Beautiful Brazil...

April 21st, 2010:
DAY 1 BRAZIL:

Today we pulled into Salvador, Brazil.  It was raining, but warm, everything was green and the buildings looked as though they’d crumble down the side of the hill at any moment.  We’d been warned about how dangerous this port was time and time again.  So, a little apprehensive but very excited, we disembarked the ship for the last time into a foreign county.   It was a national holiday so almost all shops were closed.  It didn’t take long exploring the streets until we got threatening stares and comments in Portuguese to leave the area.  We happened upon two police officers carrying kitchen knives and guns who motioned to us that our bags would get robbed and that we should leave.  Needless to say, we booked it back to the main area with not the best first experience in Brazil.   After we regrouped we took a taxi to a beach town nearby and grabbed lunch on a covered patio watching the waves roll in and the locals jog by.  It ended up monsooning as we were having lunch so we stayed there most of the day until it was time to catch our evening flight to Rio. 

Once again we feared for our life as our taxi cab driver zoomed in and out of lanes coming with in inches of hitting other cars.  We made it to Rio de Janeiro unscathed and ready to start our Brazil experience over again.  That night we met some nice locals our age as we were out an about for a midnight dinner.  They laughed at how much we had gotten ripped off so far on the trip but said they’d help us if we need it.


DAY 2 BRAZIL:

When booking flights to Rio all of our families had hesitations about us going because of the city’s dangerous reputation.  We knew that Rio was a must-do while in Brazil, so we booked a nice hotel in an upscale area, Ipanema, to make sure we’d be safe.  Rio is generally known for it’s large, touristy beach, Copacabana; however, this area is much more dense and also dangerous for picture-taking tourists.  Ipanema is the up-and-coming beach next to Copacabana, slightly smaller in size but much less overwhelming.  The first morning we explored the Ipanema area around our hotel, went shopping and walked on the boardwalk. 

In the afternoon we went hang gliding off of one of the high peaks overlooking all of Rio de Janeiro!  It took 5 hours for the winds to pick up, but we ran off the edge of the cliff and floated through the air just before sunset.   It was exhilarating and peaceful at the same time. I got to fly the glider and even help land it.  On our way down I saw Christ the Redeemer off in the distance (he was covered by scaffolding because he got a lighting bolt to the face recently) and also much of the Rio coastline.  The city is absolutely spectacular and the people are all active, family oriented, and friendly. 

We got in touch with our local friends that we met the previous night and asked them about going to a Brazilian soccer game at the Maracana- the largest stadium in South America and once the largest in the world.  They had been to the major team game the night before and said that the game tonight wouldn’t be nearly as exciting as the Flamengo games.   They invited us over to their house for a Brazilian BBQ with their friends, so we went and had the most fantastic steak straight off the grill.  We decided to go for it and catch the soccer match.  It ended up being a cool experience even though there were probably only 4,000 people in the 100,000-person stadium.  We got seats up close to the field and rooted on the home team!