I hope you’re excited, because I have more Rio de Janeiro photos headed your way!
On the second evening of our trip, Jorge and I made our way via taxi to see Rio’s famous Sugarloaf mountain.
This view is from the Christ the Redeemer platform. The Sugarloaf is the tall hill set on the center peninsula.
To get to the top of the Sugarloaf, you take two aerial trams from the downtown Sugarloaf station. First you’ll be taken to a lower hill called Cara de Cao with great views of the downtown area and the bay, then the second tram takes you up to twice the height at the top of the Sugarloaf. Jorge was scared to death of the tram before we went, but I think once we were on it he was fine.
A tram leaving the downtown station to the first hill (Cara de Cao), with the higher Sugarloaf in the right background.
View from the tram at the top of Cara de Cao, looking down on the station
CARA DE CAO HILL
The first hill, Cara de Cao, might have been my favorite of the two mountains, even if it’s not nearly as tall as the Sugarloaf. It has more space and is less crowded, and the cafe is a heck of a lot cheaper!
Sagui monkeys on Cara de Cao hill... ugliest. animals. ever. But boy, do they put on a show!
View of downtown Rio from Cara de Cao Hill
Yours Truly with Jorge on Cara de Cao Hill, with the Sugarloaf Mountain in the background
SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN
After playing with the scary monkeys for a bit and taking some pictures, we took the second tram to the top of the Sugarloaf.
Looking down on Rio from the Sugarloaf tram station
The top of the Sugarloaf was pretty crowded around sunset, but we managed to find a few more secluded areas for taking pictures and enjoying the views. We also explored some hiking paths going through the woods! I was surprised that they could pack so much onto the top of such a narrow mountain.
View of Rio's "Zona Sul" (South Zone). The super-long stretch of beach you see just beyond the ridge of hills is Copacabana, where we stayed.
Looking out onto the bay and downtown Rio
I love this picture, even though my eyes are closed! I seriously need to get this Photoshopped...
EVENING…
After some pictures and fighting the crowds at the top of the Sugarloaf, we made our way back down to Cara de Cao. Apparently we were on the “party tram” back down because there was a lot of screaming and excitement from a group of Brazilian college students.
We stopped by the cafe for some very, very tiny cups of hot cocoa and paninis, then sat down on some loungers to enjoy the sunset.
Dusk over downtown Rio de Janeiro
Yes, that's Christ the Redeemer in the background.
The trip to Sugarloaf was my second favorite part of the trip. I’ll tell you about my favorite part in a few days… Ipanema Beach!
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