Rio day 1

A nice slow cruise into the mouth of Guanabara Bay gave us excellent looks at the city of Rio de Janeiro and the surrounding hills. It was hot and humid, and a haze hung in the air, so not the clearest views of Christ the Redeemer, but still a wonderful entrance into the city. We took it all in from decks 9, 10, and 11, then grabbed a quick lunch as we wanted to be among the first off the ship. We accomplished that and grabbed an Uber to take us to the Botanical Gardens. We were there by 1:35; not bad considering we docked at 1:00. We’d read that only cash was accepted, but that turned out to not be the case. Several English-speaking employees were very helpful, and we got tickets and into the gardens in minutes.

It was hot, but there was a breeze and the gardens offered plenty of shade. Not having a map, we decided to walk around the perimeter first. The setting is spectacular: right up at the base of Corcovado, with jungle all around. While we enjoyed seeing all the plant life, the highlights were the fauna. We saw a common marmoset and a whole group of black capuchin monkeys. The monkeys were a hit: walking around on two legs, jumping from tree to tree, nursing their babies. I was happy to wind up with no fewer than five life birds: Rusty-margined Guan, Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail, Red-shouldered Macaw, Golden-capped Parakeet, and Channel-billed Toucan.

We hit the café located near the garden exit, mainly out of convenience, but it turned out to have good food. Liz and I shared some cheese empanadas and the boys had some pretty decadent Nutella and strawberry crepes. We saw a number of local families who had taken young ones to the gardens in there.

We’d kicked around the idea of going by Copacabana and Ipanema beaches on the way back to the ship, but we were pretty worn out from the heat, so we just went straight back. The Uber back, while taking less time, cost about twice as much as the one going over. I’ll never understand Uber pricing.もっと詳しく