Até a próxima vez, Rio de Janeiro
How is it already our last day in Brazil?!? That went entirely too quickly. With just a few more sites to tackle on our list before having explored everything we wanted to see in Rio, we headed to the Botanical Gardens. We decided to walk the four miles, which took us around Lagao Rodrigo de Freitas, with the surrounding area being the most exclusive neighborhood in the affluent Zona Sul district and the third most expensive neighborhood in South America. While we enjoyed seeing the waterfront properties and exploring the area, four miles feels like forty miles in the Brazilian heat. Apparently the temperatures have been fifteen degrees higher than their averages at this time of year… Either way, we can’t imagine how hot their summers must be.
We were relieved when we finally made it to Jardim Botanico, which included lots of shade under the canopy of the exotic gardens. We strolled down the Avenue of the Royal Palms enjoying the peaceful atmosphere until we stumbled upon some monkey business… literally, lol. A bunch of them were “monkeying around”… Ok, ok, I’ll stop. But seriously, the monkeys were so cute, especially the babies! 🙂
With just a few hours left to soak up every last drop of the Brazilian sun, we headed back to the beach for our last few hours. We watched our final Rio sunset from the r
ocks of Arpoador with a Brahma in hand and it MORE than lived up to the hype. We’ve said this before, but I feel like we can’t say it enough… we just can’t get over how beautiful the landscape of this city is. I could stare at it for hours.
But unfortunately a 5:30am flight, which translates to a 2:30am wake up call, and the challenge of trying to get everything back into our backpacks, looms head. We were able to take a break to grab one last Brazilian dinner, this time al fresco on Copacabana beach. We had made a few friends at the Marriott who welcomed us in their country with open arms and made our stay that much more enjoyable. It was sad saying good-bye to all of them, but we promised them we’d back and that we’d return the hospitality if/when they visited the states. By the time we “went to bed,” it was 12:30am and looking like more of a power nap than anything else. Here’s to big bags under our eyes tomorrow… but we’re excited to start the next part of our adventure!! On to Peru!!
This blog entry was originally posted on www.MayerTwinsTravel.blogspot.com