My Favorite Trip Ever!
Brazil has been my most FAVE trip ever, everrr!!!
Till this day, 10 years later, we still talk about it!
It was the first time that most of the group had met, but we vibed and meshed SO well! We laughed, non-stop, the entire week!!
I will start of by saying that the flight was long; we were so exhausted, and jet lagged BUT we were too excited to go to bed upon arrival! So, we checked in to our condo, which was right in the middle of Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, unpacked and hit the streets!! Our first stop was Ipanema, a trendy neighborhood in Rio! And off course, like a typical tourist, we hit up biggest touristy trap and ordered different flavored Caipirinha’s, which is Brazil's national cocktail, and what an initial disappointed that was, But whatevs, we walked around and kicked off the trip!
A few hours later some of the peeps decided to go back to sleep, whereas I, and my buddy decided to stroll the beach; after all, we were in Rio… a dream come true! We ended up crashing a couch-surfing party and that was tons of fun! We met so many locals and expats that were delighted by the fact that we were military!! They kept asking so many questions! We felt like celebrities! And as the week progressed, our egos only got bigger! LOL
The next day, Ricardo, the owner of the Condo came to pick us up and toured us all over town; we got to visit Sugarloaf Mountain, hang at Escadaria Selarón, and off course, explore Christ the Redeemer, one of the new 7 Wonders of The World!! Somehow, I ended up being the translator and spokesperson for the group, given Spanish is very similar to Portuguese (Fun Fact: There is no such thing as Brazilian language. Portuguese is the official and national language of Brazil).
We learned so much from Ricardo—a bit too much actually LOL!!! But he did offer lots of good insider tips!! And thanks to him, we were able to eat at the best churrascaria spot, hit up Barra Music, an enormous nightclub, and explore the best sites in the Lapa district.
We were so thankful to not only have rented his condo, but that he had offered to take us on a day tour. Naturally, we tipped him, and he was more than pleased! Had we hired a tour company or toured on our own, we surely would’ve paid much more and not have had the same experience. Ricardo was able to focus on US and cater to our requests!!!
As you’ve seen on TV, Rio is a massive city! There’s so much to it, so many conjoined neighborhoods, from the richest to the absolute poorest in all of Latin America!!! Yet, it didn’t deter us from visiting Rocinha, which is the largest favela (a slum) in Brazil. Rocinha is controlled by local gangs, who are heavily involved in organized crime and all sorts of illicit activities. We were told that Police do NOT patrol Rocinha—they pretty much let the locals maintain order, set the rules, and handle the “law.” And that certainly sounds scary and can sway any, and all visitors away, but not us!! I was determined to visit Rocinha, so prior to our arrival, I did some research and connected with Zezinho, a cat-loving Brazilian American, who had resided in California for a bit, but decided to return to Rocinha full-time to help the community. His hard efforts have resulted in different Non-Profits to help and employ the youth within the Favela. In addition, he also has a DJ school and has since, has started his own tour company www.favelatour.org.
Zezinho was more than pleased to hook us up!! He came to pick us up in a van, with no doors LOL!!
During our tour we witnessed young kids with machine guns hanging out in corners, hardworking men rebuilding their community, beautiful women stroll by, and children playing outside, among many other cool, questionable, and astonishing things. We ate at a buffet-style kitchen, visited Zezinho’s DJ school, and home, and tour the Favela the entire day. It was such a pleasant and safe experience! We learned so much!! I certainly do not encourage tourists to visit Rocinha if you are not comfortable doing so, and certainly not without an established tour guide, but should feel tempted, please reach out to Zezinho’s team. Needless to say: be mindful of your belongings, do NOT take pictures of locals, be respectful, learn how to say good morning, and please do not be flashy! Leave your Rolex and Hermès bags at home!
To add to the funness, we also hand glided from the top of Pedra Bonita*!! Should you choose to be daring, beware that it is at your own risk! And take note that all that “safety/training” protocol info that they advertise on some the sites is not quite the real story!! Upon your arrival , they pretty much hand you waivers, strap you, and in less than 10min you are flying into the sky!! LOL! What an adrenaline rush!! It was SO awesome though. During your flight, the instructor is pointing out different sites and giving you a quick landing lessons haha! I was freaking out, as I am accident-prone, but I Ianded beautifully, like a gymnast!! Not everyone was so lucky though!! My cousin, who is under 5 feet, was dragged, tumbled, and received a few cuts because of her sudden and harsh landing. *Please note there are weight limits
On the beach you can count on families enjoying the day out, children practicing their soccer skills, all the baddies working out at the FREE beach gyms, and the hot men playing volleyball. Eye candy galore! The sidewalks are filled with black and white mosaics that run all along the crescent-shaped beach! The main boulevard has an area that is completely blocked off to vehicles for pedestrians, bikes, joggers, etc! I was completely unaware that each lane runs in opposite directions, until I got hit with a bike!! I literally flew! The rider & his bike fell on me! I don’t know who was more shocked—me or the bike rider!!! LOL!! So, be careful!! But on this same beautiful beach, we met an amazing hard-working father & son team at a beverage kiosk, who served the ABSOLUTE tastiest Caipirinha’s—we were able to redeem ourselves. So, every day, we stopped by to say “Hi” HAHA!!
And off course, we visited a samba studio!! We got see the upcoming Carnival floats!! I was really bummed that we were flying back two nights before the Samba Funk Party that was scheduled for that weekend! But there was definitely no shortage of parties, late nights, and dancing; every night, somehow, someway, we always made our way to Mariuzinn—a local disco—who’s staff/owner must’ve believed we were the Jersey Shore crew cause they kept taking our pictures and treated us like VIP, nightly!! And we loved it!!! Hahaha!!
As you can see, Rio did not disappoint!!! It was tiring! I didn’t want to get up in the “mornings”, given we were getting home every night when the sun was coming over the beautiful horizon, but it was beyond worth it!!
I will forever love and remember Rio as the.BEST.TRIP.OF.MY.LIFE!!!