In this episode we go to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and share where we stayed, all the best things to do in Rio and share a few tips we learned that will make your visit to Rio a success!

Highlights of this trip were taking in the views atop Sugarloaf Mountain, riding the cogwheel train to the top of Corcovado to visit the Christ the Redeemer statue, and walking along the boardwalk of Copacabana beach.

Rio de Janiero – Episode Transcript

0:34

Welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad Podcast.

Today we’re taking you to beautiful Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

0:52

Brittany and I took another epic Gate 1 adventure that included stops in Rio, Iguazu Falls, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

But in this episode, we’re focusing solely on Rio de Janeiro.

I loved Rio de Janeiro and when we booked this trip I wasn’t sure which city I would love most.

1:10

And as it turns out, Rio was my favorite city of this trip and Buenos Aires was Jamal’s.

So we have both of our opinions on this and so I’m really excited to dive in and share everything about Rio with you guys.

We picked this trip.

1:27

Actually, we didn’t pick this trip.

Our friend picked this trip for us because we had previously picked a trip to Morocco and so she picked this tour and we just jumped on and went ahead and joined them for this one.

You say friend Brittany, like you haven’t mentioned our friend Kasha and Ryan before and it’s somebody new to the squad and our listeners.

1:48

So you should say honorary squad is Cash and Ryan.

It was their pick on the trip.

I don’t know why you’re introducing them as just a friend.

Oh, an anonymous friend.

I know, typical Britney being shady like that.

And you mentioned tour as well.

This was a Gate 1 tour, and not just any tour, but A2 Fer.

2:06

You’re going to two countries on this tour, which is pretty exciting.

A nice little bonus.

Yeah.

So to clarify, our squaddies Kasha and Ryan invited us on this 10 day epic Brazil and Argentina trip specifically because Kasha has had her eye on Igwazi Falls for years.

2:25

It’s been on her bucket list.

And so that was the main highlight and draw to this trip and it was a fantastic 10 day trip.

There was about 32 people on our tour total.

So we’re just going to dive right in and start with the tips as we always do, you know, tips 1st.

2:42

I’m going to just go ahead and say it.

Bring bug spray.

You are in Brazil, in a tropical area South of the equator.

There’s bugs around.

You need that bug spray.

It’s also pretty warm in Rio and it’s right next to the beach, so definitely bring sunscreen and sun protection and stay hydrated.

3:00

Also, credit cards are widely accepted.

We never pulled any money from an ATM or exchanged physical cash for their local currency called the Brazilian Real.

So everywhere we went took credit card.

The only place I would say maybe you would want cash is when you’re walking along the beach on Empanema Copacabana.

3:22

You do have vendors that are selling you trinkets things.

If you’re a smoker they’ll sell packs of cigarettes or singles and candy and gum.

Maybe that you will need cash there, but realistically like restaurants, even other shops for souvenirs didn’t need cash at all.

3:40

And did you take any taxis or anything that you would need cash for?

We didn’t take any taxis in Rio.

When we did take it to taxi in a Guazu, it did take card, but OK, there are subways too, and so I’m pretty sure and the subway station you can load a card and use your credit card.

3:58

So we actually didn’t have to pull any cash at all during this whole trip.

It’s.

Interesting how that’s changing.

You know, back in the day would always be you need cash on you when you’re traveling and you, you all just went to Iceland as well and it was card only.

Here we are again, card only.

4:14

This is the way of the future.

Yes.

And we did have cash, American dollars on us in case we did need to exchange.

But yeah, it wasn’t like we had to.

And it in some of our other travels, like when we were in Cusco, Peru, there was like money exchanges around every corner.

This isn’t something we saw in Rio either.

4:31

We heard that there was a money exchange down the street, but we never actually saw it.

Another tip for you guys is safety.

So in Rio de Janeiro, a lot of it is beach, boardwalk, if you’re staying near the beach.

And so there’s like a walking path and then there is a bike path.

4:48

And one thing that does happen are some of the bikers, if you are taking selfies near the biker lane, then people that are on bikes could just grab your phone out of your hand and then just continue to write off.

And this is something that Jamal had read about in advance and something our tour manager also mentioned.

5:07

So he just said, you know, just be careful.

Apparently iPhones are very expensive to get in Brazil.

They don’t manufacture them there.

So American dollar wise to get one, he said it cost like 3 grand to purchase one in Brazil.

5:22

So they’re really after iPhones.

So just keep that in mind.

And then he said don’t put your phone in your back pocket or your front top pocket if you’re if you have one.

Because it happened in Ecuador and they took it out of his front pocket.

Yes, yes, he said both of those places are not great places to put your phone.

5:39

And he said just be mindful.

Nothing happened to anyone on our group.

We didn’t see anything like that happen, but you know, it could.

So just keep that in mind.

And on the subject of safety, I just want to mention, I guess we’ll get to this a little bit more later possibly.

But you always hear this misconception of Rio that, oh, it’s dangerous.

5:58

And yes, anywhere you go, there’s tourist scams and certain things that are common, like stealing your phone out of your hand while you’re taking a selfie and the bikers riding along.

But for the most part, and I think Brittany would agree, none of us felt unsafe.

We didn’t go to any sketchy areas.

6:14

For the most part.

It was a very vibrant metropolitan city along the beach.

And so those of you with the thought in mind, like, yes, Rio’s beautiful, you see the photos, but I’ve heard it’s dangerous.

It’s nothing like that.

Anywhere you go, there’s gonna be bad neighborhoods.

We steered clear of them, steered clear of the bad neighborhoods, and you’re just gonna be fine.

6:33

The main thing you really have to worry about is tourist scams and miscellaneous pickpocketing, which can happen anywhere.

Another thing to keep in mind is Brazil is South of the equator.

Jamal mentioned that earlier.

So their seasons are opposite of ours.

We visited in September, which is their spring.

6:49

They were just coming out of winter, going into spring.

So in the US we’re going into fall.

So just keep that in mind when you’re visiting.

Was it like springy?

Like flowers blooming?

People’s moods were up.

People’s moods were definitely up.

7:05

It’s a very active city.

I was going to mention this a little bit later, but along the beach it’s so active.

Kim, I think you would really love Rio because there is so much beach.

They have beach volleyball.

They have a game where you play volleyball with anything but your hands, so you can hit the ball with your head, your feet, anything like that.

7:23

When we were laying out, the beach was crowded.

They have no privatized beaches in this area.

Everything is a public beach.

And then even along the beach there are little workout gyms like body weight, so people would like go and work out.

7:39

And then they have the bike path and a walking lane.

So people are walking, jogging, running, biking.

People are out walking their dogs.

It’s a very lively, vibrant city.

Yeah, it sounds like it.

And the last tip is, and we should have mentioned this, probably with the sunscreen keeping with the weather a little bit, but Rio is a subtropical climate.

8:01

So it’s going to be hot and humid along the coast.

There are mountains and jungle that surrounds it.

So of course, maybe if you’re up at a higher level, it’s going to be a little bit less humid.

But when you’re down close to the coast in the main city of things, it’s going to be hot and humid.

8:17

That your kind of weather.

You know, if I’m on vacation and it’s not excessively hot and humid, I do kind of like it.

I packed a lot of shorts, button UPS that had like beach vibes all over them.

And yeah, so I was actually really excited about it.

8:34

I just don’t want it to be deathly hot.

Well that’s good.

I’m glad it wasn’t deathly hot.

Squattys, If you’re looking for other trip itineraries, travel inspiration, tips on hacks, and how to get free travel or travel with points, head on over to our website travelsquadpodcast.com.

8:51

We have a page for every episode we’ve ever done.

We have a bunch of free itineraries out there, multi week itineraries, and you can find it all on our website.

So Rio de Janeiro is located in Brazil, and we just want to share a few things about Brazil in general.

9:07

So the American pronunciation of Brazil is Brazil with AZ, but in Portuguese, which is their native language.

It’s spelled with an S.

It’s Brazil.

Brazil’s also the largest country in South and Latin America.

It actually borders 10 different countries.

9:24

When I heard that, I was like, Oh my God, that is a ton of countries for it to border.

It borders Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Guiana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Uruguay, Venezuela and French Guiana.

9:39

So Kim, there are only two countries in South America that Brazil does not touch.

Brittany just mentioned all the ones that it touches.

Off the top of your head, can you give me the two that do not touch Brazil?

Ecuador.

9:55

That’s one Ding, Ding, Ding, and what is the other?

Panama.

Chile, Chile, Chile.

You know, I didn’t even know some of these were countries.

They don’t sound familiar to me at all.

But that is incredibly interesting.

10:11

I didn’t realize how much Brazil dominated South America.

Well, it’s actually so big that Brazil is larger than the contiguous United States.

So of course, we’re not counting Alaska, but the contiguous United States, the 48, it’s bigger than that.

10:28

And so how much of it did you actually see when you were on this trip?

Only a very tiny little bit, just Rio de Janeiro and then the portion of Iguazu Falls that’s on the Brazilian side.

We were really in the southern portion of Brazil.

Rio, of course, is southeast and then Iguazu is going to be a little bit SW or more South Central Brazil.

10:51

Their national drink is called the Capriana, which is a delicious white rum drink with sugar cane mixed in and lime.

And they they shake it up and it was really delicious.

Are Oh, you have?

Yes.

When did you have it?

11:08

So one of the agencies I used to work with, there were a lot of Brazilians there and we would sometimes have cocktail gatherings and they would make them so good.

There’s a lot of lime in there.

And a lot of rum.

Our tour manager had mentioned that by the third one you’re going to be speaking Portuguese fluently.

11:28

I really love this drink.

It was very reminiscent almost of a mojito in that type of refreshingness because the mojito of course, is the white rum.

Also they use mint in that.

But here we are, you know, with the lime.

So it’s it’s kind of a mix between a Margarita and a mojito, and I loved it.

11:44

That’s a great description of it.

And something that our tour guide told us, and it’s one of those things where, I mean, probably should have made made this correlation and just really figured it out.

But you know, in South America, Brazil is the only place that speaks Portuguese.

Everybody else is Spanish.

11:59

And obviously here in the United States, you’re more geared towards Spanish.

So I’ve never really thought about the translation.

What do you think Rio de Janeiro means, Ken?

There’s Rio.

We know Rio.

OK, yes.

Day.

Day.

Is of what is Janeiro.

12:17

January.

See, I never made that correlation.

You are so correct.

River of January because they discovered it what they said in the month of January.

They thought the Bay was the mouth of the river, but it really isn’t.

So there is no river there.

12:32

But they thought that the Bay that forms Rio de Janeiro was part of a river that came from the mountains and they discovered it in January.

So there is the reason for the name.

And Rio is the second largest city in the country.

So the largest city is Sao Paulo, which we didn’t visit.

12:50

And the capital of the country is Brasilia, which is more centrally located.

But Rio is known not only for its beaches, but they have the iconic Sugarloaf Mountain and it has one of the 7 Wonders of the world, Christ the Redeemer statue.

13:06

That is really cool that you got to see that up close and in person.

Yeah, I really loved Rio.

Brittany said it earlier.

I think maybe I did like Buenos Aires a little bit more, but I loved Rio a lot and I’m really excited.

You know, we gave you a little bit of the tips, some of the history and facts about Rio de Janeiro.

13:25

But let’s dive into the trip.

Brittany, start us off.

So this was a 10 day trip, but we’re going to only talk about the portion that we stayed in Rio.

So we left of San Diego on a Thursday and we flew from San Diego to Atlanta.

We had a 5 hour layover in the Atlanta airport for the first time.

13:43

We used a shop in Atlanta that was like a massage shop and they had these loungers that we could do for like 20-30 minutes.

So it’s the first time we did that.

It was great.

I liked it.

Jamal didn’t love it so much, but I had a great.

Time, well, it’s included with your priority pass.

If you have priority pass, look into that so that you can utilize the massagers, Brittany says.

14:02

I didn’t like it.

It was, it was very nice.

I do like the massage chairs.

But let me tell you something, it was 30 minutes and I would say for about 5 minutes they focused on my back and the other 25 minutes it was low back with the rollers in the chair really moving to your ass.

14:21

And they spent way too much time and too much pressure on my butt cheeks.

And eventually, you know, it’s nice at first you’re like, OK, and then it moves and you start to feel it on your back a little bit, high neck, You’re like, yeah.

And then they tease you for like 10 seconds and they move right back to your ass and work on it for like 5 minutes at a time.

14:40

I’m like.

Lusted by the massage done.

By 10 minutes I was done by 10 minutes.

You liked it?

I loved it.

Maybe we had different settings because I don’t remember it focusing that much on my body.

Focused on my hands, but neither here nor there.

Priority pass.

14:56

We killed some time with that.

We actually went to the legitimate lounge to got our free drinks, snacks, etcetera.

This is where we met up with Cash and Ryan.

They flew in from Dallas.

We met up in Atlanta and caught the same flight to Rio de Janeiro.

15:11

And if you have a friend that’s going on a different flight than you and they are going to enter the lounge possibly at different times or the flights going to get in later, use the QR code to set them up so that when they do land, they get access right into the lounge.

Because Atlanta always has a wait list.

15:29

Like almost all the time you have to sign up to be on wait list.

So before Kasha even deported her plane, I had her signed up for the wait list so that she could just get on into the lounge right away.

So then from Atlanta, of course we flew to Rio.

It was a red eye flight.

15:44

So by the time we landed, it was around seven, 7:30 AM in Rio.

So we had the whole day ahead of us, which was really, really nice.

Brittany and I got some good sleep on the plane.

I would say maybe about four and a half, five hours.

That flight was 10 hours long too, or 9 1/2.

16:00

So rather long flight.

Yes, that’s how far South you are going.

Very long flight and we got picked up because of course we’re with gate 1.

So they have the representative come pick us up and it was about a 4550 minute drive from the airport to our hotel, which was right on Copacabana Beach, literally right on the beach.

16:24

You walk across the street, there’s the bike path, there’s The Walking path, and then there’s the mile long Copacabana Beach.

Just stunning.

I really loved our hotel.

Yes, we stayed at the Windsor Lemmy Hotel in Copacabana Cabana and we did not have our rooms ready yet because it was pretty early in the morning, but they did say we could use the facilities on the property.

16:47

So they had a rooftop pool, they had a bar and restaurant on the very top.

And from the rooftop pool, bar and restaurant, you could see down to Copacabana Beach.

And then from the restaurant area you could see the Chrysler Redeemer statue.

17:03

So it’s a really great location.

We went up, had some drinks, and then we did change and get go to the pool.

We had a little pool day, kind of just chilled, relaxed, and then at about 1:30 our rooms are ready.

So we were able to go check into our room.

17:19

And then that night we had the welcome reception where we got to meet our tour manager and everyone else that was on the tour.

There was only one other couple on this trip that had done more gate ones than us.

They had done 10 and this was our ninth gate one.

17:36

But I would say.

I think those people now the next.

One and those people, they’re very, very nice, which by the way, I have a story about them, I’ll get to that in just a second.

But they are in their, you know, sixties, 70s and they’re at 10 and Brittany and I are at 9:00.

17:51

But Brittany did count the independent tours as gate ones.

I don’t know.

I don’t know if I would count those ones.

So it’s not the same.

It’s not the same.

But this was our first introduction to the Capriana, or however you pronounce it.

My pronunciation on the drink of Brazil’s national drink, I’m sorry, is not the very best, but loved it.

18:12

It was delicious.

But my story real quick, before we get further on about the people who had done 10, I knew they looked very familiar to me.

So by day three, I had asked them a question.

I was like, did you guys go to South Africa?

18:28

And they said, oh, yeah, we, we, we did the South Africa one.

I’m like, did you have a tour manager named Sean?

Like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

When did you go?

I said, well, we went in September of 18.

What about you and the husband?

He pulls up his phone in his notes.

18:44

He has all the information of when they did that tour, what the tour manager’s name was.

Wow.

Yeah, September of 18.

Yeah, I knew.

I recognized them.

Some people that were on our same tour from South Africa were on this one also.

Yeah, what a coincidence.

19:00

But 60 to 70% of the people on this trip, it was their first gate One trip, so they had never had one before.

They didn’t know what to expect.

Everyone was really excited, everyone was really nice.

And there’s usually one person in the group that you know, kind of is a little pain in the ass.

19:18

But during this group we did not have anyone like that.

We got along with everyone and everyone got along with each other.

It was great.

We had a great tour manager.

His name was Vinny, short for Van Milton, and he was fantastic and I love that he set up a lot of extra things for us that we’ll talk about during this tour.

19:36

And then after we had our orientation, you know, typical gate one fashion, there’s always the welcome dinner when you’re doing the fully guided tours.

Being in Brazil, where do they take us?

They took us to a Brazilian churrascaria steakhouse for the first night and I loved it.

19:51

I knew I was going to get the meat sweats, didn’t even really care.

We went crazy, got some wine, It was a really good time.

Yeah.

One thing we had not tried before when we’ve been to cherasquerias in the past was they had a meat type, which was the hump of the bullhead, and it’s actually a little tender and fatty and it was really good.

20:12

So we did try that while we were there because it’s like a Brazilian staple.

Did they have the cinnamon pineapple?

They did not have a pineapple cinnamon that night.

They gave us a different dessert instead.

But Vinny did say that some nights they do have that the churrascaria was right around the corner from the beach.

20:30

So we decided to walk home from the churrascaria rather than take the bus back and just walk along the beach boardwalk.

And we even went and touched the water.

A Rogue Wave may have it hit us as well and got us a little soaked and it was a lot of fun walking back.

20:47

Ironically, with Jamal’s luck, he escaped unscathed from the Rogue Wave.

It caught up to Kesha, Brittany and even Ryan because Ryan was up there and then ended up soaking his shoes.

I saw that coming.

I’ve been hit by a rogue wig.

I, I know what they look like.

I was out and I, I was good.

21:04

I was good.

So we’re on Saturday now, technically day three if we’re counting our flight day.

And this was the earliest wake up call that we had because around 6:30 we left the hotel to go to the Christ the Redeemer statue.

21:19

I mean, this is the most iconic image of Brazil is the statue of Christ at the top of their mountain, Corcovado and Gate One made sure in particular that we got the first tickets of the day before it really gets crowded up there.

So of course, we’re not the only only people up there.

21:36

It’s a public tour, no doubt, public place to go.

So there were other people.

But I can imagine what the crowds look like later in the day because even still then in the morning there was a lot.

But we did have enough space to kind of move around and navigate to take photos.

Unfortunately though, it was a little bit overcast this day so our views from the top were not the best.

22:00

I did see that when you’re posting pictures and I was like, oh, it doesn’t look that beautiful.

I know the sun was not shining.

It was an overcast day and up there, cloudy.

There were even some points where we’re literally honestly 20 feet from the statue looking up at it and I could not even see the shape or anything.

22:18

I could only see the outline.

I couldn’t see any facial feature shapes or anything.

And then the wind would blow and then it would clear and then you would have it clear for about 1015 seconds before the clouds came back in.

So that that was a little bit unfortunate.

And of course from up there you are able to get beautiful views down to the mountains and hills that are along the ocean and the Bay and the beaches and the cityscape and the lakes.

22:42

But just it was overcast.

But finally, after first getting up there towards the end, I would say the last 25% of our time at the top, the weather did clear and it made it more visible.

Still overcast and not bright and sunny, but still clear and an enjoyable experience.

23:00

And when we were at the base of the mountain, before you go up, we had to take that scenic cog railway.

You do get views during that and then you keep ascending and ascending.

And then once you get off the railway, you can either take an elevator and then escalator up, or you could take the 220 steps up to Chrysler Redeemer.

23:18

Of course, we took the 220 steps are like easy day.

Here we go.

And then when you’re at the very top, you’re at 2400 feet above the city.

You could have great views if there’s not a lot of clouds.

We got bits here and there, like Jamal said, but the statue itself is 125 feet tall, so it was really beautiful.

23:43

It did rain, then we let it clear up, got to see the views.

You have to just act on that opportunity and know that it’s going to be crowded while you’re up there.

On the backside of the Christ Redeemer statue, there is a small Chapel.

We did see kids being baptized, so that was happening while we were there and then we took the cog wheel back down.

24:03

When you’re down at the bottom, there is a church across the street that you can go visit as well.

So we just did a quick peek into the church.

They had a little cat.

The cat even had a little cat bed on the church steps.

It was a little cutie.

I appreciated it.

You know, he was inside, there was a sermon going or Mass, and he was just propped up on one of the benches and pews.

24:26

And then we started to leave because we’re waiting for the bus to come to pick us up.

And as we left and were waiting, we saw that he came out.

And then I was watching where he was walking to.

And apparently the church has a beautiful little house box for him that’s all done up with like a pillow, his food and everything.

24:42

So he is the resident church cat.

And then from there we went to an area called Inpanema.

This is a famous beach area.

We went to lunch here and we did a little shopping.

We went to a chocolate shop and tried some chocolate and Jamal and Ryan got some coffees and their coffees came served with some chocolate.

25:01

And then you know the popular sandal brand Havana, they have a huge four story sandal shop there.

So we all got some new sandals and they’re super cheap.

They’re like 10 to $15.00 for a pair of sandals were in the US, they’re like 30 to $40.

25:20

And then we decided not to go back on the bus and to walk all along the beach boardwalk from Ipanema all the way to Copacabana and walk all the way back to our hotel.

It took us about an hour and a half to walk it, but it was such a nice day.

25:37

The weather was nice.

It wasn’t too hot, it was sunny out.

Everyone was active along the beach.

It was a great day to do a walk.

Yeah, the sun came out and it was a great day to do a walk after we were ruined at the top with Chrysler Redeemer with the rain.

So the weather did take a turn for the better, just not at the opportune time when we were at the Christ the Redeemer statue.

25:58

But Brittany mentioned that Vinnie, our tour manager, set up a lot of things.

So after our tour that we had with gate one, it only included Christ the Redeemer.

Then he was like, oh, we’ll take you to Empanema, see it.

And this was stuff that was pretty much from this point on, on your own time that he said, hey, we’ll bring the bus here if people want to go check it out, the bus will take you back to the hotel.

26:21

But if you don’t want to go back to the hotel, you can stay with me.

I’ll show you more of this area because there’s a nice shopping area too, minus the beach aspect of things.

And then he said, and then I’ll pay for your subway rides, ride the the metro system with me back to the hotel.

We opted not to do that.

26:38

And then like Brittany said, took the walk.

But he did lots of miscellaneous things when we had downtime to try to include everybody or give people things to do in leisure time, which I really appreciate it.

Yeah, the whole rest of the day was supposed to be at leisure, but he actually arranged for a happy hour at a beachfront bar and he treated us all to Caprianas and Yuka wedges and a fried fish appetizer, which was really sweet.

27:03

Not everyone went, but there is another tour in Rio, so he and that other tour manager kind of grouped up and they set up this beachfront happy hour social.

And I guess that’s something that we didn’t mention too, about along the beach, there are tons of restaurants and bars, legitimate ones, not just like dependent vendors or anything like that, like actual standing buildings along the way.

27:28

So there’s no shortage of things to do or places to get a bite to eat or drink when you’re on the beach also.

So he chose his favorite one that’s pretty close to the hotel and it’s like 6:00 come, I’m treating you guys to the first drink.

So of course we did that.

He also had a list of restaurants he recommended nearby or things to do in our leisure downtime, and one of them was called Surely.

27:50

It was a seafood restaurant not far from our hotel, so that’s where we went dinner that night.

It was a really good night and after that the girls called it a night, but the boys went to a hookah bar.

Wow, boys.

Night.

Yeah, boys, night at the hookah bar.

So we did end up going to Morocco with Kasha and Ryan previously, if you guys harken back to that episode.

28:12

And Ryan occasionally likes to smoke a cigar.

So I told him, hey, we’re in the Middle East, Have you ever smoked a hookah before?

And he says, no, I know what they are, but never.

I’m like, we’re here.

This is the land of hookahs, we have to have one.

He loved it.

So I was like, well, we have some downtime.

We had already been drinking wine at dinner at Shirley, had the drinks flowing with the Capriana.

28:33

So we are feeling lively and we’re like, let’s go to the hookah bar.

So we ended up going to one called MDN to Baccaria, smoked a hookah and then came back in the evening.

And by that time the girls were already crashed out.

But going on into the next day, I was the one who came in late.

28:51

I was the one who was drinking more.

And I was talking a big game about how I wanted to wake up early and go for a morning sunrise swim.

I mean, you’re in tropical waters, it’s warm, you know, Jamal pussy foots around with cold water.

No, no, no.

29:06

When it’s warm, I like to get in.

And I said, I want to go for a sunrise swim on Copacabana.

Brittany said, I may not go with this on a swim with you, but I will wake up for sunrise.

Of course, I want to check it out.

I mean, we’re on the beach, We’re on the Atlantic.

29:22

We’re facing east.

This is the perfect spot for sunrise.

You know when Brittany wants to get a sunrise in, she will wake me up, hound me, complain if I say no, and she bailed on me on the wake up and I had to and I had to do swimming at the beach for sunrise on my own this morning.

29:41

I told him I said I need this much sleep tonight.

And then he came in from the hookah bar and he already had his wine and he woke me up.

And then he woke me up early in the morning and I was like Nope I’m sleeping in but.

She was trying to wake me up for sunrise for her own benefit, and I said that I want to sleep in.

30:00

She wouldn’t let me hear the end of it.

So I just want to say, you know, Brittany let me down.

This was a moment of a Brittany.

Let them.

But I’ve heard of.

But I enjoyed my time swimming this morning, that’s for sure.

It was going to be an early day too, because we were going to the iconic Sugarloaf Mountain.

30:17

Have you ever seen sugar?

What Sugarloaf mountain looks like Kim?

I hadn’t before I saw your stories.

OK, so they name it that because it looks like a loaf of bread sticking up out of the the city.

A sweet bread, that’s why you get some with the sugar that typically sweet bread that they have.

30:35

And that’s what the mountain actually looks like, the shape.

You have to take 2 cable cars to get to the top.

It’s a symbol of the city.

It’s the right near the entrance of the Bay, and from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain you can see the beaches, Corvidado Mountain, where the Chrysler Redeemer.

30:52

You could see downtown Rio, and you could see Guanabara Bay, which is a natural wonder of the world.

And then from the top 2, there’s also a path where you can kind of get down into a jungle area.

We saw monkeys.

So you could spend a good amount of time kind of exploring this area in enjoying the cable car rides.

31:12

So this day was a beautiful sunny day.

And if you Google search images of Rio de Janeiro, a lot of times they are taken from above with the look down of the cityscape, the mountains, the water, whether it be the lakes that they have inland to the ocean.

31:30

And this one, we were here really felt like I was in those iconic images that you always see.

You had beautiful views of again of the Christ the Redeemer statue and everything.

And this was fantastic.

I feel like we saw Christ the Redeemer the day before on a sunny day.

31:46

Oh my God, because this is not as high, but it was just equally as wonderful and I enjoyed it a lot.

This was not included as part of the tour with gate one.

It was an optional add on.

We did it with gate one because even if this wasn’t an optional add on, this would be something that we would have done and chosen to do anyway just because it’s so iconic of something you must do when you’re in Rio.

32:11

Go to the top.

And then after we left Sugarloaf Mountain, you have to take the two cable cars back down.

We went to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian.

And this cathedral is actually designed like a modern style based on like my architecture of the pyramids.

32:26

So the outside, they say, kind of looks like Chichen Itza.

So we got some pictures from the outside, and then on the inside it has three areas of really beautiful stained glass.

So we stopped there for a few minutes.

Then we headed to an area with these famous steps.

And this wasn’t actually part of our tour.

32:43

But again, like I said, our tour manager added on some extra things for us to see, and he wanted us to see these famous steps.

They’re world famous and they’re in Rio.

And Jamal, why don’t you tell us a little bit about them?

Yeah, so they are known as the Lapa Steps because they are in the Lapa neighborhood.

33:01

But this area is called the Escadaria Celeron.

And the reason for its name is because a Chilean born artist named Jorge Celeron was tired of the dilapidated state of the steps, like from the front view of his apartment.

33:18

So he started to fix them up with some broken tiles that he came across just to kind of like beautify it.

It became a popular, well known place for people to go to and see just because of all the different colors of the tiles.

And then it became so famous that people actually started bringing tiles from their home countries.

33:40

And so now you can go up all these steps and see tiles from like city of Los Angeles, some places in Europe, unique things.

I think there was even like a San Francisco 49ers tile that was on there.

So it’s a world renowned place now where you can see all these different tiles from different regions of the world.

34:01

And these stairs, these grand staircases are really done up with vibrant colors and even up along the walls, not even just on the steps.

There’s 215 steps and they’re covered in over 2000 tiles collected from over 60 countries, so really cool to see.

34:18

I was glad that our tour manager added it on because I really didn’t know about this, but if you’re in that area, it’s definitely worth a visit.

And you should be going to Lapa because of course, when you’re on a guided tour, as we were, you only have so much time to to do things plus with what’s included with your itinerary and program.

34:37

But our tour manager, Vinnie was letting us know that Lapa and in this area, it’s known to be almost like a version of Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

So lots of of bars, nightlife walking around.

So you’re allowed open alcohol over there.

34:53

It’s all over the beach.

So just even in the streets with the pubs, they really don’t care.

We didn’t go out to experience the nightlife, but this is a very well known party district that is away from the beach and a little bit more on the interior.

And in this area of Lapa also, there is a famous aqueduct that was built during the colonial times when the Portuguese were here to bring water from the mountains into the city.

35:17

The Aqua, the product is still standing.

I mean, they, they’re structured and shaped like the classic Roman aqueducts.

But of course, it’s not bringing water in anymore because they have modern plumbing.

But they use the aqueduct as a viaduct for cable cars that will take you to the top of Santa Teresa Hill, which can also give you overviews and looks of the neighborhood.

35:39

So it’s something really cool.

This Lapa district is something I wish we got to explore a little bit more and particularly at night.

So quick question, you mentioned they have modern plumbing now and I wanted to, I did want to ask about the bathroom situation here in Brazil.

35:58

Every bathroom that we encountered in Rio were western style bathrooms.

Oh, I would expect that, but can you flush toilet paper?

I knew where you were going with that, Kim, because a lot.

Of times when we’re in, you could not flush the toilet paper every place we went.

There were signs in some restaurants in smaller places.

36:17

Saying what?

That we could not flush the toilet that could.

Not yeah.

It’s like typical South America, Mexico, other places where they tell you not to.

So you’ve got to be cautious.

And how about using public restrooms?

Is there a fee?

We didn’t come across any fees.

OK.

36:32

Yeah.

We then returned back to the hotel after this morning out with our tour.

And it’s been a tradition now for us to stop into a McDonald’s in a different country and just kind of see what they have different on the menu, if anything, and get something that’s unique to the area.

36:52

And so we went to the nearby McDonald’s to check it out with Cash and Ryan.

And then after that, our days kind of split.

Well, nothing good.

I got something that I don’t even remember what it was.

So, I mean, if you go to McDonald’s in Europe, right, they have the Mick cafes.

37:09

They really have great handcrafted and brewed coffee.

Like on the machines.

They have desserts, pastries, all in the cases really nice, like macaroons, like really fancy stuff.

It’s not like here in yeah, it’s not like here in America where it’s just, oh, here’s the apple pie in your Mcflurry and ice cream cone.

37:27

They have legitimate pastry desserts, right?

Well, what about Mexico too?

Cono de Oreo.

Well, cono de Oreo, that’s true.

But it’s just, it’s something unique, yes, but it’s just a cone, you know.

So we were like, OK, well, we were just in Europe with cash and Ryan saw the McDonald’s there.

37:43

We’re like, all right, let’s check this out.

Not as good in Brazil.

Didn’t really have a pastry place for you to get the desserts.

It was just really your Mcflurry or your cone.

Different styles of Mcflurry’s too, but the different burgers that we tried to be unique, we all had it and we’re like, this is terrible.

37:59

It’s like, it’s not like Europe.

So I would steer clear of McDonald’s there.

Another thing while we’re talking about food in general, is any time we ordered a burger or something that included ground beef, it was never fully cooked all the way.

38:15

Like it was always pink in the middle.

Almost borderlining raw.

Not even just like medium rare pink.

Almost borderlining raw.

And it happened multiple different restaurants multiple times.

So I think it’s just something towards that region.

More particularly in Brazil, because that’s not the case in Argentina, right at all.

38:35

So just know that going in, if you get like a burger or any sort of meat, it’s going to be not the most well done or even medium.

So if that’s not your thing at restaurant, yeah, of of course you can.

And that’s exactly what I was getting at.

If you don’t like that, just tell them, cook it a lot longer than what you would normally cook it.

38:54

That way it can come out for you though.

So after our McDonald’s excursion that was kind of a bust, our days kind of split a little bit.

Kasha and Ryan did do the other optional tour that was offered, and this optional tour was the Carnival and Samba Experience.

39:11

So Carnival is a huge festival that happens every single year where they have huge floats and they do a lot of samba dancing.

But Carnival was not going on while we were there.

So they have a factory where they take apart the floats from the previous year and then start building the next year’s float.

39:29

And then they had a little samba dance instructor.

And so that tour is very educational.

You do a lot of dancing.

Jamal hates dancing.

Jamal’s like we’re not doing that.

Well, honestly, when I read the description of the tour, it didn’t intrigue me.

It had nothing to do with the dancing, but I don’t really care to go see the floats of Carnival if it’s not in Carnival.

39:49

I would have rather, which we did partake in, enjoy the day at leisure to do whatever we wanted.

So Cash and Ryan went to that because Kasha really wanted to do the Carnival experience.

Ryan went along, Brittany and I stayed back at the hotel.

40:05

We enjoyed an afternoon on the beach with the weather being really.

Nice.

Really warm, worked on our tans a little bit.

After we got done at the beach, we decided, hey, let’s go to the pool at our hotel, which again is on the rooftop overlooking the Copacabana beach.

40:22

So we sat in the pool at our hotel and we just enjoyed our time at leisure.

Yeah, it was a really good way to end our final hours in Rio.

Really liked it.

I mean, when you’re in Rio, you want to spend some time at the beach, so it was the perfect day for that.

So we went literally from the beach to our hotel into the pool that looks down at the beach again.

40:42

So.

Guess what?

That was my second time at the beach that day.

It wasn’t Brittany’s, it was only her first because she didn’t come in the morning.

Just want to throw that out there.

She’s saying it’s perfect to spend time at the beach in Brazil she build on.

And then we went out for dinner that last night.

We went to a gelataria afterwards.

40:59

Momos Gelataria.

Jamal got in.

Avocado it was.

Yes, I thought of you when I got it, Kim.

Delicious avocado.

Delicious.

And then I got a small Gelato and I got half salted caramel and half a flavor called Brigadetto, which was like vanilla, caramel and chocolate, also really good combination.

41:20

It was really good.

And then we just spent that last night in Rio and the next day, Monday, we departed Rio and took a flight to Agwazi Falls.

And so be sure to tune in to this week’s Just the Tip because of course, this is Aaron on Tuesday.

This week’s Just the Tip coming up on Friday.

41:37

We’re going to be doing a little mini episode on Iguazu, so to continue on with our tour with Gate One and everything we did, be sure to check it out.

Just so I can get teased a little bit, are you in a Guazu Falls for just the one day?

Two days, one day Brazil, one day Argentina.

41:54

And those are both Iguazu Falls.

Yes, the river and the falls are right on the border of the countries, kind of like Niagara for the US and Canada.

Oh, OK.

And the same with Victoria Falls falls for Zimbabwe and Zambia as well.

42:10

So the famous waterfalls around the world, probably the top three most famous I just mentioned right there, all share borders with other countries.

Iguazu is the same.

All right, well, I can’t wait to hear Friday’s episode.

We do have a couple questions of the week, so let’s get into the first one then.

42:30

How long should you spend in Rio de Janeiro, say, if you’re doing this trip on your own independently?

I would say you would need at least three to four full days in Rio de Janeiro to really experience all of the different areas, spend time at the beach, go up to Chrysler Redeemer, check out Sugarloaf Mountain.

42:49

There’s also a lot of hiking and national parks within this area, so you could do a lot more.

But I think three to four full days would be great.

How many?

Did you?

Have we had two full days in Rio?

Three maybe, if you count the day that we arrived.

43:05

But we were coming in off a red eye.

We were tired, we couldn’t check into the hotel and sleep.

So we used the amenities at the pool because we’re just too tired to walk around.

So that day, unfortunately, was kind of burned.

But we still got the vibes of being there, being at the rooftop, seeing the beach.

43:21

But again, if we were on a guided tour, I would really say three to four days also.

And I can’t wait to go back to Rio on our own to experience it.

Now that we’ve already seen the highlights, I would probably do some of those same exact things again.

But of course, now that I know the lay of the land a little bit, get to experience it and leisure on my own.

43:40

Our second question, we actually had two different squaddies ask the same question.

Both Gavin and Aaron asked us did Brazil feel safe, especially at night.

I know you said you didn’t do a lot of nightlife, so can you speak to the night safety?

Well, overall I did feel like Rio was a very safe city.

43:58

Again.

Of course, like any big city, anything could happen.

There are scams in every big city, even within the US, but everywhere we walked to, we did feel safe at night.

We did eat out late so you know you are going to dinner often after dark and coming back to your hotel after dark.

44:15

And we did walk from our hotels a lot of the time.

So anytime we walked from the neighborhood we were in in Copacabana back to our hotel, we never did feel unsafe.

There are the.

Latest that you were out on those nights?

Oh, gosh, Me and Ryan got back from the Hookah Bar.

44:31

I would say maybe around 12:00.

Yeah, something like that.

But keep in mind you said we didn’t really do a lot at night in terms of nightlife and going out partying.

Yes, you are correct.

But as Brittany was just kind of alluding to, we did a lot of walking at night along the beach, within neighborhoods for me and Ryan, when we had gone to the hookah bar, even when we were walking to restaurants, the gelateria, other type of stuff.

44:58

So we did do walk in at night.

I felt honestly very, very safe.

Again, I would say the most that you will probably encounter is going to be petty crime or tourist scams.

Sure, you don’t want to go into bad neighborhoods, but if you were staying Copacabana Empanema, these popular areas, you should totally be fine.

45:22

Even some people on our tour did a favela tour.

So most people, when they probably think of crime in Rio, they think of like the favelas, which are known to be like the slums.

And some of them still really are in bad shape.

But our tour guide was telling us how the government is starting to really enforce how people build these now, even though they’re known as favelas.

45:44

And they’re just kind of like a hodgepodge of buildings put together.

They are designed in a certain way where they look bad on the outside, but they’re really done up on the inside.

And you’re going to find most of the crime probably happening in there in a selection few, he said.

46:00

Most of them now are like middle class families.

A person on our tour even did a Favilla tour that she booked through Viator.

And she said in the Favilla, she felt very, very safe.

And the person who gave the tour in the Favilla actually said, believe it or not, some of these are a lot safer than being outside.

46:18

Because here, like if a drug Lord or gang happens to rule, they don’t want police coming in.

So they are making sure that everyday people who aren’t part of the gang aren’t doing crime because they don’t want police to come in.

So again, I don’t want to say that it’s not happening because of course it is.

46:36

But honestly, I told Brittany before I would want to go to Rio only if we were at a guided tour.

That way we can kind of, you know, make sure that we’re safe.

But now, having been there on a guided tour, I don’t feel like you really need to.

You could go there on your own and not really have to worry about it honestly.

I feel the same way.

46:51

I feel like a lot of people say like, oh, Brazil’s an unsafe country.

I would only want to go there if it was a guided tour.

We did go there on a guided tour, but after being there, it just felt so safe.

Like I feel like I could have gone on my own and not done it with a guide.

This is a question coming from me.

47:07

Would you want to go back independently and spend more time there?

Absolutely.

I would do that again.

I I liked the city so much that I would go back there and I don’t often say that.

Yeah, Brittany’s a nature person.

She doesn’t really like cities.

But that’s the beautiful thing about Rio, is it’s a city with beautiful nature on the interior, the mountains, the jungle, the lakes that they have, then you have the ocean right by it.

47:31

So it’s a beautiful mix of a city built within nature, and it works harmoniously and it’s beautiful.

Well, that’s it for this week.

Squatty’s thank you so much for tuning in.

Make sure to keep the adventures going with us on all the socials at Travel Squad Podcast and send us in your Questions of the Week.

47:48

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48:06

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