Rio - Copacabana & Sugar Loaf Mountain

Exchange Rate – 1 GBP to 6.46 Brazilian Real
Population (2022) – 215.3 million (Rio de Janeiro 13.82 million)
GDP (2023) – US$ 1.92 trillion

Next stop for us was Brazil and the iconic Rio de Janeiro. Our first challenge was adapting to a new language after honing our Spanish over the last few months. In Brazil they speak Portuguese and whilst there are similarities between the languages we found it difficult to transition. We stayed directly on Copacabana Beach, one of many iconic sites the city has to offer and probably one of the most famous beaches in the world! Unsurprisingly our first afternoon after arriving involved sitting on the beach, watching the ‘entertainment’ (other beach goers) and taking in more sun, sea and sand. One of the big differences we noticed arriving in Rio was how the geology differed from the countries we had previously visited. The beach has a really beautiful backdrop of granite hills with the extensive white sandy beach and aqua seas. Being the weekend we arrived at a time when all the locals descend on the beaches which also brings out the many hawkers (food, clothes, bracelets and music aplenty), as well as the plethora of scantily clad beach goers posing for their social media posts (they certainly like their Instagram poses in Brazil)!

On day two in Rio we headed out to Pao de Azucar, or Sugarloaf Mountain in English. It towers over the city and offers spectacular 360 views across the city. Pao de Azucar is so named because of its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf sugar which was transported in conical moulds. At it’s highest point it sits at 396m above the harbour below, access to the top is via cable car which is a fun experience in itself. First you get to the top of the neighbouring peak called Morro da Urca (where you can walk around gardens and a small museum) before jumping on another cable car to the top of Sugarloaf. The highlight of the morning for the children were the little common marmosets, small ring-tailed monkeys with fluffy ears, that frequent the mountain! It was another hot day in paradise and because we had Bertie with us we were fast-tracked through all the cable-car queues – great service! After spending a few hours taking in the sights from the top we headed back to the beach to cool off in the sea.Read more