the opening of the Copacabana Hotel that put Rio and Copacabana on the map! We stopped at one of the beaches so that we could get a closer look and buy some coconut water. The tops of coconuts are sliced open and you are given a straw and the coconut. The temperature was about 98 today with high humidity. We weren't sorry to return to the ship, grab some lunch and head for the pool. The salt water in the pools is taken from the ocean, but it was saltier than  usual and when I got out I looked like a fat pretzel!

We have a sea day tomorrow and then Thursday we are in Bahia del Salvador, Brazil. 

There are only a handful of young children on this cruise and no loud families from Mexico City. The entertainment has been only fair so far. But, unfortunately, the food remains excellent! Scott Peterson left the ship in Rio because of a family emergency. He'll board again in Barbados. There have been quite a few rotations in staff as contracts have ended. 

We miss Miles and Dan and hope that they've had a great visit in Buenos Aires and a safe trip home.

All for now, it's time for dinner and I can't afford to miss a meal!

Love,

Carmen Le Vineda