RIO DE JANEIRO, CLIMBING CORCOVADO AND SUGAR LOAF

The hotel atrium is bathed in sunlight this morning. The weather is promising. Our today program includes two inescapable visits of Rio: Corcovado and Sugar Loaf.

Around 9h a.m., a minibus pick up us; we join the Rodrigo de Freitas Lake and take the tunnel under the Corcovado mountain to join Santa Theresa and the foothills of the rocky peak.

Laces go through some favelas and then enter into the Tijuca forest.

To access to the huge Christ stands on the peak, it is also possible to take a funicular, or for the most courageous to climb from the botanical garden, but today our preference goes to the minibus, which allows some stop over offering spectacular views of the north of Rio with the port area, the Maracana soccer stadium and many others interesting views.

Not far from the top, the private vehicles must stop and it’s mandatory to take a park shuttle to access the platform. There we have two options, either take the 200 steps and some stairs or being carried in a lift. We chose the easier solution, reserving the other one for the descent. To the top at 710m height, the Christ statue is really Impressive: height: 38m; span: 28m; weight: 1200T. Each hand measures 3.2 m with 8T weight. Erected in1931 to commemorate the Brazilian Independence, design and erection have been made by a French sculptor Paul Landowski and the Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa.

This has become a statue, symbol and pride of the city, as it can be for the Statue of Liberty in New York.

The site attracts almost 2 million visitors a year.

In my opinion, the best compromise is to come here rather late in the morning, this gives three advantages: fewer crowds, minimize risks of fog and avoid to have the sun too strongly in front of us. The 270° view is very spectacular, it covers the north of Rio, the Guanabara Bay and Niteroi Bridge,

downtown and its major edifices

Sugar Loaf and the beaches Copacabana,Ipanema and Leblon on south.

The time for some shopping in the souvenir shops and we take the way to Sugar Loaf. It will not be without difficulty due to traffic jam in Botafogo. The ascent is made in two steps. We climb, First on the Morro de Urca 220m height. Already there, the view on Guanabara Bay, Botafogo and Flamengo beach are extraordinary.

A second cabin lifts us on top of Sugar Loaf at 395m height.

This is the particular shape of this peak of granite which is recalling the molds used in the past to shape the sugar cane blocks, which is one of the origins of the name. There is also a similarity in pronunciation between the term sugar loaf (in Portuguese: pao de azucar) and the term used by the Indians to designate this mountain (Pau-nh-Acuqua) meaning high mountain. For climbers a track has been opened in 1979 with many passages of flat stones. According to climber experts the estimated difficulty is the 5c/6a for some parts. At the top, the view is of course superb over 360°. Between Corcovado in the rear and the Atlantic Ocean in front, Rio shows us all aspects of its topology and its multiple points of interest, from southern beaches to the 14km bridge across Guanabara Bay and the fortress of Santa Cruz, true safety guard at the bay entrance.

Under the sun, the city appears magnificent and not usurping the attributed wonderful adjectives. This little video proof it

Ascension du Cocovado et du Pain de Sucre envoyé par spiritofaloha

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