Today we started bright and early with a trip to Corcovado Mountain. This is the famous mountain that has the giant Christ statue that looms over the city. The statue itself is called Cristo Redentor.
We made our way up the mountain in open-air jeeps, bouncing over cobblestone roads, winding through hairpin turns and steep inclines. Our guides kept talking, pointing out breathtaking view after breathtaking view as we drove higher and higher.
The stairs up to the statue were steep but we zipped up fairly quickly. At the top, we had panoramic views of the city and its beautiful beaches and forests. People were crowding into the best spots for photos; everyone seemed to want a picture standing with their arms out in the same pose as the statue, with Cristo Redentor looming behind. Our group got a lot of excellent photos as we jostled with the crowd.
Instead of driving back down into the city, our zippy jeeps took us along the mountain ridge into the Tijuca National Forest. The trees were thick and covered in long hanging vines. Tropical flowers bloomed in the forest around us. We stopped at a lovely waterfall, easily dropping 100 feet down a dark rock face.
Tijuca National Forest has an interesting history. It was clear cut starting in the early 1600s, one of the first colonial areas in Brazil to be planted as a coffee plantation. It operated that way for more than 200 years, as environmental slowly disaster unfolded. While the coffee was profitable, the deforestation caused massive landslides that impacted the growing city below. The mountain streams flooded uncontrollably, causing death and disaster in the city. Finally, in what must surely be one of the world's first purely environmentalist political decisions, King Pedro II confiscated the plantation and turned it into a national forest. Six of the king's slaves worked with contract workers over 50 years to replant the forest with as much biodiversity as they could plan. Now, even as a secondary growth forest, it's wild and dark and beautiful.
We crossed out of the forest and into the city, over to the base of Sugarloaf Mountain. This is the iconic leaning cone-shaped rock that guards the end of Copacobana Beach. We boarded cable-cars to go up to the intermediary mountain, where we stopped for food and the view. Then we took the second cable. car up to the top of Sugarloaf. We were high above the city, with views all around. The sky was clear, with wispy clouds flowing up and over the top of the mountain right in front of us. We could see the huge white sand beach coves that anchor the city. In the distance, Cristo Redentor loomed on Corcovado, up over the panorama. Huge raptors circled in the air drafts right in front of us. The sun was out, but the breeze from the sea kept us cool. It was gorgeous.
On our way back to our hotel, we stopped at a small beach for coconut water in fresh green coconuts. The vendors used machetes to hack off the tops, and we put in our straws to enjoy. At this beach, we had the chance to meet the man who will take many of the students hang-gliding on our free day. More than half of our group is talking a good game: but will they or won't they when it comes right down to it? The mountain where they jump from sure looked foreboding from the beach below...
This evening, students are out on their own for dinner. There is a large beach market down from our hotel, and a number of students have headed there. We just saw Bree and Caiti, with their new Brazilian bikinis. I wonder if they will have the nerve to actually wear them...?
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