Destination #17: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Our last stop on our 'round the world trip was South America. This part of the trip held the most mysteries for us because neither of us knew much about the culture there. In Asia we were able to muddle through and blend in, we had a lot of family in Australia and New Zealand so there were cozy places and food that reminded us of home, and in Europe and Morocco mostly everyone speaks English so getting around and ordering food is no problem. But we had never been to South America and we didn't know a word of Portuguese (for Brazil) or Spanish (for Buenos Aires).
We arrived to Rio pretty late at night on a Thursday and were greeted by our sweet Airbnb hostess. All hotels in Rio were pretty much booked out because of the Olympics, but it turns out staying with a local family had its benefits. We were able to get a glimpse into the life of a typical Brazilian family. They were warm, fun-loving and very patriotic! You could see how much pride they had for their country while watching the Olympics and cheering passionately for Brazil. They truly opened up their heart and home to us, and for that we were so grateful. All of the Brazilians we met showed unrestrained pride and love for their country and it was wonderful and refreshing to hear. From the two young men that joined us in our Uber-pool ride to the Olympic games, to the sweet girl that walked us to their right bus when we got lost, to the sassy old lady that ordered us to experience Brazil fully and drink caipirinha and eat Feijoada, we quickly realized that the media gets a lot wrong about Rio.
Lets think about what was correct: It's true that it's a developing country. And with that comes political corruption, higher crime rate and a large divide between their rich and poor. We also did notice the Olympics to have a few infrastructural holes here and there. For example, the roads are blocked off once you enter the Olympic park so you can't get dropped off right in front of it. Turns out you have to walk for about an hour to the stadium if you're going to Barra. No shuttle buses provided. So it's not exactly efficient or handicap friendly. But Barra is only one of the Olympic sites. Transport in general seemed a little tricky for us to navigate. And if you don't know the language it's quite challenging. You almost have to know someone there to help you get around easily.
However for the most part tourists are shielded from the worst of things. Military guards were easily spotted anywhere close to the Olympic games. Even the highways are lined with colorful walls to distract from the sight of some of the favelas. I was truly amazed by the obvious feat it was to erect these massive stadiums and huge Olympic villages in a couple short years. And Brazilians seem very proud of their country for hosting the world's greatest athletes and sports enthusiasts. But it seems like no matter what Brazil did right, countries like the US couldn't get past all the other unresolved issues. In my opinion it is far from the disaster the media makes it out to be.
While we were there we checked off our bucket list most of the touristy things you would do while in Rio de Janeiro. We went to visit Christ the Redeemer and marveled at the unique beauty of Rio's natural harbor: steep tower-like mountains rising up to the sky, the ocean, and the mysteriously beautiful lights radiating out from the favelas. We were also able to see the sun setting while on top of Sugarloaf Mountain.
We stayed in Copacabana and were amazed at how endless the beach is. The shoreline seems to go on forever. It's bursting with energy from the crowded little beach restaurant/bars, to volleyball players, and colorful tourists from all over the world.
Mostly, we spent most of our days at the Olympic villages watching sporting events. We were fortunate enough to have our Airbnb host help us get tickets for the Olympics. As a foreigner ticket distribution was a little messy. Cliffton said the only thing available on their site was handball at an exorbitant price. We watched golf, badminton, boxing and athletics. Badminton was my favorite because it was easier to follow and surprisingly very exciting! Our favorite team was the women's doubles Hong Kong! It was great because Brazilians (and other tourists not from HK) ended up cheering for Hong Kong too! They were the underdog against Great Britain. The GB women's doubles team was kind of cocky so no one liked them. They won anyways, but it was definitely a good match. Also during athletics (track and field) we ended up sitting in front of the Irish 400m hurdles runner Thomas Barr's parents. They were so cute, his mom was so happy when he qualified for the finals!
Rio was the trip of a lifetime, it was a whirlwind of patriotism, excitement and a little messiness. On the morning of our departure fate decided that 100 days was exactly where our journey should end. We originally were meant to have gone to Buenos Aires. Rounding out our trip to technically 105 days. But it was not meant to be. While checking into our flight with Gol (a Brazilian airline) we were told there were no tickets booked for us! We had booked through Delta and had gotten flight confirmations from them so we were a little confused. After 2 hours on the phone with them, things looked bleak...All flights to Buenos Aires were fully booked and we wouldn't get a chance to catch another one until the next day. And even that was a slim chance. There were just so many people flying out of Rio because of the Olympics. We also asked about flights to the US. Maybe we could just go home, but even that wasn't looking good. We finally were able to book a flight from Sao Paolo to Atlanta at around 9PM that night. The only problem was, we were still in Rio! We dashed to another terminal where we were told Latam still had a few flights out to Sao Paolo. We got on the waiting list for the next flight out. And ended up sitting in a crowded hallway for a couple hours. We had no idea that your name doesn't roll over to the next waiting list (for the next possible flight) if you didn't get on the current flight. So we missed a couple flights. A sweet lady named Sandra ended up guiding us through and helping us to put our name down on the next wait list! She also got on the flight to Sao Paolo with us and we wound up sitting right next to her on the flight! Once again we experienced the Brazilian hospitality and kindness because she went out of our way to help us. One day we would like to experience Rio again.
Thank you Rio for showing us a good time. We loved the Pao de Queijo!
