Rio de Janeiro
BRAZIL
Retirement in Rio
By LYNDI
Thursday, October 14, 2010
There’s a famous saying that says “All good things must come to an end”, and my time as a tour leader for Tucan Travel officially ended in Rio. Was it a good time? It was the time of my life! But after over 2,500 hours on 510 different buses, 430 different hotel rooms (not including the 30 nights on buses), visiting 47 different South American cities, viewing the ruins of Machu Picchu 4 times, traveling into the Amazon 11 times, running into indigenous people striking 6 times (and nearly upending the tour 3 times), 41 different flights on small South American airlines, dealing with at least 5 passengers that you couldn’t pay me to see again but meeting about a hundred passengers that have become lifelong friends – it was time to try something new. I could definitely have done this job longer if it wasn’t for the fact that I’d led tours for 482 days – 431 of which were away from Aaron.
So for all the amazing adventures and lasting memories made – the job is a single woman’s job. Being away from Aaron was pretty tough even though we both thrived in our different lives – but it was time to start a new chapter in our lives. The chapter started at the beginning of this tour in La Paz since we were finally together and not to be separated again, but Rio signified the last time I would be paid to gallivant around the world. We would now be free to travel at our own pace to wherever we wanted to go.
And what better place to start than Rio? This has to be one of the world’s greatest cities – from never-ending gorgeous beaches to incredible food (salgados and açai!) and drinks (caipirinhas, how I’ll miss you), friendly people and interesting sights – Rio truly has it all. Since Aaron and I had both been to Rio multiple times, the first day we arrived was spent finishing up my tour accounts and paperwork so that I would not have to worry about it later. We went for a walk on the beach and had dinner that night with Luke, Keryn, Steff and Kim at a place called Catete Grill where you pile food on your plate and then weigh it at the end to see how much you’ll pay. I loaded up with lobster tail, salad, and sushi (and paid the dear price for it at the end…. lobster tails are heavy!) and then went back to the hotel to have a few drinks.
The next morning all six of us were up early to go on a Favela tour. Even if you don’t know what favelas are – you’ve probably seen pictures of them. In Rio, the favelas are the colorful shanty-towns up on the hillside that are run by the local mafias and a deathtrap for any cops. We went with a company called “Be A Local” where the guide takes you all through the biggest favela “Rocinho” and you can ask any number of questions along the way. It started out with a terrifying motorcycle taxi ride to the top of the favela – and those moto-taxi drivers couldn’t have cared less if I’d fallen off the back when they took off at 100mph. Somehow, I got the guy who left last and finished first. And yes – I did fear for my life. But we all made it safe and sound and there our guide Daniel explained that he would tell us where we could and couldn’t take photos (basically the mafia guys don’t like to be photographed, and he knows who they are).
Our first stop as we were led down the narrow, winding paths was a lookout over the city of Rio on the roof of an artist’s workshop. Just below these favelas are beautiful high-rise condos that must cost in the millions to rent per year. And all their windows face towards the ocean and away from the favelas so they can pretend that they’re not there. Which is just the problem in these favelas – people moved there originally because it was unwanted land and the government pretended they weren’t there and didn’t charge them any taxes. Because there’s no taxes, that means there’s also no garbage service, no electricity, and no running water. However, today the population just pirates electricity off their nearest paying neighbor and the government is good enough to fill up large basins of water for them every day for free. But now with the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 Rio is faced with an obvious problem. You can’t have these crime-ridden sub-cities while the whole world is watching, so now they are going to try to start collecting taxes – but with a favela population in the millions, they have no idea how to start. It’s been an unaddressed problem for too long.
After the view we entered the artist’s workshop, we stopped by a local bakery, we watched as some local kids performed a percussion act on empty bins and garbage can lids and got to meet some of the friendly locals. As Daniel explained, we are welcome and safe in the favela – our money for the tour goes directly into the locals’ pockets and no one came around begging for money or handouts – but these same people that will shake our hand today will also rob us on Copacabana beach. A lot of them live lives of crime, but it’s left behind when you’re in their neck of the woods.
It was a great tour and we got to see a really different side of Rio, but the beaches beckoned. The weather was beautiful so we dug our sarongs out of our backpacks and headed to Copacabana. Most people will tell you that Ipanema beach is better because it’s less touristy. And they’re right. But on a touristy beach you can lay in the sand, watch women (of all sizes) walk around in thong bikinis, watch kids play in the ocean, have men walk around selling anything from earrings to sodas to caipirinhas and cervejas, and observe young guys practicing their Brazilian martial arts capoeira and just generally enjoy the world go by. That night the 6 of us headed to Lapa for the infamous street party where people come in droves to dance to drum lines, eat street food and order cervejas and capirinhas from the countless stands.
Now make fun if you want, but Aaron and I were really excited for Sunday in Rio – cuz they show American football!!! We found a Mexican food restaurant called “Blue Agave” that’s run by Americans living in Ipanema that had a cable connection to the NFL network. So we basically sat there all day. During the breaks between games we went to the Ipanema Hippie Market and walked to the lake, but the day was pretty much spent watching men in pads hit each other.
Monday was our last full day in Rio – and it was horrible weather. Even though it was raining, we decided to take the little train up to the Santa Theresa neighborhood and then walk back down to the starting point. We got a little wet, but nothing too bad – and had an amazing seafood meal up in a cute little restaurant to spoil ourselves. The rain was pretty relentless, so we stopped inside a little bar on the way back and had a few beverages before going back to our hostel. Luke and Keryn were leaving that night to head back to England and Aaron and I were leaving early the next morning for Navegantes, so with Kim and Steff we all headed to a tiny little shack on Copacabana beach for some final caipirinhas together. When Luke and Keryn caught their airport bus, the remaining four headed to a nice steakhouse near our hostel and then called it a night because we had a very early wake up call the following day.
And so we said goodbye to Rio, goodbye to some new friends, and goodbye to working at the best job I’ve ever had. So maybe “all good things” don’t always have to end – but they do have to change. Normally I might be more sentimental about all this, but when you’re headed to southern Brazil, Uruguay, wine country and Patagonia, it’s hard to be anything but thrilled.
