Around and About

During my first ten days here, I had the luxury of a holiday, and spent time on day excursions to Rio - where for once the sun shone and we had great views from the top of the Sugar-Loaf Mountain, of both the City and many beaches stretching out below us and the Christ the Redeemer statue on top of the Corcovada.

Christ the Redeemer watching over Rio

The Botanic Gardens were great too with close views of Channel-billed Toucan, hybrid Common Marmosets, Rusty-margined Guan and Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail.

Added to this the trees and plants are fantastic and with Nicholas and Raquel as our guides we couldn't wish for better.

An al fresco lunch in the cobbled alleys of the old town with musicians playing typical Brazilian samba music made for a relaxing day in this hectic city.   A short walk nearby brought us to the original building where slaves were brought to Brazil on ships from Africa.   Having been to Ghana and seen the start of their journey, it somehow closed the circle for me.   Amazing to see the steps leading up from the original quay-side and the gate through which their future life began.   A very sobering sight indeed.

View from Sugar Loaf

After lunch Alcenir drove us along the 'Copacabana Crawl' so called as the traffic along this part of the city is so slow.   We were lucky and managed to get along without too much difficulty.   We did a complete circuit of the Bay and then made our way back to peace and serenity at the Reserve.