Rio de Janeiro- First Impressions

After spending 2 full days in Rio, I now believe to have a good feel of the city. First off, the city is absolutely gorgeous. After getting a nice view from Sugar Loaf and Corcovado (where the Christ of the Redeemer is located), I can surely confirm this. The weather has been cooperative. It’s nice and hot during the day and it rains for a little bit in the evening. Let’s just say that you quickly get used to sweating! I’ve done other touristy stuff such as taking the tram in Santa Teresa (very artsy neighbourhood), visiting the soccer stadium (Maracanã) and to the cathedral (awesome architecture), I also attempted to dance samba in Lapa yesterday night with a bunch of girls from Punta Alegre and Eric (the backpacker I met in Manaus).

I must admit that it’s been a little culture shock since my arrival from the Amazon where I was constantly surrounding by people and nature. As we all know, traveling alone definitely has its ups and downs. The ups is that I am free to do whatever I want and when I want! The down side is that I need to be extra careful being a solo woman backpacker in a large South American city.  I avoid taking buses alone so let’s just say I need to budget taxis everywhere I go. And those days where you don’t meet anyone interesting only means you’ll have to be independent enough to turn it into a good day on your own! This being said, it can get scary at times… scary in terms of the people you are surrounded by but also not knowing when you’ll be talking to someone next!  I am however meeting interesting people: Bruno & Ingrid who are locals and who have been wonderful at bringing me around the city, the 5 Brazilian girls I met yesterday from Punta Alegre and everyone I met this afternoon on the tour