I awoke before 6am, thanks to a mosquito. The mosquitos didn’t really trouble me in the Amazon rainforest. Why were they waking me up in Rio de Janeiro? I had a shower at 0730 am, had breakfast with my friend at 8am but we both rested till 11 am before finally deciding to go out. I’d only arrived in Rio de Janeiro around midnight the night before so I needed the rest.
We started off by checking out Copacabana beach.
There were quite a few people on the sand with a number of paddle boarding schools and people paddle boarding at the far end of the beach.
We decided to head on towards Ipanema beach.
We checked out part of Ipanema beach, taking a number of photos.
Then headed back to the hostel. I was also not in much of a mood to stay on the Brazilian coastline as planned over the coming days. I had a booking that weekend in the resort town of Buzios (about 90 minutes from Rio de Janeiro), and was planning to spend the next week on Ilha Grande island and Paraty. However rain was forecast and a raining beach holiday isn’t my idea of a good time.
My friends flight was later that evening and since we had time to spare, we decided to check out Leblon Shopping Mall. We checked out some of the shops but nothing in particular interested me. We ate lunch at Rascals, a prestigious restaurant. We decided to share a family sized pizza. They place another small table beside your table, place the pizza on it with a cover, and serve one slice to you at a time. As soon as you’re finished your slice they’re there to serve the next slice. That was pretty cool. We ended of the meal with an interestingly served cup of cappuccino. They serve the cream separately from the coffee. You mix it yourself, and it was pretty decent to drink. After the late lunch we took a short walk to Leblon beach to check out the sunset. The Favelas are quite close by. We then took a taxi from Leblon back to El Misti House hostel in Copacabana for 20 reals.
While my friend rested I continued looking online for options on where to spend the next week. After ruling out Panama, Miami, Peru and Bolivia I decided to head for Santiago. I’d still remain another 2 nights in Rio de Janeiro (for the Friday prayer in a mosque in Rio the next day, and to depart to Santiago the following day).
My friend departed for the airport at 1830. I rested until 2100 before going out. I took a walk alongside Copacabana beach to check out a local flea market. I just bought a fresh melon juice to drink.
No meal as I was still full from the late lunch, By midnight I was fast asleep
