From Formals to Gum boots: Cruising Rome-Rio and Forays into the Amazon, Part 4 – Brazil

Port 6 – Bahia da Salvador

We were diverted from the Brazilian town of Recife because the cruise ship and local port authorities ‘failed to reach an agreement’, whatever that was… Once at Bahia da Salvador, we found out that anyone who didn’t want to get mugged getting to the UNESCO heritage site of Cidade Alta (Upper Town) would have to take the Elevador Lacerda to reach it. For the next 2 hours, we tried every international bank ATM machine on the main street, including 3 trips to Citibank (its ATMs apparently take siestas…), in our quest for the $0.15 USD elevator fare.

View of the port at Bahia da Salvador
Picture of the elevator tower and sky bridge from Cidade Alta overlooking the port.

Once out of the elevator, we were transported to a world of well restored Easter egg-colored Colonial buildings that house shops, galleries, cafes, and restaurants.

Salvador Cidade Alta Upper Town Square
Square in Cidade Alta, renowned for its Portuguese Colonial architecture dating from 17th to 19th centuries.

We sampled gelados (ice creams) through several ice cream shops and barely made a dent in the amazing selection of exotic flavors. Not knowing any Portuguese didn’t slow us down because of the sizzling Brazilian summer heat and sweltering humidity.

Acaraje, a Salvadoran street food
Scrumptious but artery clogging snack from a street vendor by the park.

Acarajé, a crunchy Afro-Brazilian street food, is a bean fritter fried in dende (palm oil), filled with a paste of dried shrimps, nuts, dende, coconut milk, and augmented by heaps of okra & hot sauce. Yum!

Port 7 – Rio de Janeiro

Our cruise finally came to an end at Rio. After disembarking, we stayed for another two days before taking our flight into Manaus, the gateway to the Amazon. We found Brazil to be a surprisingly expensive country. My unscientific benchmark is the cost of ice cream – averaging at $4 a scoop, it’s not what I’d call developing country prices!

Because of security concerns, we didn’t carry much currency or credit cards. We once managed to snack through our combined assets and had to rely on the kindness of strangers for metro fares to get back to the hotel, but that’s another VERY long & embarrassing story…

Rio View of the Cristo and Copa Beach
View from ship approaching Rio with Cristo Redentor (Christ Redeemer) above Copacabana Beach.

H. Stern offers free shuttles from the cruise dock to its Gem Museum adjacent to the jeweler’s worldwide headquarters in the posh Ipanema neighborhood. This is a convenient way to get into a popular tourist area known for its upscale shopping and social beach scene.

Rio H Stern's gem stone exhibit
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, so here are some of my Best Friends!

After dutifully touring the boutique and failing to find anything I couldn’t live without, it was time to do some sightseeing.

Rio Church Stained Glass Window
Stained glass windows inside a church in Rio.

We eventually made it to the next beach, the fabled Copacabana Beach. I had heard much about the beach and was excited to see if the beach lives up to the hype.

Copa Beach sidewalk in Rio
The distinctive Portuguese pavement mosaic at Copa Beach.

The black and white stone sidewalks of Copa Beach are called calçada. Designed by Roberto Burle Marx and completed in 1970, the main streets alongside the calçadas are turned into a pedestrian-only zone and closed to 4-wheeled traffic on Sundays.

Rio Copacabana Beach
A sea of umbrellas on the beach.

Our quest for Beautiful People at the fabled Copa Beach was a bust. We made the strategic mistake of showing up before noon, when no self-respecting BP would have rolled out of bed!

The next day we headed for Rio’s other attractions. The 1,299 foot Pão de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf) mountain is the second most visited tourist site in Rio. It’s only accessible by a 2-stage cable car with the base terminal close to Praia Vermelha (Red Beach). The tram makes an intermediate stop at Morro da Urca at 722 feet, where you can hop off to enjoy panoramic views from the multi-level outdoor terraces and get some snacks. It was at Sugar Loaf that I bought the most expensive ice cream cone in all my travels – $7 for a single take-out scoop!!

Rio Sugar Loaf
View from the Pão de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf) tram’s lower station at Morro da Urca looking towards the 1300 ft summit.

We stayed till dusk and spent some time taking pix of the amazing views from the observation platform before catching one of the last cars down.

Rio Sugar Loaf Sculpture at dusk
Ethereal sculpture on the observation deck at Sugar Loaf.
Rio Sugar Loaf Dusk
Magical sunset view of Rio and its beaches sprinkled like spilled diamonds beneath the Sugar Loaf.