MONDAYThe next morning, we awoke to a beautiful sunrise over the ocean.
We strolled to the The Bakers a couple of blocks away for an authentic Brazilian coffee, which we took “café para viagem.” Back at the hotel, we booked tickets for the train to Corcovado Mountain with the concierge for a 12:40 departure ($21.5 pp). Having a couple hours until then to relax, we headed to the beach for a morning swim (The JW has chairs and umbrellas set up, just need to bring along room key). We bought some cold coconuts (8 BRL), and spent some time choosing “mandatory” cangas (2 for 60 BRL) from a passing vendor.
We then headed back inside for a quick change, and Ubered to Corcovado (hunchback in Portuguese.) The train to the top was an enjoyable 20 minute ride through the forest, with occasional pull offs to allow descending trains to pass. Though the official attraction at the mountain top is a religious statue, the attraction for us (and many) was the spectacular views of the city and coast line from the mountaintop. We enjoyed watching and waving at hand gliders swooping by, as we took amazing panoramic views of the city below.
The train.
The famed Maracanã Stadium
Black Vulture soaring above Rio.
Takeoff area as seen from Corcovado mountain.
These solo hang gliders can spend hours in the air.
Do not feed the animals.
Panoramic view from Corcovado.
Once back at the bottom, we Ubered to Santa Teresa neighborhood for a 5 minute stop at Escadaria Selarón. This staircase covered in tiles from around the world began as a project of local artist Jorge Selarón (a Chilean painter and ceramist who moved to Rio in 1990, and in 1994 decided to redecorate the unattractive staircase outside his studio by placing tiles on the “mirrors” of the staircase) and eventually became a collaborative worldwide project. It is now a touristy landmark and worth a stop for photos.
Santa Teresa neighborhood.
Escadaria Selarón.
From there we headed to Ponta do Leme, an active military fort (there are soldiers milling about) which sits directly across from Copacabana Fort. We did not take the full steep hike, which is supposed to have great views of Sugarloaf Mountain to one side and Copacabana beach on the other, and some old artillery. We hiked part of the way, and spent time photographing White Tufted Marmoset monkeys who were casually hanging around in the trees (although there are other spots to see them in Rio, including Sugarloaf Mt, it is the only time we saw them on our trip.)
Entrance to Fort Leme.
On the trail.
White Dove.
White Tufted Marmosets.
We returned to our hotel a short 5 min. drive away, and headed back to the beach for an afternoon swim and more cold coconuts.
At 5:30 we departed for our second attempt at watching sunset in Rio, this time from atop Sugarloaf Mountain. The ride up consists of 2 stretches of cable cars, each lasting about three minutes (speeds between 13-20mph). The first lifts riders up from Praia Vermelha (Red Beach) to a smaller mountaintop, Morro da Urca (Urca Hill). Each car holds up to 65 passengers, and we waited to be the first onto a car, so we’d be next to the window for better views. We took some beautiful photos from this stop, before heading to the next cable car. This second stretch takes riders from Morro da Urca to the famous Sugarloaf Mountain (104 BRL.)
If you’d like you can attempt to
hike at your own risk 
A plane departing SDU can be seen in the background.
Fort Leme and Copacabana beach as seen from Sugarloaf Mountain.
SDU runway lit up.
A failed attempt at night photography.
The views of Rio from Sugarloaf are amazing (and a different perspective from what we saw at Corcovado). Though we timed our arrival to see sunset, it was a cloudy evening once again and that perfect sunset was not to be. We still took beautiful photos of Rio from the viewing points on all sides, then sat at Sunset Bar till nightfall. After a few more photos of nighttime Rio, we rode the cable car back down, and headed to dinner at Shaq Shuq.
This time, we ordered Moqueqa (Brazilian fish stew, not for the faint of hear, for fish lovers only) and shakshuka (66 BRL) and a Matte Leao [sweet iced tea] (6 BRL)
Dinner at Shaq Shuq.
To wrap up our day, we strolled on Copacabana, drinking a fresh Caipirinha (10 BRL), watching nighttime volleyball players, and browsing souvenirs. We made a stop at the rooftop pool, and then headed to bed, as we had an early morning flight to catch to Iguazu…
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