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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Rio de Janeiro (Brasil) - Just like being home again

RIO DE JANEIRO (Brasil)
26 July - 31 July 2017


There's a couple of places Inga and I tend to gravitate to when staying in either Buenos Aires or Rio de Janeiro. When in BA its the wonderful Pan Americano that overlooks Avenida 9 de Julio. Of course, there are better hotels, more stylish, more salubrious but the central locations and the views down Avenida 9 unmatched. The Porto Bay in Rio shapes as the perfect accompaniment to the Pan Americano in Buenos Aires. Of course it doesn't pack the same style or have the same glamour name that say a Belmond Copacabana Palace does, but it does take pride of place on the beachfront in Copa and provides for a calm, tranquil atmosphere in a very tranquil locations.


Porto Bay Hotel - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


Porto Bay Hotel - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


Porto Bay Hotel - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


Our room, located on the 4th floor was spacious, had a great balcony and provided 180 degree views of the the beachfront.  The location for us was absolutely perfect, with direct access to the beachfront and an area set up for guests directly in front of the hotel, its where we spent most of our time during the day, lounging around and soaking in the sun on the complimentary lounges. This was our plan A to each of our days. Our back up to the standard plan A however was to head up to the roof top in the chic, Fasano inspired dark wood, pool area. For me it always felt like a balancing act as to whether we'd choose the beach or head up to the roof top pool bar area. For one, the views from the roof top are spectacular, which when supported by drinks and the occasional free snack thrown in makes the 'Plan B' quite the attractive alternative to the famous beach below.


Porto Bay Hotel - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


Porto Bay Hotel - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


Porto Bay Hotel - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


Porto Bay Hotel - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


Porto Bay Hotel - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


Inga &; I have a standard modus whilst in Rio now. Usually it commences when the colours of the sky commence being painted with hues of orange, pink and red and beams of light come streaming through the window. At this stage we are pre-programmed to instigate our strong cup of coffee process. This quickly transitions into gym wear, with Inga  this time around heading up to the gym and me getting out onto the road in order to do the run down to the bottom of Ipanema and back to the hotel. Usually the time we both spent was around 1hr - 1hr 20, but the real treat  was what always followed. We'd always elected to have breakfast included whilst staying at the Porto, which is a buffet affair, but, the absolute gem at the breakfast service was the bottomless champagne offering. This was always our post training treat at the Porto Bay, a workout followed by some good 'ole fashioned champagne - you can't beat that!


The iconic Cervantes - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


Cervantes - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


Cervantes - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


The iconic Cervantes - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


We set ourselves up with a few things to whilst in Rio but one opportunity that came out of left field was meeting up with the Medcalf's for an afternoon in Urca. Unbeknown to me, a colleague of mine from the Federal Court had his cousin in Rio at the same time we were there, so we set an afternoon to catch up with Amy & Andrew at Bar Urca for late afternoon drinks. For those that don't know, Bar Urca is a classic restaurant that also has a bar/picas type of counter at an iconic location, overlooking Guanabara Bay and the Botofogo area. It's known for its fish, crab cakes, bacalao croquettes and drinks. Of course for Inga and I drinks in Rio is equivalent to for a call to have more caipirinhas, who were we to say no to an invite like that?


Bar Urca - Urca - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Bar Urca - Urca - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

It was a pretty cool afternoon, just hanging out on the bay, chatting and watching the sun go down. Later on we headed to another Copacabana icon, Cervantes, a place that has become famous for its insanely generous sandwiches which is often served with a slice of pineapple, an option that both Inga and I usually ditch.


Porto Bay Hotel - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Porto Bay Hotel - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Porto Bay Hotel - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


I think the highlight of our stay on Rio this occasion was our afternoon of paragliding to the beach of Sao Conrado from the launch pad up in the hills named Rampa de Pedra Bonita. This is something that I had planned in advance, prior to arriving in Rio. 

One of the days we had available to do the paraglide was cancelled due to inclement weather, but the day we got the 'all clear' was absolutely perfect. A gorgeous bluebird day with the right amount of lift that allowed us to stay a loft for the greater part of half an hour.


Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

This was another one of those activities where I tend to get excited early on in the piece and then get more nervous and anxious about the event as it approaches. Admittedly it wasn't so bad as the Durban Swing, which would build up the courage to do in December, but, I do recall standing on the take off ramp and vaguely being able to listen to the instructions prior to launch. All I could think of whilst standing there  is that at the edge of the ramp there was a bit of a void, a place where the world just dropped away, so now all my trust  was going into the skills of a Brazilian 'pilot' that could only really speak to me with hand signals as his capacity for English was equivalent to my grasp of Portuguese.

The instructions for launch were simply this, run in tandem with your pilot towards the edge and as it lifts off do nothing else. OK Joao Pinto, this one is all on you, you're responsible for me completely.


Rampa de Pedra Bonita - Sao Conrado - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Rampa de Pedra Bonita - Sao Conrado - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Rampa de Pedra Bonita - Sao Conrado - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Rampa de Pedra Bonita - Sao Conrado - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

In the motion of actually launching there was about a second of fear where I doubted the whole process. My moment of fear didn't give any credit to any of the previous launches or the smiling faces that I saw landing safely on the beach earlier, I felt certain that it was all going to unravel, but magically and with such a minimal amount of fuss, my feet simply lifted off the ground and we were away. An effortless motion, like simply being plucked by our collars and suspended in the atmosphere. It an entirely different feeling to the one that I was anticipated. The glide was smooth, un-rushed and silent as the pilot gained height on the up-drafts from the mountains. As we circled gaining altitude the world beneath our feet fell away and our perspective widened to encompass mountains of Pedra de Gavea to our right, the beautifully pronounced with sand beach of Sao Conrado in front, and then to our left Ipanema and further on Copacabana.


Sao Conrado - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Ipanema - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Ipanema - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil



It was an exhilarating experience, floating down from the mountains so serenely. The perspective and views that we had were second to none, and as we got closer to the beach we actually did a couple of turns about 30-40mts above the hotels and apartment blocks that lined the promenade, seeing people look up and wave as we hovered above their heads. The experience was entirely pleasurable and one that I'd be more than happy to do again in another part of the world.

Rio never seems to disappoint us. Of course we understand that it has its dangers but I think that if you're aware and don't place yourself in a situation of vulnerability then you can manage to mitigate a lot of the risk. Usually its an element of stupidity or momentary opportunism that will make you a target of crime. In our travels thus far Inga and I have not had any issue at all. Of course we've been taken advantage of in small ways, specifically in terms of operational scams where being a tourist puts you at a distinct disadvantage, but mostly we've been free to do as we please and have found that people are generally very helpful. That's the way we've always found Rio to be and hope that it will welcome us in the very same way when return, which I'm sure will be sometime soon.





Friday, July 21, 2017

Salvador de Bahia (Brasil)

SALVADOR DE BAHIA (Brasil)
21 July 2017 - 26 July 2017


Known for its Portuguese architecture, its heady mix of Afro-Brazilian culture and tropical coastline, Salvador de Bahia is something different to what Inga & I had come across thus far in Brazil. I was really looking forward to discovering this city, in particular the bright and animated neighbourhood of Pelourinho. This area sits quite pronounced as the beating heart of this energetic, zestful and vigorous town.

Our accommodation, at the Bahiacafe Hotel, was situated exquisitely on the edge of Pelourinho which made access to the cobblestone streets, baroque churches, wondrous buildings and the large squares very easy.

Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil

Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil

Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil

Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil


The city itself was founded in 1549 and was both the first, and, long time capital of Brasil. Additionally it is recognised as one of the oldest cities in the Americas. It was also one of the very first slave ports in the Americas, the African influence of which is extremely pervasive within the culture, food, music and tempo of the city.

In terms of local geography there is a significant escarpment that divides the upper town district of Pelourinho (Cidade Alta) from the lower town (Cidade Baixa), in fact that divide is 85mtrs straight up, which if you're living on the edge  up in Pelourinho means that you're granted some significant views over the gorgeous Bay of All Saints.

Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil

Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil

Bahiacafe Hotel - Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil


O Cravinho Bar - Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil

Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil

Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil


Our route of discovery was guiding simply by our desire wonder through the streets of Pelourinho, although our first hiccup came when we found a bar by the name of O Cravinho. Selling cachaca in various flavours and also having a pretty decent selection of food, this place become our go to for drinks and food on a fairly regular basis.

The fabulous colours of the Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil

Whatever this mamma was selling was just so damn tasty - Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil

Braids for days - Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil


O Cravinho Bar - Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil

O Cravinho Bar - Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil

O Cravinho Bar - Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil


In the times that we did managed to get away from O Cravinho we found a beautiful old district who's charm, beauty and ambience made for something very special. Again, the pervasive samba rhythms filtered through these cobble stone streets constantly and the colourful pastel type buildings made for a food of fun and frivolity. The only down side, which I discovered from research is that the colours of the buildings, as they are currently, exist in a manufactured state. That being that in the 1990's a significant restoration effort of the area took to removing over 4000 Afro-Bahians and turning it into a pastel-hued tourist attraction. Admittedly that's what is is now, a tourist attraction but an impressive one at that.

O Cravinho Bar - Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil

Pelourinho neighbourhood - Salvador de Bahia - Brasil


Outside of Pelourinho we did allow ourselves to head down to Praia do Porto do Barra a few times, which was a nice place in itself. A cool, cafe style beach set with a pleasant surrounding, we did what we usually did when down on the beach - took in some sun, added the caipirinhas and enjoyed the view.

Undeniably special its its cultural roots, Salvador was definitely a city that was worth visiting and I'm glad we made the time to discover it.


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Fortaleza (Brasil) - The sleepover

FORTALEZA (Brasil)
21 July 2017


We really have been cruel to Fortaleza, this time we didn't even stay the night! We just needed a place to stay until the evening as we had a late night flight out to Salvador de Bahia.

Our place of accommodation was the Vila Gale Fortaleza located on Praia do Futuro I. All I can tell you is about the resort itself, which was nice enough. It had a good location on the seafront and is located about 10 mins from the popular Beira Mar Avenue, but admittedly, that eastern side of the peninsula feels like a world away from the most popular section of Fortaleza.