Tag Archives: Rio de Janeiro

Sugarloaf Mountain and Botafogo Neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro by Sunset with Full Moon in the Sky

WOW Moment: Mountaintop Cocktails in Brazil

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Gerry and Anne O’Connor of Stony Brook, New York, visited Brazil in fall 2018, where their adventures included a surprise WOW Moment. A WOW Moment is, of course, an exclusive insider experience that Wendy adds to every third qualifying WOW List trip. The O’Connors’ WOW Moment came on Day 7 of a 22-day itinerary designed by Rio-based Brazil specialist Paul Irvine. Usually, when a traveler returns from a WOW Moment, we interview them. But Gerry was so moved by his Rio surprise that he wrote an article for us before we even had a chance to ask him. What follows are his own words about what Paul orchestrated for them in Rio.

How It Began

We were seven days into our trip when our local guide, Carlos, piloting a propane-gas-driven Ford through Rio traffic, turned toward us and said with a devilish glint in his eye, “Today begins your WOW Moment.”

Anne and I were dumbfounded. During our many conversations with Paul, we had never talked specifically about the WOW Moment. We had become so focused on the journey that we had forgotten all about it. But after numerous emails and itinerary modifications, Paul knew us well—our interests, limitations, hopes, and dreams.

We had met Carlos after our first night in Rio. As we were leaving the hotel for our first day of touring Rio, the concierge nodded toward Carlos, gave us the thumbs-up sign, and mouthed, “He’s the best!” We knew we were in good hands.

Now, however, he was smiling but totally non-communicative, which was very unlike him. Normally loquacious, he had pressed his mute button.

The Surprise Is Revealed

At Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, Carlos parked the car and asked if we were up for a short walk. I grabbed my camera, water bottle, and backpack. We walked, strolled, and walked some more, almost completely circumnavigating the lagoon. Anne and I began exchanging puzzled glances and shrugging our shoulders, convinced that Carlos was either lost or stalling for time.

As we passed through a slightly open iron gate, I suddenly saw a windsock. That’s when I remembered telling Paul about a helicopter ride we’d had in Kauai, and how much we had enjoyed seeing inaccessible terrain from aloft. At the same time, I recalled Carlos, our normally talkative guide, telling us how much he hates heights.

The helicopter arrived, and from it emerged a female pilot festooned with military-like epaulettes—most impressive! After a quick pause for introductions and photos, off we went.

A Different Perspective on the City

The aerial view of Rio is awe-inspiring. It revealed in graphic detail the scope and depth of the city’s architecture, its variable terrain, and its population density. It also highlighted the city’s diversity of housing and, unfortunately, its cultural inequality and the poverty of the favelas surrounding sections of Ipanema and Copa.

Rio, as seen from a helicopter

Rio, as seen from a helicopter. Photo: Gerry O’Connor

We flew south along the coast and then turned north, flying over Copacabana Beach, with the statue of Christ the Redeemer looming just off our port side.

We gradually descended to a postage-stamp platform that jutted from the side of Morro da Urca, a smaller peak adjacent to Sugarloaf. Engines and blades rotating, we exchanged handshakes and mouthed our farewells to the pilot, who was off to São Paulo to ferry an executive to a private villa.

A Hands-on Lesson in a Brazilian Tradition

After buying tickets for the cable car ride to the summit of Sugarloaf, Carlos ushered us to a portico with a spectacular view of the mountain. For the next 45 minutes, in an area cordoned off for us, we were given a private tutorial by a master mixologist that included the making of a perfect caipirinha, Brazil’s national drink, as well as an explanation of the origin and cultural significance of cachaça, the distilled spirit made from fermented sugarcane juice that is the drink’s main ingredient. Our bartender was specific and exacting, the consummate chemist, peering sternly over our shoulders as we gleefully attempted to replicate his precision and exactness. Consuming our beverages—with maybe a little more cachaça than was originally recommended—was the final component of this drink-making experience. The drinks were bloody delicious.

A Perfect Ending to a Perfect Day

The O’Connors making caipirinhas, with Rio’s Sugarloaf mountain in the background.

Paul is a good puppet master, but even he couldn’t pull off a perfect sunset, as clouds rolled in to obscure the view from the upper reaches of Sugarloaf. Still, nothing could dull or dim the thrill of the afternoon.

We rode the Swiss-style gondola back down the mountain and took an Uber back to town. While in traffic, Carlos—having regained his comfort level now that we were safe and secure on the ground—called the restaurant where we had dinner reservations and explained our more-than-one-hour delay. The restaurant not only held our reservations but also welcomed us with complimentary margaritas. In all our travels, a finer day would be hard to recall.

Mark Twain famously said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” The WOW Moment is another tool that opens us to world views that are nearly impossible to comprehend without this kind of first-hand experience.

 

Wendy Wants To Amp Up Your Trip!

On every third qualifying trip, Wendy will add to your itinerary a surprise WOW Moment. A WOW Moment is an exclusive insider experience that helps make a trip extraordinary. Each WOW Moment is totally different. They vary depending on a huge range of factors, including the country you’re headed to, the timing of your trip, logistics, availability, and more. You can read a sampling of the more over-the-top WOW Moments (those most conducive to editorial coverage) here. Learn which trips qualify, and how the process works, here: Wendy Wants To Amp Up Your Trip!

Olympic City, Rio de Janeiro.

5 Safety Tips for Rio During the Olympics, or Anytime

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As host to the world’s largest Carnival, Rio de Janeiro is used to welcoming massive influxes of tourists. This year, 400,000 visitors are expected in August for the Olympics and in September for the Paralympics games. Some attendees might be wary about traveling to Brazil due to the Zika virus scare, however, and others might have concerns about crime or how the recent impeachment of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff (over alleged budget manipulations) will affect the country. So we’ve connected with our Brazil-based Trusted Travel Expert Martin Frankenberg to get his perspective and advice. “Most visitors are surprised by how safe they feel in Rio after all they’ve read and heard about the city’s safety concerns,” he says. “Still, travelers should be alert, as they would be in any big city.” While Zika virus is a concern, he points out, the date of the Olympics actually lowers your risk: “Remember that during the winter months, which are July and August in Brazil, there are far fewer mosquitoes.”

Here are tips for a safe and memorable trip to Rio:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Staying safe in Rio isn’t hard with a bit of planning. Photo: Flickr/Ramon Llorensi.

1. Look out for camera snatchers.

The most common crime tourists need to think about, Martin says, is camera snatching, mostly carried out by teenagers. To avoid being a target, Martin advises, don’t wear flashy jewelry, keep your camera safely stowed when not in use, and avoid walking alone on an empty street.

2. Avoid the waterline at night on Copacabana Beach.

“Don’t go to the waterline on the beach at night, unless there are a lot of people there,” says Martin. “The beaches are general deserted at night. While a romantic walk along the water might seem tempting, you will be a prime target for theft. Therefore, it’s best to keep an evening stroll to the promenade sidewalk that runs along the beach; this is safe.”

3. Take the subway, not the bus.

The Olympic events are taking place in four main locations: Maracanã, Barra, Copacabana, Deodoro. Each of the venues is accessible by public transit; you can view maps and plan your route on the official Rio 2016 website. The subway is very safe, says Martin, and has the added perk of being air-conditioned. Buses are less safe, he warns. They’re a concern also indicated on the US State Department’s safety report on Brazil (due to frequent theft on buses). The only Olympics venue you should not take the subway to, Martin advises, is the Deodoro complex, where equestrian, biking, canoeing and a few other events are being held. Since it’s out in the suburbs, which are less savory than the city center, he recommends private transportation. Your hotel concierge or apartment manager should be able to arrange this; alternatively, you can use Uber in Rio. Once inside the event venues, you should be totally safe.

4. Pack long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and insect repellent with at least 20% DEET.

It’s important to protect yourself against Zika virus, of course. As Wendy wrote in her TripAdvisor column,,“The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control are learning new information about the Zika virus every day, so the [mosquito-borne] epidemic is an unfolding story, but they agree that the travelers with the most reason for concern are pregnant women.” Bookmark the CDC’s Zika page for the latest information.

While pregnant women or those planning on getting pregnant are advised to postpone their trips, other travelers need not panic. “Only one in five people who get the Zika virus get any symptoms at all,” Wendy writes. “Those symptoms—a mild fever, joint pain, a body rash, and conjunctivitis—usually disappear after two to seven days, and the virus clears itself from the body about a week after infection.”

Since the way to get Zika is to be bitten by an infected mosquito, follow the CDC’s precautions against mosquitoes. Use insect repellent that contains 20% or more DEET. Use screens and close doors and windows. Wear clothing—preferably light-colored, preferably permethrin-treated—that covers as much of your body as possible. On Wendy’s trip earlier this month to countries affected by the Zika virus, she and her family wore an ExOfficio line of permethrin-treated clothing called BugsAway.

“Rio is a large city of more than six million inhabitants, and the population here is really not scared,” notes Martin. “As a percentage, the number of infected people is low, and the number of people with any complications is incredibly low.”

5. Know your emergency numbers.

In case you do encounter any health or safety issues in Brazil, dial 190 for the police and 192 for an ambulance; note that the operators might not speak English. At hospitals doctors usually speak English, but nurses do not. If you’re in need of a good hospital, Martin suggests Clinico Sao Vicente (João Borges, 204 – Gávea, Rio de Janeiro, tel: +55-21-2529-4513). It’s located above Leblon and has English-speaking staff.

If you haven’t booked your tickets to Rio yet, it’s not too late. Martin still has full-service private villas available, and can source tickets for anyone booking accommodation with him.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Meet our writer

Lily Heise’s work in tourism and travel writing have seen her blossom hunting in Kyoto, tracking down hidden Angkor temples and getting lost in the Argentinian outback. Her writing has been featured in CondeNast Traveler.com, The Huffington Post, Business Insider and Frommer’s Guides, and she also share tips on France, other travel destinations and romance on her blog Je T’Aime, Me Neither. You can catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

How to Plan for the Rio Olympics Now

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On August 5, the Rio Summer Olympics will be exactly one year away. And if you want to be in Brazil when they happen, now’s the time to plan.

We contacted Martin Frankenberg, one of our Trusted Travel Experts for Brazil, to find out what you need to know about booking hotels and finding tickets—and what you need to avoid. Below, he gives us his advice for planning a trip to the Rio Olympics.

Accommodations

Rio has a surprisingly limited number of hotels, especially luxury hotels, so there is an absolute shortage of hotel rooms in the city. As a pre-condition for Rio winning the Olympics bid, the local government had to secure that almost 100 percent of the inventory would be offered to the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and their sponsors.

There are only two ways to get a hotel room:

•Through Authorized Ticket Resellers (ATRs) in your country
This is the official source through which travelers can book hotel and ticket packages. Bear in mind, however, that what’s available to the general public is mid-level accommodations, in three-star hotels and at very high prices, and tickets for secondary events. You won’t find premium tickets, or high-demand events such as the Opening Ceremony or many Gold Medal events, through this channel.

•Through brokers
There are a few companies with “contacts” in the IOC or with corporate sponsors that have access to unused hotel inventory. Expect to pay very large markups if you go through these channels. As a rough price guideline, expect to pay these brokers between $1,500 and $ 3,000 per room per night in three- and four-star hotels, and more for five-star options. The two top hotels in Rio — the Copacabana Palace and the Fasano—are not available.

The solution is to rent an apartment or villa:
After a very successful World Cup, where many of our guests stayed in these accommodations, we have built a large portfolio of some of the best private homes in Rio. These range from well-located one-bedroom apartments to six-bedroom private estates for VVIPs. All have been meticulously inspected by us, and we will take care of all service for you during your stay.

Tickets

Ticket purchases are available only through ATRs and brokers.
Every country has an Authorized Ticket Reseller (you can see the full list here), and they produce a ballot system where you can apply for tickets via the Internet. After a few days they will let you know if your application has been successful. In the US, the official ATR is CoSport and at this point, very few tickets are left. ATRs also sell hugely overpriced hotel-and-ticket packages and ticket-and–VIP hospitality packages, the details of which have yet to be released.

If you are looking for good tickets to premium events, your greatest chance is to find a reliable broker. Matueté cannot intermediate the purchase of tickets for you from brokers, but can introduce you to some that our clients have successfully used in the past, during the World Cup. The responsibility for purchasing tickets through them is entirely yours.

Getting Around

Traffic in Rio is notoriously bad. A lot is being done to improve the public transport of the city for the Olympics, but it’s impossible to say at this point if many of these will be completed on time. Here are some important points to consider:

• The Olympic venues are spread over a very large area, so plan the events you watch each day with this in mind. Avoid having to cross the city many times in a single day.

• Special car passes sold with premium tickets are the best way to avoid traffic jams, as these allow the pass holder to use the special ‘Olympic car lanes’ —expressways that link all the venues together. As of today, it is still unclear how/if these can be sourced.

• The public transport system will work very well to get from places like Ipanema and Copacabana to the Maracanã /Tijuca area. It is still unclear if the system that connects to Barra da Tijuca will be ready on time. Even so, the distances are very long.

• Don’t bother booking cars and guides now. The infrastructure of the city will be closer to completion in early 2016, when we and other travel providers will be able to make more specific recommendations.