Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Our anchorage in Urca - view of Sugarloaf

We arrived in Urca, Rio de Janeiro on 13th July 2014 (the last day of FIFA World Cup) from Enseada das Palmas. It took us 20 hours to cover 65 nautical miles as we had to motor all the way against 15 kts of wind.

The anchorage here (S 22.56.698 W43.09.927) has a spectacular view of Sugarloaf mountain, which is a peak at 396 meters (1,299 ft) above the harbor, situated at the mouth of Guanabara Bay on a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. It has a panoramic view of the city. 

Urca Beach gets busy on weekends - This is the beach where we drag and tie up our dinghy

Urca is about ~15 minutes bus ride away from downtown Rio. 

Sugarloaf mountain named after its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf sugar

Night view of the Bay from Sugar Loaf

View of Sugarloaf from our dinghy on the way to the Rio de Janeiro Yacht Club

We spent a month here exploring the streets of Rio, the beaches, the botanical gardens and even walked up a pacified favela.   

Rio de Janeiro (which means River of January) is the second most populous city in Brazil after São Paulo. It is one of the most visited cities in the Southern Hemisphere and is known for its natural surroundings, carnival, samba, bossa nova, and long stretch of beaches such as Copacabana, Ipanema, and Leblon. Of course it's also home of famous landmarks Sugarloaf mountain pictured above and the giant statue of Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado mountain.

Partial Map of Rio

One of the many graffiti's on the streets of Rio

FIFA World Cup 2014

On our Walkabout Rio adventure, we stumbled upon "Buddy Bears - The Art of Tolerance" at Leme beach. It's an art exhibit representing many countries recognised by the UN, with the aim of promoting unity amongst different nationalities and cultures. Each bear was created by a local artist expressing their own style.

Buddy Bears

Very colourful Bears

We continued on from Leme to Leblon via Copacabana and Ipanema. Beautiful stretch of beaches.

View of Leme & Copacabana beach

The Copacabana promenade is a pavement landscape in large scale (4 kilometres long). It was rebuilt in 1970 and has used a black and white Portuguese pavement design since its origin in the 1930s: a geometric wave.

Here I had my first and last Caiprinha in Brazil. Caipirinha is Brazil's national cocktail which is made with cachaça (sugarcane hard liquor), sugar and lime. I really enjoyed it, however the friendly bar tender was way too generous with the cachaça. I only managed to drink half of it before handing it off to Alex.

My red face - Caipirinha kickin' in (not the reflection from my top)

Ipanema is situated between Copacabana & Leblon and it is one of the most expensive places to live in Rio. The beach became widely known by the song "The Girl from Ipanema".

World Cup visitors camping on the beach

Alex & Adessio at the Carioca Aqueduct located in the Lapa Neighbourhood

Escadaria Selarón, or 'Selaron Steps', is a set of world-famous steps in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I spotted a tile from Malaysia!

Adessio helping us sort out our mobile phone plan before he hops off Raptor

The Hippie Ipanema Market is held every Sunday, from 9am - 5pm, rain or shine at The Praça General Osório. The market takes up an entire city block, bordered by the major streets Rua Visconde de Piraja and Rua Prudente de Morais. It started out as a small affair in the 1960's organised by Hippies to sell their arts and crafts. But today it's a very well organised market.

Love the Paintings

Favela

Ipanema Hippie Market

Arts & Crafts

We also visited the Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro or Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden which is located in the South zone of Rio. The 140-hectare park lies at the foot of the Corcovado Mountain, far below the right arm of the statue of Christ the Redeemer. The entrance fee is just R$6/person (~ $ 2 USD).

Venus Fly Trap at Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro

One of the many orchids in the garden

Of course, last but not least, we had some work done on the boat too! We added some Vesconite in the upper gearbox & replaced a broken engine mount. 

Bill & Fred helping us with the engine