Arraial do Cabo

It's taken me a while to write up all my posts about our trip to Brazil - it's been a really busy month - but now I've finally arrived at our last full day! Claudio and I spent this day outside of the city, sailing and snorkelling around paradise beaches.

We had known that we wanted to do a day trip like this during our holiday, but initially it was difficult to decide where to go! Arraial do Cabo, Búzios and Ilha Grande were the options we were debating between, but eventually we decided on Arraial, because not only is it the most convenient one to get to, but also because the photos online look absolutely incredible. We were really hoping that we'd have a day of sunshine, and that the beaches would look just as amazing in real life as they did in pictures. Fortunately, that was exactly what happened!

We booked a full-day tour which included transportation, a boat trip and a buffet lunch, and came to something like 80 pounds for the two of us, which was pretty great value! The minibus came to pick us up at our hotel at around 7am, and once everyone was on board, it was time to make our way over to Arraial, which is about 3 hours to the east of the city of Rio de Janeiro, but which is still located in the state of Rio de Janeiro. We made a stop about halfway through the journey at a motorway service station that was very similar to the ones we have in the UK. (It was surprising to me, as in Chile motorway service stations are not a thing, and we just have to stop at petrol stations!)

The minibus was quite cramped and stuffy, and I felt pretty sick by the time we finally arrived. But I was happy to discover that the weather was sunny and hot. At last!

We made our way to the port and were taken to the boat where we would spend the next 4 hours or so. 

I was really excited for the trip, but as soon as we set off, the motion sickness that I already had from the minibus journey got 10 times worse. Other people on the boat were drinking and partying, whereas I was staring at the horizon and trying not to throw up!

After what felt like a long time, we reached our first stop, Praia do Farol (Lighthouse Beach), which is located on an island. Here we had to ride on little motorised dinghies in order to get to the beach, which was quite fun!

We had rented snorkels on the boat, but we didn't see much underwater at this particular stop. That didn't matter though, because the beach was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. The ocean was turquoise and a perfect temperature, and the sand was white. We only had 20 minutes there, but we could have easily spent hours swimming and sunbathing, given the chance!

One of the best things about this stop was that the swim in the ocean completely cleared my head, and I could enjoy the rest of the boat trip afterwards without feeling sick.

Our next stop was Praia do Pontal do Atalaia back on the mainland. Here we had our first snorkelling success, seeing some white, yellow, and stripy black and white fish of various sizes! There's also a grotto here (Gruta do Amor - Grotto of Love), which we swam to. We had 40 minutes at this beach, but they went by in a flash, and again, we felt like we could have spent much longer there! This was really turning out to be the trip of a lifetime!

But it was our third and final stop that turned out to be the most memorable. This time we didn't take a dinghy to a beach; the boat stopped at a spot some distance from Praia do Forno (Oven's Beach) and we could jump straight out into the water, which was about 15 metres deep!

Claudio and I had a truly amazing experience snorkelling here. Even though we didn't see turtles as we'd hoped (Arraial is well known for its turtles), we still saw some incredible wildlife. There were more fish here than there had been at the previous stop, and what made it even better was that there was a beautiful coral reef of many colours, which we explored together. I've always dreamed of visiting Australia and seeing the Great Barrier Reef, and I'd never expected to experience something similar in a completely different part of the world!

We had just 15 minutes at this particular stop, but those 15 minutes were definitely one of those times that we'll remember forever.

Then the time came to head back to port.

After a late buffet lunch in the town centre, we headed back to Rio, arriving at around 8 or 9pm. It had been an amazing day, but we didn't want it to end yet!

So after dumping our stuff in the hotel, we went to Copacabana Beach for one last paddle in the sea and a caipirinha. While we were there, we had the fun surprise of seeing the "Holidays are coming" Coca-Cola truck pass by, driven by Father Christmas of course! (I hadn't known it really existed outside of the adverts!) It was a nice end to a really special trip.

Both of us were a little sad to leave Rio (especially because there was finally sun in the city on the day we left!), but I'm sure we'll be back at some point in the future. I think it would be really nice to spend at least a month there (preferably a dryer month than December!), visit places like Ilha Grande, Búzios, Paraty and Petrópolis, and try to get fluent in Portuguese. That would be a dream!

Since we got back, a lot has gone on - Christmas, New Year, and even some more travelling! But first I want to write my round-up of the year, which has become a tradition for me on this blog. So that will be coming next, followed by a couple of posts about our recent travels within Chile. 

See you soon!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day One here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Two here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Three here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Four here!

Rio de Janeiro: Day Four

Our fourth day in Rio de Janeiro was unfortunately a lot less exciting than the first three days. This was mainly because the weather forecast lied to us! Despite this, we still managed to have some good moments.

The previous day had been very rainy, as expected, but according to the weather forecast, this day was meant to be dry, apart from a little bit of rain in the morning. So we decided to start the day at the beach!

When we left the hotel, it seemed like the sun was trying to come out, which was a positive sign. But as we got closer to Leme Beach, it started raining. We hoped the rain would go away soon...

One of the interesting places we saw on our way to the beach was the iconic hotel, Copacabana Palace. We'd watched a video about it on YouTube before our trip, and seen just how luxurious it is on the inside. On the outside, it's absolutely huge and really does look like a palace. If you have an unlimited budget, it's surely the best place to stay in Rio!

Leme Beach is actually located along the same stretch of sand as Copacabana, but it is much quieter, and was recommended to me as the best beach in Rio by one of my Brazilian students. It's a beautiful setting, but unfortunately we didn't get to see it at its best, because it really started to pelt it down with rain when we were there.

Eventually, the rain got so bad that we had to put on our raincoats and make our way back to the hotel. This was the real low point of the entire holiday. The walk back seemed to take at least an hour, and to make matters worse, one of my flip-flops fell apart! (Claudio very kindly swapped his with mine.) By the time we got back to the hotel, we were soaking wet and more than a little fed-up. This was meant to be our dream summer holiday in Brazil, but it felt more like being at the seaside in Britain!

After showering and getting changed, I took the opportunity to go down to the lobby and do a bit of work I needed to do, and then we went out to find some lunch and decide what to do next, given that any outdoor activities were impossible. We initially wanted to go to Museu do Amanhã, a science museum, but it closes at 5pm, and we realised that by the time we would get there, we'd have very little time to actually see anything.

In the end, we went to Shopping Leblon, a very upmarket shopping mall. I wanted to find a new outfit, given that some of my clothes were wet from the morning and the previous days, but everything there was too expensive! But one of the great things about the mall were the views from the roof - from there you can see the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, which is absolutely huge, and the Jardim de Alah (Garden of Allah) canal, which flows down to the sea and is what separates Ipanema from Leblon.

By this point, the rain had eased off quite a bit, so we decided to leave the mall and go out and have a wander around the area. But of course, almost as soon as we stepped outside, the rain started up again!

So instead, we decided to go back inside and look for a café to try a Brazilian coffee - definitely an important item on the travel list for a trip to Brazil! We found a nice place called Café Zinn, where the coffee was great, and I think I appreciated it even more because of the rainy day. 

Overall, it was disappointing that we couldn't spend the day doing the things we wanted to, but these things happen. 

The next day was the last full day of our trip, and luckily it was a lot more memorable than Day Four! We took a trip out of the city in order to visit some of the most beautiful beaches in the country... I can't wait to write about our amazing experience there!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day One here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Two here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Three here!

Read about Arraial do Cabo here!

Rio de Janeiro: Day Three

Our third day in Rio de Janeiro was something a little bit different. As Claudio and I had expected, it was a very rainy day, so we decided to skip the beaches and head for the city centre.

The city centre is not the most famous part of Rio, but it has some fantastic sights, and definitely can't be missed!

We decided to start off by seeing Theatro Municipal, which is perhaps the most beautiful building in the entire city. The grand architecture of the theatre and the buildings surrounding it, along with the rainy weather, reminded me of the times I've gone sightseeing in European cities, like Vienna, Bratislava and Paris!

Our next stop was the cathedral, which was something completely different! It was designed in a modernist style, and doesn't really look like a church at all. To be honest, it made me think of a Dalek, but it was actually inspired by Mayan pyramids. 

In fact, the interior of the cathedral is more spectacular than its exterior - once you're inside, you realise just how huge it really is. The stained-glass windows are also very beautiful.

After visiting the cathedral, we walked over to Arcos da Lapa, also known as Carioca Aqueduct. This is a beautiful architectural landmark, which is made more impressive by the fact that it was built in the 1700s. 

Fortunately, the rain started clearing up when we were here, so we could finally take some photos without our rain coats!

The final place we went to see in the city centre is probably its most famous sight - or at least the one that gets posted the most on social media! Escadaria Selarón is a huge set of steps made up of colourful tiles, some of which have paintings on them. There are also various murals surrounding the steps. Interestingly, Escadaria Selarón was actually created by a Chilean artist, Jorge Selarón. You can definitely see the Chilean influence there, and it's hard not to be reminded of Valparaíso and its many colourful staircases and street art.

One of the most memorable sights for me on Escadaria Selarón were these two beautiful cats sleeping next to each other. They looked so perfect!

It was also a nice surprise to discover an Indian restaurant (Hoje Tem Curry) located right on the steps. (I introduced Claudio to Indian food when he was staying with me and my family in the UK, and now we're both big fans!) We decided to go there for lunch, which turned out to be a great choice, as they offer a deal which includes a curry and all the trimmings!

After our delicious curries, we went to take a photo of a nearby street, simply because it reminded me of a street I'd seen in Lisbon in November 2019. The street in question had had yellow and green banners, which had made me think of Brazilian carnivals, and given me Wanderlust to visit Brazil. So it was pretty amazing to finally be in Brazil over three years later, and to see a street with almost identical banners!

By this point, it was the afternoon, and we decided to head away from the city centre and to go to our next stop: the Botanical Garden. This seems to be a less-visited attraction compared to other places in Rio; maybe it was just because of the rain, but we had the place almost to ourselves for the couple of hours we were there. It's a huge area filled with trees and plants from all over Brazil and other parts of the world, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of our entire trip.

The first part we saw was this little garden inspired by Mexico, which was filled with cacti. It's amazing how it survives in the completely different climate of Brazil!

 

One part we really liked was the Japanese garden. It was so tranquil and relaxing to sit under the little shelter there, protected from the rain.

Another beautiful and tranquil aspect of the Botanical Garden are the three waterfalls that you can find not far from the entrance.

In fact, the entire garden is incredibly beautiful and peaceful - it's hard to believe that it's in the middle of a big city!

But by far the most memorable thing about the Botanical Garden were the monkeys! We saw some medium-sized ones leaping about from tree to tree near the waterfalls, and some small ones climbing up and down the tree trunks on the other side of the garden. They were adorable! It was hard to get decent pictures of them, but I'll always have an amazing memory of the experience of seeing them in their natural habitat.

And that concludes my account of our third day in the wonderful city of Rio de Janeiro!

Next I'll be writing about Day Four, which was admittedly the least exciting day of our trip, as we had another full day of rain, but this time we hadn't been expecting it. However, we tried our best to make the most of the situation, and we had some nice moments along the way. A blog post will be coming very soon!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day One here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Two here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Four here!

Read about Arraial do Cabo here!