As evening fell, the owner Hans drove us back to our pousada for the evening’s festivities. Did I already mention I had booked us the top 3 things to do in Paraty, according to TripAdvisor? Well, we had done the hike and the spa. The last item would be a Brazilian cooking class at Academia de Cozinha e Outros Prazeres (Academy of Cooking and Other Pleasures). We didn’t know what to expect, and I think that’s why it turned out to be our most favorite thing on the entire trip (and that includes seeing Cristo Redentor, Sugarloaf, Iguazu, etc. etc.).

At 8 PM, Richard welcomed us into their lovely home, the downstairs portion of which doubles as the cooking school with kitchen, dining room, and living room. We met two other couples who would be sharing in our culinary adventure: a couple from Buenos Aires, an American exchange student, and a young fellow taking a year off to travel South America. The composition of the group would make for interesting conversation throughout the entire night. Richard started off by showing us the “proper” way to make a caipirinha, Brazil’s national drink made with cachaça (sugar cane liquor).  Wowee zowee, that drink nearly knocked us both on our butts, but it was a good way to start the evening.

The menu was “Fruits of the Land”, with the land being a play on words. Ingredients were from Brazil, but the main dish would be a crab-stuffed sea bass. Yara demonstrated the different ways heart of palm would be used, and kept all of us up and moving and staying engaged in the cooking. Other dishes included grilled heart of palm, fresh heart of palm salad, rice with bechamel sauce (thanks to Kirstin!) which was almost like a risotto, and a caipirinha mousse. Everything turned out amazing, and even more memorable than the meal we enjoyed together around 10 PM (South Americans and their late meals…) was the camaraderie, stories, and banter we all shared around the table. Yara told us stories about how different ingredients came to Brazil, about Brazil’s national identity borrowing from African slave, European immigrant, and native Indian cultures. Just fascinating.

After a little cachaça tasting and dessert, we wrapped up the evening and vowed to return to see our friends again. In fact, we hope Yara and Richard will come see us in Portland some day! We stumbled down the cobblestone streets into the cool, Paraty night around 1:30 AM, back to our pousada.

Ahhhh, saudade!

Our guide was Michael Smyth, of Paraty Explorer. Originally from Northern Ireland, Michael has been in Brazil for maybe 10 years, and here in Paraty for a few years as a guide on hiking and kayaking and other sorts of outdoor adventures. He’s built a business that is integrated with the local people and economies. For example, a local fisherman took us from Paraty Mirim to the Mamangua trail head by boat, and a woman from the fishing village provided a delicious squid (lula) lunch for us after the hike. Michael is super knowledgeable about the area – history, culture, environment – and we learned a lot.

The hike up was a relatively difficult climb – 2k in distance and 400 meters elevation gain. Basically straight up (not switch back-y like you might expect), and we climbed up over branches, roots, and fallen trees. We made it to the top in about an hour.

The view from the peak is a stunning 360 degrees. Rain forest, the tropical fjord and bay, the big big sky and continuous cloud movement made for an ever-changing view. Breathtaking. We snacked, chatted and rested for a while and then headed down for a quick dip to cool off, and lunch. LUNCH. Delicious. Simple: fried squid (freshly caught) with rice, beans and salad. Hot sauce (in moderation) and farofa (fried manioc flour) to garnish. We left Mamangua exhausted, but glowing in the sunset of a perfect day.

Called the Rodoviaria Novo Rio, the station is located in a not so scenic or desirable area near Centro. That’s ok, because all we were there to do was catch our bus down the Costa Verde (Green Coast) to the historic town of Paraty. After a winding and bumpy four-hour ride down the 101, we pulled into Paraty. The A/C was blasting on the bus, and I managed to catch a cold in this tropical paradise…ugh. The historic center of Paraty is a well-preserved glimpse into old colonial times when gold extracted from the interior region of Minas Gerais was hauled down the Golden Road and shipped back to Portugal to fund its “explorations and discoveries”. After a faster route was developed to Rio, Paraty was all but forgotten and remained preserved as it was for a long time.

We caught a taxi from the bus station to our next accommodation called Vivenda, run by an effervescent and interesting Brit named John. Vivenda is absolutely beautiful and lived up to its top-billing on TripAdvisor.  I had booked one of the two bungalows on the property (the other accommodation was a double room attached to John’s house), so the B&B is very intimate. The bungalow has a veranda with chairs and hammock and looks out onto the pool and patio. Perfection.

Our first night in town was unplanned, so we wandered down along the canal into the historic center of town. We stopped by to pay our deposit at the Academia de Cozinha e Outros Prazeres (Academy of Cooking and Other Pleasures) for our Brazilian cooking class in a couple nights (more on that later), and to get some dinner and perhaps find some live music. We went to an Italian restaurant Punto di Vino, highly recommended by a friend who had spent some time in Paraty before. The food was absolutely delicious: bruschetta with tomato, olive oil, garlic and basil; housemade ravioli with pistachios, parmesan, nutmeg, and bacon; pizza with various mushrooms and ham; and a half-carafe of Sauvignon Blanc from Chile. Wow! There was a gentleman setting up and playing guitar, singing some MPB but I wanted to try and find this other bossa nova singer who had come highly recommended to us. So we left and ducked into a few other possible places for live music, but to no avail.

After a long day on the bus, we tromped back to the pousada to get some good rest before the next day’s trek…literally.

Tchau, Tom

I had booked us the Special Tour which allows visitors an up-close and inside look at the dam and the power plant. (Of course, I am an engineer!) We joined our tour guide Arides and about 6 other people on a tour bus that would shuttle us around the dam grounds. Itaipu is truly immense. I recall Arides saying the reservoir stored behind Itaipu’s earthen, rock, and concrete dam structures is approximately 1,500 square kilometers in size! There are 20 turbine generators capable of producing up to 14,000 MW of electricity at any one time, although there are always 2 units down for maintenance leaving 18 running. The three spillways are rarely used only about 10 percent of the time, and only when the water level in the reservoir reaches levels close to overtopping the dam, as any water that is spilled is lost potential for generating electricity.

The tour started with a fairly lopsided PR movie about Itaipu’s mission to generate clean electricity and care for the environment. We came into the movie a bit late, but they did not talk about the impact to flooding villages, cemeteries, and homes (I’m glad Arides did acknowledge these things on the tour – 1,090 buried bodies had to be relocated). Other aspects of the dam project did include some environment and social aspects that were more forward thinking. These included a 10-km long spawning channel to allow fish to migrate upstream past the dam, and an intact wildlife corridor allowing migration of terrestrial species. The project is a corporate joint venture between Brazil and Paraguay, with each country ponying up 50% for construction and Paraguay getting 100% of its electric demand satisfied by its hydropower. Itaipu only produces 15% of Brazil’s electricity, going to major cities such as Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte, and Brazil actually ends up buying surplus power from Paraguay, so the Paraguayans make out a bit better. The plant is staffed half by Brazilians and Paraguayans, with one chief from either country rotating on each 6-hour shift. They even have yellow stripes painted throughout the complex denoting the boundary between Brazil and Paraguay.

We got to see the control room, penstocks, turbines, spillways, and reservoir up close. It was certainly an amazing tour and highly recommended if you’re ever in the Iguazu area. After the tour, Dora dropped us off at the airport where we would catch our TAM flight back to Rio. As part of the pre-booked pousada (B&B in Portuguese) in the bohemian hillside neighborhood of Santa Teresa, we met our driver Marco, an Italian-Brazilian, who gave us lots of information about the area and its history. He was a former geography and history teacher after all. We would be spending the night in a pousada called Casa Cool Beans (great name, right?), recently acquired by two Americans Lance and David and their dog Mousse. We were warmly greeted by Lance upon arrival, after our twisting and winding drive up narrow cobblestone streets. The pousada was beautiful. We instantly fell in love with CCB and Santa Teresa in general, even though it was dark when we arrived. One almost felt like you were no longer in Rio, but some small hillside Italian town, similar to our visit to Asolo.

We called our friend Angela to meet up with us, and she took us on a brief driving tour of the highlights of the neighborhood. Different restaurants, bars, cultural centers, very much like Mississippi Avenue in north Portland is today. Santa Teresa had also fallen into disrepair in the 1960’s-1980’s before being revitalized as an arts and crafts district. We stopped in to one of the icons of Santa Teresa called Bar do Mineiro, which serves traditional cuisine from the old gold mining region called Minas Gerais. We tried all sorts of things including caldo inhaume (root vegetable soup), carne seca com catupiry (dried shredded beef with Brazilian cream cheese), quibbe (fried nuggets of ground beef, a Middle Eastern delicacy popular in Rio), and two desserts (doce de abobora, or pumpkin sweet; and goiaba com queijo minas, a guava cake thing with firm cheese from the Minas region). I had my first caipirinha of the trip (can you believe?) and we chatted well into the evening before turning in.

Saude (Cheers), Tom e Kirstin

We finished our breakfast and took off down the Falls Trail to catch a miniature train that would take you out to the Devil’s Throat trail. It reminded me a lot of the train they have at the Oregon Zoo that Casey loves to ride on. Still not a ton of people out, and we felt fortunate to have gotten an early jump on the daytrippers. After a short ride, we started out over the elevated metal catwalks above the water that would lead out to the Garganta del Diablo vista. Iguazu Falls is a series of multiple cascades formed by the convergence of the Iguazu and Parana rivers, before crashing down below into an enormous gorge.

You could see the mist and hear the roar of the falls before you saw them. The view is absolutely spectacular (and yes, we need to get the photos up…there are a few available on Kirstin’s Facebook page). Even though April is typically the low water month, and we were just in May, the flow is still impressive. I likened observing Iguazu and particularly the Devil’s Throat to seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time. You almost can’t believe it’s real, like it is part of a movie set and they will either take it away or shut off the water.

We snapped lots of photos and just stood there in awe of the magnificence of nature. Eventually, the crowds started overtaking us, and we decided to leave Garganta for later that evening. We rode the train back and decided to try the Inferior Circuit of the falls. This trail would go further below several of the falls, which were all very beautiful albeit on a smaller scale than Garganta. You could watch the speedboats that race upriver towards Garganta, and go under some of the smaller falls, hence drenching the passengers in an exhilarating water theme park fashion. Kirstin declined my advances to go on said boat, as she just isn’t into that sort of thing, plus I had read about an accident the previous month in which two American tourists were killed when their boat flipped on a rock. I think the water level was dangerously low then, and the last accident happened 10 years ago, so it was likely a freak event. Nonetheless, we decided to just watch instead of ride. After finishing the Inferior Circuit, we had a fairly mediocre meal of empanadas and dried-out cold cut sandwiches in the park. One coati actually wandered into the restaurant and started sniffing around for crumbs (or hand outs)! We were pretty wiped out and decided to take a brief nap by the pool.

I take full credit for arranging our Iguazu visit for when we did, as I had researched the Full Moon Walks they offer the two days before and after each month’s full moon. Lo and behold, we were in Iguazu for the two days preceding: the first night was too cloudy, but the second night was perfect for it. So we booked the early 7:45 PM tour without the dinner, after which wasn’t until 10:30 PM!! These South Americans and their late dinners. We opted for a light snack of langostino and mushroom quesadillas in the lobby bar which worked out just peachy. We met up with our driver who shuttled us over to the Central Village where the tour would start. After a briefing by the tour guide in Portuguese and English, we boarded the same mini-train and rode out to Devil’s Throat station. Despite warnings from the guides to limit flash photography and wait until getting out to the falls, several people either didn’t listen or ignored them completely, and we were blinded many times and luckily didn’t fall into the river.

Kirstin and I hung back to allow the crowds to filter on ahead of us, and we could walk beneath the stars in peace and quiet. The clouds had finally parted, and the moon was shining full and bright above us. And then we came up to Devil’s Throat. What an amazing sight to see the falls illuminated by the light of the full moon! Quite a different yet spectacular sight to behold. We played with the exposure and long shutter settings on our point-and-shoot camera and managed to get several good shots of silvery, wispy waterfalls. It was a magical ending to a magical day in Iguazu.

Abraços, Tom e Kirstin

Tom’s exhaustive research and planning for this trip resulted in our side trip to Foz do Iguaçu (Iguazu Falls), one of the seven natural wonders of the world.  We would get to view the falls from Brazil, from Argentina, by day and by the light of the full moon. Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly said the Iguazu Falls made Niagara Falls look like a “leaky faucet.” This was sure to be a highlight of our adventure.

We arrived at Foz do Iguaçu airport in Brazil (which might even be smaller than the Ft. Wayne airport!), and a driver was there waiting to pick us up. Tom had arranged this in advance, and we expected a gentleman named Ramon. When we met Dora instead, we could not help but smile at our awesome good fortune. The real life Dora the Explorer was going to be our driver for the next three days!!

Dora took us to the Parque Nacional (National Park) on the Brazil side of the falls and told us she would pick us up in three hours. Now, the Brazil side of the falls is much less grand then the Argentina side and looking at the map of the park, three hours sounded like too much. But Dora was pretty sure and so we agreed, and set off into the park. We took the Falls Trail which traces the edge of the gorge into which the falls dump. We encountered a band of the raccoon-like coatis, observed folks wearing full-body condoms to protect themselves from the mists and drizzle, and stood at the bottom of the falls among the wind and water (wearing our own windbreakers, no condoms for us!). A bountiful Brazilian buffet was waiting for us at the end and we filled our plates with fish, meat, and desserts (and a few vegetables).

It took us exactly three hours.

Next Dora took us over to the Parque das Aves (Bird Park) for a wildlife adventure. This is basically a bird-specific zoo. Some of the animals are rescued. There were several open-air aviaries that let the birds fly free. Tom enjoyed flashbacks to his days at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center where he cared for birds; I enjoyed these magnificent creatures from a safe distance. In all, it was a well-maintained place and we did get to see some pretty amazing creatures, such as toucans and macaws, up close and personal. Once again Dora had given us just the right amount of time.

It was now time to head across the border into Argentina (first time!) where we would be staying at the Sheraton right in the park (thank you very much Cash & Points!). Our room was on the falls side of the hotel (awesome), though it was dark when we arrived and we’d have to wait until morning for our first look.

Tchau, Tom and Kirstin

We kept walking and walking, and eventually noticed we were no longer on the right road. Uh oh. After pulling out the handy Lonely Planet guide map (borrowed from Cedar Mill Library, thank you very much), we discovered we had overshot the garden by a little ways and off track. After a little backtracking, we noticed the tall grove of palm trees lining the front of Jardim Botanico and finally found the entrance. We were astonished to find out the entry fee was a mere R$5 per person, which is about US$3.33! You can’t get into the Oregon Zoo or Japanese Garden for that kind of chump change!

The gardens are peaceful and serene, with wide avenues for strolling among native Atlantic rainforest vegetation, as well as imported plants and trees from all over the world. It really is quite a marvelous oasis from the hustle and bustle of Rio de Janeiro just outside its gates. We saw giant lily pads, insectivorous plants (cool!), the giant palm trees up front, monkeys living up in the trees, Amazonian forest, the orchid exhibit. All the walking was really starting to take a toll on us, so we wrapped up our visit to the garden by hitting my friend Joe’s all-time favorite juice bar down the street: Bibi Sucos.

It was here at Bibi Sucos that we finally got to try the famous acai “no copo” (an acai sorbet in a cup). Because we had eaten quite a large lunch at Bibi before even getting to the acai, we opted for the “baby” portion, which was still plenty for the two of us to enjoy. This stuff is awesome, a bit grainy from the seeds, but you can see why people love acai so much. Sweet, refreshing, packed full of vitamin C and energy. And, the portion we had cost us like R$4.00, whereas acai has become such a trendy and expensive item in energy drinks in the U.S.

I had heard of a roda de choro (choro jam circle) that happens on Saturdays in the Centro district downtown, on the street Rua do Ouvidor in front of the Restaurante Antigamente. Desperately seeking one more choro fix before leaving Rio, we decided to take the bus (the wrong direction, unfortunately) back to Ipanema, and connect to the Metro we knew so well. See, I had noticed Rua do Ouvidor earlier in the week when we were looking for the Casa Oliveira music store. So, I knew generally where this spot should be. Rua do Ouvidor is a narrow alleyway, lined with shops and currently undergoing a lot of renovation work, hence lots of scaffolding and ducking. But, eventually we made it to Antigamente…

…only to find no choro musicians happily jamming away on the street. There were lots of tables and patrons outside the small storefront, but no live music, much to my chagrin. They did have good choro and samba blasting on the CD player, but no roda. I suspected that the issue our friend Angela noted about the permit for playing on the street might have had something to do with it. So alas, we decided to sit down and enjoy a tall cerveja Original and take in the scene. There were some scantily-clad Bohemia girls hawking the brand’s beer and other snacks, but we won’t go into more details here. Once the drizzle started to fall, we decided to call it a day and head back to the condo to do laundry, go to the grocery, and pack for the following day’s sojourn to Foz do Iguaçu. Tchau Rio, ola Foz!

Abraços (Hugs), Tom e Kirstin

Luckily, Carioca Metro station is right next to Rua Carioca, so no problem, right?  Wrong.  After getting out of the train station and crossing the wide plaza downtown, we walked right past the major Rua Carioca onto Rua Uruguiana, and kept walking and walking.  It didn’t look THAT far on Google Maps, did it?  There were street vendors out hawking every sort of this and that, amongst the business people coming and going.  A very busy part of town on a Friday at noon, but we heard it was not a particularly safe or nice place to be on a weekend night when it is deserted.

After making a U-turn and re-discovering Rua Carioca, we made our way down the cobbled sidewalk (made of ceramic tile mosaics, just like almost everyone else in Rio) and found Casa Oliveira.  There are plenty of other more glitzy shops reminiscent of Guitar Center, and we didn’t set foot in those.  Casa Oliveira felt like it had been there for awhile.  I used my beginner Portuguese with the store clerk and managed to order 3 sets of the low 7th string (for a 7-string guitar) back home, while Kirstin decided to try out a few of the pandeiros he had on hand.  They ended up being a bit too expensive for our taste to practice beginner drumming with, despite the coolness factor of having a handmade Brazilian pandeiro, we passed.  I perused some of the choro music they had on hand too, but didn’t find anything worth buying.  So we left Casa Oliveira and ducked into a CD shop on our way back to the Metro, loading up on a couple more goodies to take home.

Our driver Luis the first day had pointed out the unique Sao Sebastiao Cathedral on our drive in from the airport.  It is a Catholic church, and the shape is unmistakble–it is a monolithic pyramid looking thing (photos still to come, sigh).  We just took it in from afar and decided not to venture inside.  The other office buildings around downtown were also very large and ominous looking, like they were built in the 60′s during the Cold War (which they probably were).  We hopped back on the Metro and decided to stop off again at Cardeal Arcoverde and visit Bossa Nova e Companhia again.  This time, I knew what I wanted and picked up a unique book of original choros written by some famous contemporary Brazilian composers/musicians, including Mauricio Carrilho and Pedro Amorim.  Unfortunately, they didn’t have THE CD that numerous choro players rave about called Arranca Toco, and that I expressly was looking for in Brazil.  They said it was sold out.

We ducked in and out of awnings amongst the off and on downpours and had some more juice and pastel/snacks at the Copa Limao/Bigbi bar close to the Metro stop. This time, we branched out and tried acerola (another tart berry from Brazil) and it was delicious.  So far, so good!  We headed home on the train and back to the condo for some serious resting time.

A walk down Ipanema Beach towards Leblon to the west was lovely, watching the surf crash, checking out the local kiosks selling agua de coco (coconut water in the shell) and other goodies, kids playing soccer or futevolei (that’s volleyball using anything BUT your hands!  Amazing.)  Eventually we turned inland and hadn’t found anything quite to our liking for dinner.  We also stopped into a Lojas Americanas convenience store to recharge the cell phone. Kirstin got distracted by clothing racks (but eventually found nothing to her liking).  And I, I…I hit yet another motherlode of CDs and DVDs upstairs!  Now my friend Peter had clued me into this, as there were lots of older or less “in style” items that Brazilians had probably seen or heard hundreds of times, but us gringoes would spend lots of time, energy, and money looking for.  I mean, we’re talking CDs as low as R$7.99 (that’s about US$5.50), and DVDs for R$14.99 (US$10).  So, I made off like a bandit with more choro, samba, and bossa nova media.

We ended up going to Frontera for dinner close to our condo, which is yet another buffet-by-the-kilo establishment.  I think we forgot to mention stopping at this place Aipo & Aipim the first night, another by-weight joint, maybe because it was just ok.  Frontera’s selection and ambiance were significantly better, and we tried not to load up too much on the heavy items.  It was pretty decent food from around the world, not just Brazilian delicacies.  Leaving happy and full, we ended the evening watching a DVD of Paulinho da Viola (master musician/composer of samba) before turning in.

Tchau for now, Tom and Kirstin

So when you do find your way, the reward is exactly that. You found your way. Sometimes the destination is more like the cherry on top than the main course.

Even with Tom’s excellent sense of direction and his mind for details like street names and bus lines, our travels take a few unexpected turns here and there. But we get there. We get there.

The plan for Day 4 started with a trip to Corcovado (means hunchback) Mountain to see the Monumento do Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer Monument). Considered one of the 7 New Wonders of the World, Cristo Redentor is 130 feet tall. Built in the 1930s, it is an icon of Rio – he can be seen from points all around the city, even illuminated at night.

Tom researched Rio bus lines to find the one that would take us there. It would take an hour, but for less than $5 it was the way to go. We rode and rode, and once we knew we were getting close starting eying street signs, followed our instincts and jumped off when we thought we were there. Off the bus we started walking up the cobblestone street toward the site. Or so we thought.

But you know that feeling when you just know you’re going the wrong way? And we were. But a quick chat with a security guard and we headed back down the hill, past our bus stop and just a few more blocks to the Corcovado village, where we could take the cog wheel train to the top. A minor detour, just part of the journey.

It was a good day to visit Corcovado – mostly clear and sunny. At the top of the mountain we had a few more steps to climb (opting for the old fashioned way over the escalator or elevator options) before reaching the back side of Cristo. Which is, undeniably awesome in the truest sense of the word.

It is, however a major tourist attraction, so the crowds and picture taking (and goofy poses of the tourists) took away any sense of sacred that I expected. There are also the tour helicopters that come buzzing overhead every few minutes.

The views from atop Corcovado are also stunning, and we spend quite a while at the various lookouts, watching the clouds roll in and obscure everything, and then blow back out to reveal the city below. We also enjoyed a hot dog (cachorro quente), beer and (of course) mango juice.

When we boarded the train for the ride down, we were excited that a group of musicians called Bom de Samba! were playing at the back of our car! The lead guy handed Tom the gringo a shaker to join in. Little did he know that he had just handed his shaker to a man who knew how to use it. And in a flash he had Tom up there shakin’ in with the band. He did a great job and it made for a great memory.

The rest of the afternoon was for downtime – listening to music and napping back at the condo before heading out to our evening events. I certainly needed the “me time” to get psyched for what Tom had in store: the weekly Rio Couch Surfing gathering at Pizza in Cone.

Where do I even start explaining that last sentence? First, Couch Surfing. This is a worldwide network of travelers who help each other make connections in communities all over the world. Couch Surfers meet online, or in person in cities and towns all over the world, and will even offer a fellow traveler a night on a sofa, pullout or guest room (hence the term couch surfing). Second, Pizza in Cone is a kiosk on the beach at Copacabana where they serve, among other things, pizza toppings in a pizza crust cone. Strange but true.

Okay, so the idea of showing up at a beach kiosk to meet up with a bunch of total strangers who likely speak little to no English is waaaaay at the bottom of my list. BUT. I am here to expand my point of view, and Tom is totally into it, so I go. We arrive, get name tags (mostly so you can get the cheap food and beer prices at Pizza in Cone, but also to facilitate the meeting of new friends), get a beer and then stand around awkwardly, waiting for someone to befriend us. Soon enough that does happen and we chat with Felipe, and then Diogo, and then a few others. Diogo was my favorite because he speaks perfect English and is sweet and super friendly. Oh, and he has a 70′s cover band in Rio named Boogie Nights. Totally awesome. We hung out there for a while, but by 9:30 needed to move on to our next social engagement: Bar Bip Bip.

Bip Bip is a musical institution in Rio and Tom’s buddy Amaro would be there playing in a Samba de Roda with a bunch of friends for the evening. Bip Bip is not much more than a hole in the wall with a few tables inside which were filled up by the musicians when we got there. But one of the owners (?) who seemed to be taking care of things helped us find chairs at one of the tables on the sidewalk. As more people arrived, he brought out more tables and chairs and before you knew it, it was buzzing. There is a full bar at Bip Bip, but mostly people drink Itaipava from the can. You go in, grab a few, and check in at a table out front where the owner, Alfredinho, keeps your tab going for the night…and he watches everyone like a hawk. Between Alfredo and  table-and-chairs-guy, there is nothing going on that is not noticed. Alfredo will also stop the music every now and then to expound on things political in Brazil. But the mood is great there and we sat and drank our beers and enjoyed the Samba until we got hungry … for Pizza in Cone!

We headed back to the Couch Surfing party, since we still had our name tags and could qualify for cheap food. The crowd was much larger now, but we did see our friend Diogo again, and chatted with a few others as we waited for our Pizza in Cone to bake up into hot, bubbly goodness.

The Metro closes at midnight (?), so soon it was time for us to head back to the train and get home on the last trip of the night. Back at the condo we were happy, and a little drunk. Enough sightseeing and Samba for one day.

It’s no secret that Tom is the mastermind of this trip, and that many of our activities here in Rio are all about the music. However, today started off with an adventure for me – hang gliding.

I am aware, and was reminded before signing the release form, that hang gliding is a dangerous sport and if anything happens “insurance gonna pay you not’in.” But sign I did.

Hang gliding is apparently popular with tourists and locals, and the place to do it is Pedra Bonita in the Tijuca Forest, one of the largest urban forests in the  world. We had reserved the flight in advance and had been picked up at our condo in a green pick up (we rode in the back through the streets of Rio – a great perspective on the city and nice views all along the way). We met my pilot, Manuel, who helped me fill out the required paperwork and gave me my membership card to the Clube Sao Conrado de Voo Livre. A six-month membership is included with my flight!

Manuel, another guy “Carl” who set up the equipment, Tom and I rode up to the top of Pedra Bonita – 520 meters up. I got into the gear and took a few practice runs with Manuel over off to the side of the staging area. As the “assistant pilot” on my first flight, my main responsibilities are to: 1) run without stopping during take off, 2) do not touch anything, 3) smile for the camera every 60-90 seconds.

I carried out my duties best I could. The take off was simple; I was not nervous and Manuel knows how to get you set up on the ramp and off in the air quickly so you don’t have too much time to contemplate the fact that you are about to run as fast as you can off an 8 meter ramp into nothing. The flight was beautiful and seemed to go on and on. I didn’t keep track though. Manuel got the idea that I wasn’t interested in chit chat – I just wanted to fly, so we kept to ourselves (except of course for the obligatory camera clicks). The conditions were very good and Manuel kept finding the lift that took us round and back again and again. Out over the ocean a bit, and then back in to get another lift. I was mindful of the views, of the feeling of my body hanging in the rigging, the wind on my face and arms. It was a beautiful experience.

Landing was a bit awkward though. Manuel is a good foot and a half or so taller than me so his feet seemed to find the beach first and I sort of dangled, landed, stumbled, tangled, and then we got straightened up and unleashed from the glider. I looked up to find Tom there waiting. Manuel gave me high fives for being so cool, and complimented me to Tom as well. I felt happy, and brave, and powerful to do this.

But if you are wondering at all where I get this courage? Have two natural births without complications or interventions and you will know the power and strength that can accomplish anything.

Okay. Hang gliding… check! On to lunch.

We headed back to Bar Vinicius for feijoada – a traditional Brazilian dish of beans and meats served over rice, with collard greens and farofa and hot peppers on the side. This dish is commonly made with what Anthony Bourdain (and I) would call the “nasty bits” including feet, ears and snout. Our feijoada came steaming in little crocks and upon dishing it out we found beans of course, sausage (yum), rib meat (yum), fatty parts (not as yummy for me), and yes, snout. Whiskery, with black skin that could seriously only be snout. I carefully served myself around the snout and enjoyed the lunch with not one but two beers (hey, it’s hot here). We left stuffed, and happy to have experienced a typical Brazilian dish, usually served on Saturdays (so you can go take a nap after eating it), on a Wednesday afternoon.

From lunch we headed underground to the Metro and took a ride over to Botafogo station, then hopped into a cab to Pao de Açucar (Sugarloaf). We arrived there around 4:30. Sugarloaf is one of the prime tourist spots; a place to enjoy excellent views of Rio after riding two cable cars up to the peak. We were there at the right time to see Rio by day, at sunset, and by night, with all the lights of the city sparkling. We stayed there a while to enjoy the sightseeing and people watching and then headed back down for your next new experience of the day: drum class.

Attending drum class was not on the preplanned itinerary – it was a happy outcome of making a Rio connection in Olympia, Washington last year. We met Angela at a Choro party in Olympia – all connected to the Choro workshop in Port Townsend. Angela is from and lives in Rio, and invited us to her weekly pandeiro class. She assured us we would be welcome, and that even a total beginner (like, say, the wife of a musician) could join in.

After a typical big city cab ride (high speed, f-words, rip off fare that we just paid so we could get where we wanted to go) we arrived early and were invited in by the teacher, Pedro Lima. He was conducting a rehearsal/class and we took seats at the edge and watched and listened. Drumming is soothing, in a sort of rousing way. Almost hypnotic. I was drawn in immediately.

Angela found pandeiros for each of us and the class began. Pedro would get everyone started with a rhythm, and then he would play another beat, or lead a few others in another beat on top of that. Then vocals are layered over the rhythms. Each layer alone would be somewhat simple, but when combined is lively and complex. The style we mostly played was called “partido alto”, a lot of call-and-repeat singing and drumming. It took me quite a bit of mental focus to keep up my simple part, but it was SO FUN.

Even after hang gliding, this was my favorite part of the day.

After the class ended, Angela’s friend offered to drive us back to Copacabana where she lives, and where we could take a quick Metro ride back to our place. Brazilians are friendly and generous and this was just one more example of a stranger, or near stranger showing us kindness and hospitality.

We *heart* Brazil.