From all holidays in the sun, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil might be the one with the most activities to partake in. With its vibrant nightlife, iconic attractions and one of the seven wonders of the world, the city, which was once the capital of Brazil, has a lot to offer travelers from all different tastes.

1) Museu do Amanhã (Museum of Tomorrow)

Designed by the neo-futuristic architect Santiago Calatrava, the applied science museum aims to create an open dialogue about the next 50 years. It takes in consideration all of man’s alteration of the world in its primary state while emphasizing ethical values and shining light on issues that need our urgent attention. Aside from the expositions available, the museum also hosts year-round classes, workshops and discussion panels.

2) Parque Lage

Designed by English landscaper John Tyndale back in 1840, this park is surrounded by the Atlantic Forest and is located at the bottom of Corcovado mountain. Easily accessible to the general public, the park is also known as a cultural hotspot by locals, as it houses a 14th-century house turned into a visual art school. A popular place to take pictures or have a romantic brunch is at Bistrô Plage, located in the mansion’s central patio by the pool.

3) Hang Gliding

For the sports aficionado, hang gliding will be an exciting and unforgettable activity filled with the best views from above.

As one of the most popular wind sports in the city, there are a lot of reliable companies which you can hire hang gliding equipment from. The ones situated in Pedra Bonita have the easiest access, being only 20 minutes from the Ipanema beach, and are known for having the best views. During this experience, remember to wear comfortable clothes, sunscreen and avoid taking big bags.

4) Escadaria Selarón (Selarón’s Steps)

Jorge Selarón, a Chilean-born ceramist, immigrated to Rio de Janeiro in the 1980s. Years later, in 1990, he decided to decorate the staircase near his house – which connects the Lapa neighborhood to the Santa Teresa neighborhood – as a tribute to Brazilians.

The staircase took 20 years to be completed and is made out of tiles and porcelain donated by Jorge’s friends and supporters. The landmark of 215 steps and the wall of both sides are decorated with painted tiles, now known as one of the most popular postcards of the city.

5) Maracanã Stadium

Officially called Jornalista Mário Filho Stadium, the soccer stadium is the most famous and largest in the country. Specially built for the 1950’s FIFA World Cup hosted in Brazil, the stadium got its nickname due to its location, the Maracanã neighborhood.

The historic stadium is known for many matches and moments of soccer history, but the most iconic one might be the 1,000th goal of soccer player Pele’s career. The stadium offers tours, but the best way to enjoy the place is by watching a soccer match, as soccer is one of Brazil’s biggest passions.

6) Lapa’s Nightlife

The Lapa neighborhood is known for being the center of Rio’s nightlife. When in Lapa, some of the must-do’s are watching a concert at Circo Voador, going for drinks at Bar da Boa, enjoying great Brazilian music and partying all night at the nightclub Lapa 40 Graus.

7) Ipanema Beach

The most famous and iconic beach of Rio de Janeiro (maybe the world), is responsible for inspiring the Brazilian song “Garota de Ipanema.”

The beach is the best place to take the perfect beach vacation pictures, especially at the Arpoador, the large rock that separates the Ipanema and Copacabana beach. At Station 9, many tourists and locals get together to watch the sunset, an experience which always ends with applauds from the public.

8) Irajá Gastrô

Opened in 2011, the restaurant with dishes by Chef Pedro de Artagão and drink menu by Julieta Carrizzo, offers the perfect pairing between food and drink. The restaurant only works with fresh and sustainable ingredients and has a cozy environment; the perfect place to go should you start to feel homesick or you’re simply looking for great food.

9) Sugarloaf Mountain

The Sugarloaf Mountain is made up of three hills: Sugarloaf, Urca and Babilônia. To get to the top, you can hike a trail or take the aerial cableway. The view along the hiking trails and on top of the mountain are both breathtaking, one of the best you will see during your lifetime. To get the most out of the experience, choose to go around 5 p.m. so you can watch the day transition from day to night.

10) Christ The Redeemer

Hands down the most popular tourist attraction to see in Rio, the Christ The Redeemer statue is an Art Deco masterpiece created by the French sculptor Paul Landowski. It was built by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa and French engineer Albert Caquot, with the facial features fashioned by Romania’s Gheorghe Leonida. The sculpture was finished in 1931, eventually becoming one of the 7 Wonders of the World in 2006. You can enjoy a picturesque view from a few parts of town or get on the Corcorvado train to reach the top. If you plan on getting the train, make sure to purchase the tickets in advance as lines to purchase tickets can take hours.

By Victoria Oliveira /

Victoria Oliveira is a writer and translator from São Paulo, Brazil. Her first published article was for an international publication at the age of 14. She has since written for Matador Network, Youthgasm, The Culture-ist, and Elegant Magazine. She’s in love with desserts, learning new things, and exploring new places.

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In honor of the World Cup wrapping up this weekend, I thought I’d feature this amazing compilation travel video from Brazil (as if the seemingly never-ending parade of enviable panoramic shots of Copacabana Beach and aerial views from Christ the Redeemer that have blanketed the airwaves recently haven’t already caused every sane person who hasn’t been to Brazil to scramble to their computer to check airfare prices to the country).

Made by videographer Tom Pinsard, this beautiful video was shot while Tom and his girlfriend were in Brazil for two weeks during the World Cup (they were wrapping up a six-month trip around Asia and South America).

Amazing footage as it is, unfortunately for us (and, well, Tom), one of his cameras was stolen while in Brazil, so he had to make do with the video he had already captured.

For those wondering, the video was shot using a combination of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 II and GoPro 3.

[Brazil by Tom Pinsard via Vimeo]

By Matt Stabile /

Matt Stabile is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheExpeditioner.com. You can read his writings, watch his travel videos, purchase the book he co-edited or contact him via email at any time at TheExpeditioner.com.

The post Is There Anywhere Better To Shoot Video Than Brazil? appeared first on The Expeditioner Travel Site.

Last Sunday saw the giant mass of sweaty, jiggling, sambaing humanity that is Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, a must-see bucket list entry for every traveler.

For just a small taste of what it might be like to attend the parade at the Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí (capacity 90,000), check out the Daily Mail’s photo collection of 49 colorful photos from the event, some of which I would highly suggest you not view while at work or in the presence of small children (or, for that matter, anyone prone to epilepsy).

And if you really want to get a sense of what it might be like to be there, visit Google Maps which apparently sent one of their video cars down the parade during Carnival, to let you see the route from street level. Click here to samba your way down the parade route.

[Photo courtesy of AP via Mail Online]

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I had been enchanted with Sugar Loaf Mountain ever since I saw it in the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker, in which Bond battles with Jaws on a cable car traveling up Rio de Janerio’s most famous landmark (along with the Christ the Redeemer statue that sits at its top).

The grey granite massif that rises roughly 1,300 overlooking Copacabana beach is a formidable climb, and I decided then and there that I would climb up its face someday. I am skilled rock climber, but when I found out the Brazilian Mountaineering Club had installed a 900-foot via ferrata cable (a fixed climbing path for you non-climbers) called the “CEPI Route” up the west face of Sugar Loaf, I was excited. This crazy feat of engineering, a lifelong desire, and the uniqueness of the route immediately appealed to me.

During a trip through South America, Carole, my life partner, and I decided to finally take on Sugar Loaf. We arrived on a hot, sunny morning, and after our third coffee we hailed a cab to Praia Vermelha where the Sugar Loaf cable car up is located. Once at the beach, we walked along the asphalt jogging path that starts at the north end of Red Beach and continues around the bay. We saw some Brazilians bouldering in the jungle but resisted stopping and jumping on the sweaty routes and continued along the paved walkway until we came to a muddy trail that headed uphill into the jungle.

We stopped and looked around and had a discussion about whether or not it was safe to continue into the jungle. “Was anyone following us? Could we see any would-be muggers ahead on the trail?” We quickly headed up the steep path for 20 hot and sweaty minutes, constantly looking out for rustling in the bushes or people approaching. After reaching a plateau, we took a two-minute breather and hiked through dense jungle for the final ten minutes and arrived at the base, drenched in sweat but happy.

The sight of the massive chunk of granite in front of us gave us a jolt of excitement. For the first 30 feet of the via ferrata route, the Brazilian Mountain Club wisely installed bolts so inexperienced people could not access it without the use of proper safety equipment and skills. So after the difficult start, we reached a two-inch steel bolted cable that crept up the rock face until it finished beneath the cable car station at the summit. Every 150 feet or so there was an anchor and a ledge where you could secure yourself, have a rest, catch your breath and enjoy the view.

The basic technique for climbing the CEPI route is easy: just use the continuous cable and the rock to climb your way to the top. We opted to add a bit of security to our ascent and tied into a rope, and attached our leader-secured carabineers to rings or bolts along the cable line. Once Carole and I made it to the start of the steel cable, we clipped our lanyards into the cable and began to follow it up. The rock face was vertical, and we were happy for the rope’s added security, but we only felt the need to clip three carabineers on a 150-foot pitch. We quickly hauled ourselves up the first pitch of the thick cable with our hands while smearing our feet on the cobbled rock. It was an intoxicating sensation to move so high up on the cliff at such a quick pace.

The first rest was situated on a massive boulder that jutted two feet out of the matrix of granite. We gazed out to admire the colorful cockatoos and macaws that were chatting loudly around us in the jungle. We chugged some water and saw the cable continue vertically up.

Carole went next and the birds cheered her on; she grunted back to them as she quickly heaved herself upwards. After she arrived at the second ledge she belayed me up. We took a few pictures and continued our ridiculously fun ascent up. Climbing the suspended rope was like gym class in elementary school. I climbed next and wrapped my hands on the abrasive and grippy cable and rapidly ascended. My hands were tingling and my muscles began to burn. I looked beneath me and noticed I was 50 feet above Carole and decided to clip a carabiner and my rope into the bolt that was at my waist. I continued my hand-over-hand thug-style ascent and was at the next ledge in a few minutes.

The views of Copacabana Beach, Christ the Redeemer, Botofogo Marina, Gauanbara Bay and Cotunduba Island in the distance were spectacular. We looked above us to inspect the route and noticed a small roof section. When I climbed to it my feet swung out from underneath me and the ground below dropped away; a sense of exposure and panic overtook my mind. I gripped the cable tightly and hauled myself into a small cave above and waited for Carole.

She soon arrived at the roof, and with surge of energy she seized the cable with monkey-like grip and quickly pulled herself up. We stood in the small cave eating a fruit bar as a cable car passed overhead; an image of James Bond hanging with one hand to the side of the cable car while battling away Jaws flashed into my mind. I laughed, smiled and waved to the people in the cable car. They waved back and took some photos.

Carole left the shaded cave and pulled herself up the cable for the next pitch while I belayed her and gazed back at Rio. I hooted and hollered as she scampered along until she disappeared after climbing over a ledge. I quickly followed, and each time I brushed up against the rock the invigorating granite particles charged my being. Finally, another 150 feet later I reached a groove on a small ledge.

The last 250 feet of the route followed a slabby groove on the cliff face and looked like you could run up it without safety gear, if not for the fact that you were 650 feet above the ground. Carole said her hands were starting to get a little raw. I looked at mine. They were brown from the rust of the steel cable, and I thought gloves definitely would have been a good idea. We left the groove and I quickly scrambled up the last section of the route, towing my safety line along the cable and neglecting to use any carabineers. I scrambled up the rock until I arrived at a grassy ledge next to the cable car station: I had made it to the top.

I waited for Carole and then we climbed over the metal railing and followed a few stairs to the viewing platform of the summit. Once we arrived at the summit there was a restaurant with a patio that served hot snacks and cold drinks. Now this was the way to climb. We bought two cold caipirinhas, sat in comfy chairs and toasted the thrilling adventure we spent above Rio de Janeiro.

I noticed that my hands were a bit pink from the cable but the cold cocktail felt good on them. Carole and I felt energized and full of adrenalin, and we were buzzing from the climb. We sat at the patio for an hour enjoying the afternoon sun, cold drinks and the views of Rio’s beaches. Finally, we decided to take the easy way back to the bottom: riding the cable car, which took all of 20 minutes. Not exactly the preferred mode of transportation for an international spy, but I was content knowing I had already fulfilled by Bond dreams for the day.

By James Cruikshank

About the Author

James Cruikshank is a freelance writer, urban recycler and abuser
of languages. He has traveled extensively; climbing mountains in
Argentina, Bolivia, and Scotland; paid baksheesh and bribes in Mexico, Honduras, and India. He survived a very traumatic and painful elephant trampling in Nepal and worked abroad as a kayak guide, movie extra, and house sitter covering 38 countries on 6 continents.

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Our second installment of “The Expeditioner’s 2010 In Review” series comes from co-editor Brit Weaver. She’s planning a return trip back to South America, and she’s offering up some thought on the year past and predictions for the year to come:

Your Travel in 2010?

My travel in 2010 consisted of Buenos Aires, Patagonia, Uruguay, and New York City. For the upcoming year, I’m trying to make my way back to B.A. I fell in love with the people, the architecture and the face-sized steaks, and I can’t wait to get back. While there I hope to check out the Mendoza region and Montevideo, capital of Uruguay: the city on the sea.

Travel Tips from Lessons Learned in 2010?

If I were to offer up one tip, I would tell people to travel light. Whether it is luggage, in your walk, the way you talk or in your heart, a steadfast person is not as open to the flow of things. I learned that home is where my heart is and it beats in my chest.

Predictions for Travel in 2011?

Predictions? That’s always a hard one, but here it goes. I think Rio de Janeiro is going to have to wait for the World Cup to arrive to really take off, but I predict that the rest of Latin America (which is far cheaper to travel in) and Italy are going to boom (more so than already).

Travelers are becoming more adventurous with their choices for places to travel in South America as more travelers visit. And there seems to a movement towards romance in the world, and where better could you find that than in Italy, and especially in Venice?Plus, given the popularity of the movie and the book, lots of people are going to want to see the sites from Eat, Pray and Love.

[photo by GustavoBuriola/Flickr]

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I guess it’s simmers down to someone’s personal comfort level. For example, I would not go white water rafting. I don’t like baths, I don’t like swimming, I sometimes find beaches rather boring. I know it’s kind of lame.

While in Buenos Aires, I heard about villa tours — “villa” being the common word to refer to a slum. But, I was not in the space nor level of comfort for exploring these suburban landscapes. Reading an article in the New Zealand Herald about a favela tour in Rio de Janeiro opened my mind:

Although we can’t see them, hidden inside a concrete bunker on the opposite side of the street, sit gangsters with guns. Residents have set up tables selling various handcrafts and paintings at the van stop. The tour has provided an opportunity for favela residents to start their own business right next to the drug dealers.

Fear is a funny thing. Sometimes, it hinders us from moving forward and breaking through barriers. Instead, we put up fences to maintain our comfortable living. By doing this, sometimes we alienate a key aspect of what it truly means to be social creatures. In politcal jargon, they would call this act marginalization.

Personally, I can’t help but blame mainstream media for this mindset. I remember a handful of people telling me to not go to Mexico City because our national news — owned and operated by only two major corporations — headlined how two Canadians were killed on some coastal resort. Right before we left, governments issued a general warning for travelers thinking of hopping the border. We still flew south. Exposure has a powerful impact.

Some may argue that slum touring is exploitation and some think it will open our doors of perception. Personally, an open door is always more inviting.

By Brit Weaver

About the Author

Toronto born and based, Brit is an avid leisure cyclist, coffee drinker and under-a-tree park-ist. She often finds herself meandering foreign cities looking for street eats to nibble, trees to climb, a patch of grass to sit on, or a small bookstore to sift through. You can find her musing life on her personal blog, TheBubblesAreDead.wordpress.com.

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The Amazon — with its 1.4 billion acres — may get all the glory when it comes to Brazilian rain forests, but visitors to Rio and the southern part of the country have just as good of access to a rain forest, without having to travel the several hours to the north. We’re talking about the Atlantic rain forest, or Mata, a long stretch of tropical wonder that extends from Sao Paulo and past Rio to the south, and which offers ample opportunities for travelers to experience all that a South American rain forest has to offer, and be back in the urban jungle all in the same day, as the San Fran Chronicle discovered.

For example, visitors to Rio can experience Mata by hiking the trail at Sugarloaf Mountain (where most tourists stick to the cable cars to reach the top). “Choose your trails right, and you can start the day tramping through protected Mata in the company of toucans and howler monkeys and finish it sipping caipirinhas on the beach with Brazil’s buff and beautiful.”

Or, about three hours south of Rio is the Bay of Paraty, “a network of jungle, inlets and secluded beaches,” where high-end restaurants and hotels are surrounded by, literally, miles and miles of untouched rain forest, home to countless species of wildlife. Here, one trail through the forest leads you from the city and to Praia do Sono (Sleepy Beach), a beach that will make you forget all about returning back to the city.

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Blessed with stunning views and located in what seems like worlds apart from the overcrowded, tourist-friendly sections of the city, Rio’s slums or “favelas” may soon become the city’s trendiest destination. Favelas like Vidigal, which overlooks Ipanema Beach and the Cagarras Islands (and was the filming locale for “City of God“) are being eyed for development for trendy hotels, such as this 10 villa luxury develoment by a German financier.

Of course this brings up the sticky question of whether this type of development (and the related slum tours that can be had all over the world from India to South Africa) are insightful or simply exploitative. Probably a little of both. Wouldn’t you best serve the favelas and slums by engaging the people who live there and developing the neighborhood for everyone, not just wealthy tourists?  At the other end, maybe it’s this kind of business development that will help lift people out of poverty (but at what cost?). I have no idea. I don’t have a good answer for this one. Maybe a little of both? How about that for hedging my answer? Maybe I should go into politics.

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Discovering Brazil on a whim and three weeks to spare

By Andrew Porteous

My friend Tim and I had three weeks vacation available that we had to use before the end of year or lose them. Tim left the decision as to where we would be going up to me. So, on a whim, and after an hour spent with the travel agent, I called Tim up to give him the news.

“Brazil,” he said amazed. “Wow, what’s that going to be like?”

“No Clue,” I replied honestly.

It was the truth, I had no idea what Brazil was going to be like. The flights had been a special deal and I wanted to amaze Tim with a destination that would be a bit different from the norm. One week later we met each other at Heathrow. Tim was already dressed in shorts and t-shirt, despite the outside temperature barely above freezing. Twelve hours later we landed in Rio de Janeiro, and figuring we’d play things by ear, we booked into a hotel for two nights while we sorted out what exactly we were going to do in Brazil.

We sat on the beach at Copacabana and perused the Travel Guide that we’d picked up at the airport before our flight. The more we read, the more we realized that three weeks were probably not going to do Brazil much justice, but we vowed anyway to try and fit in as much as possible during our stay.

Later that day, and with a rough itinerary mapped out in our minds, we found a local travel agent and told him what we wanted to do. After getting over the initial shock of meeting two travelers who’d come half way round the world without any idea of what they were doing, he eventually sent us on our way with a list of destinations, tickets, and accommodation, sorted for the rest of our
trip.

Our first stop was Manaus, the gateway to the Amazon, and a few hours flight from Rio. After setting ourselves up in probably the swankiest hotel I’ve ever stayed in (it even had a private zoo), we prepared to head into town to find a guide who could take us into the Amazon. Luckily for us we didn’t even have to go outside the hotel’s front gates before we met a Japanese couple who were themselves were returning from the jungle after six weeks. The couple quickly introduced us to their guide, Paul. Tim and I quickly debated whether we should snap him up or shop around for the best price first. In the end, the fact that Paul had managed to deliver the couple safely back to civilization unharmed proved to be the strongest argument for hiring him.

The only thing left to do was to haggle over the price. We met Paul the next day a local bar where was with his entire extended family. After treating his family to a few rounds of beer — and after a few ourselves — we didn’t think twice about handing over a considerable amount of money to Paul in the men’s washroom, while his two uncles kept watch at the door.

After crawling into our beds at four the next morning morning, we made our way to the jetty for a six o’clock getaway. Being slightly late, we were relieved to find Paul, his boat, and his uncles, still waiting for us.

The old boat, christened “Tug” by our guide, took us up the Amazon for two weeks, and in this time we witnessed and experienced all manner of things. Flying fish jumped straight out of the water and onto the boat (no need for a hook and sinker here), while we fished for piranha off the back of “Tug,” using more traditional methods and watched as a couple of pink dolphins swam lazily off our bow.

Halfway through our excursion, we spent a few days exploring the jungle itself. Although we spotted several enormous Tarantulas and were almost attacked by a bunch of wild monkeys while we slept, there were only two moments when I actually felt any fear. The first was when Tim, still reading the Travel Guide, reached the part about malaria being rife in the Amazon, and no, we weren’t on any anti-malaria medication. The second came in the dead of night, when I had to look for a place in the Jungle to go to the toilet, while Tim kept guard just in case anything nasty decided to attach itself to my exposed backside.

After two weeks in the mazon we flew from Manaus to the smaller town of Iguazu, home to the magnificent Iguazu Falls. Iguazu is unique in that Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay all converge at the falls, and to fully appreciate the falls you have to see them from each of the three countries. After spending the first day at the falls from the Brazilian side, we crossed the border into Argentina and spent the second day on that side. From the beauty of Iguazu, it was onto Brasilia for half a day before returning to Rio for the last few days of our trip.

The initial plan, made after our arrival in Brazil, was to use the last few days in Rio to recuperate on the beaches before we headed back to the dreariness of a British winter. However, once we got there, we found that we still didn’t feel like resting, so we tried to see how much we could possibly fit into our last two days. As it turned out, we could fit quite a lot. The next morning we were up early to go hand gliding over Ipanema beach with a Brazilian who held the world record for the longest uninterrupted hand gliding flight.

Next we ascended to the statue of Christ the Redeemer, which looks out over the city. This was followed by a cable car ride up Sugar Loaf Mountain where, while you are waiting to get onboard, they show a clip from a James Bond film where the cable car that you are in blows up and crashes into the side of the mountain. For those squeamish types it was probably best to look away at this point.

Finally, we managed to take in what was sold to us as a traditional night of Brazilian culture, but clearly put on for the tourists. This “traditional” show consisted of a local Capoeira demonstration (a cross between Brazilian dancing and fighting); a schoolgirl juggling a football, and an old man crooning in the background. At least the food was good.

Our last day in Brazil came and we both felt sad to be leaving. The weather had been kind and so had the people, and we recognized that in three weeks we had only just touched the surface of the country. Needless to say we both vowed to return someday, but for now Tim has the task of selecting our next holiday destination, and although something tells me that a lot more planning will go into this one, it will still be hard to beat our time in Brazil.

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