7-Apr 2012 Rio de Janiero, Brazil
Sugar Loaf Mountain, Brazil
The first interesting information I got from the guide when we first landed was that the body of water, now called Guanabara Bay, was discovered 1-January-1502 by the Europeans. They thought it was the river thus the name January River or Rio de Janiero.
This bay is of great naval significance, the small opening to the Atlantic Ocean makes it easy to defend from pirates. At the mouth of the bay is a loaf shaped mountain that serves as a landmark to the navigators as well as a look out for pirates. This mountain is called Pao de Azucar or Sugar Loaf Mountain.
It is now a tourist attraction with cable cars to take you to the top for another spectacular view of Rio. We were not so lucky this time, it is a cloudy day and although we can still see the city, the airport and some of the early fortresses built to defend the city, the Cristo on Corcovado is covered by clouds.
There is not much to do at the top but our guide made it interesting by pointing landmarks and its significance. The tour is a history class that does not use picture but rather the actual site and from our perch we can see them all … well almost all.
This lesson continued with a trip around the older part of Rio, showing us the residence of past presidents and monarchs. There were monuments – I tried to keep awake but without a threat of a quiz after the trip – I sat back and enjoyed the ride.
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