Tijuca National Park Rio de Janeiro

So today is our last day in Rio and the end of Carnival and we have had an absolutely incredible, jam packed 5 days. It started when we arrived late on Wednesday night and met up with our friend Alistair at our hostel, CabanaCopa. We immediately headed out to a bar with some new friends, Youssef who was also staying in our room and Emma another …

Today was the journey to the infamous Rio de Janeiro, known for wonderful beaches, great samba, skimpy bikini clad ladies, party streets and Christ the redeemer. We were both looking forward to seeing all of them (with the exception of skimpy bikini clad girls for Victoria).

We had a midday day flight so decided to try and give david a …

We arrived at our hotel in Copacabana Beach to a gorgeous day and even more gorgeous people! Nuwan couldn't believe how many beach babes there were, clad in very skimpy bikinis. From what we could see people in Rio worked out – a lot! There are lots of exercise stations at various points on the beach and several people just spend their time …

How many three-letter words conjure up as much as 'Rio'? Before our visit, the word evoked for us carnival with plumage, glitz and crowds, the Cristo statue, wild nightlife, beaches, beautiful people and an overwhelming (even scary) place for tourists.

We had to get our thought eraser out – we were wrong about the last one …

Entry containing 34 photos titled: Ipanema beach, Sao Conrado Beach, Tijuca National Park, Emily in deep concentration :-), Flavela and Rio , Rio De Janeiro, Christ the redeemer, Flavela near Santa Teresa, Feijoada, Lapa steps, Sugarloaf mountain, Rio Botanical Gardens

What better place to start a trip to Brazil than in its most famous and infamous city, Rio de Janeiro. We spent 7 days traveling around the city partying with locals and taking all Rio had to offer. The only thing I regret is not having more time to spend in Rio, I could have spent all five weeks of my trip in this city and still not experienced …

... the south of Ipanema that is famous for extreme sports.  With our expert guide, we ascended 500 meters to a peak in the Tijuca National Park and ran off a cliff to ride the wind back to the beach below. The ten or so minutes of hang-gliding were ...

... were 4 of us jumping.... Danny, Riccardo, Vicks and I! Handgliding over Rio This was amazing!  You climb up into the Tijuca National Park where you´re greeted by a large deck/ramp that tapers down into the abyss of the park.  What were ...

... not say anything about Botafogo, nor Flamengo park, nor green Lagoa, places that I visited and I didnt even make it to Tijuca national park. Thousands of things remained undone but what I did get was the felling of knowing an unique place. I am sure very ...

... Redentor' (Christ the Redeemer). The statute was about 40m tall and sat on top the 700m peak of a the nearby Tijuca National Park. Designed by a local and a French architect it was an impressive structure and was slowly transported up the steep ...

... from our hostel at 12:45 and took us first to Corcovado via Santa Teresa, we got a beautiful ride through the Tijuca national park, the Atlantic rainforest before our first stop. We literally took the stairway to heaven via escalator and lift in order ...

...But certainly not the last of my life. Yesterday I went with an English LSE economics student to Tijuca national park, where we walked around waterfalls and many exotic trees spotting wildlife and panoramic views. We then went to an all you can eat ...

... 5 miles and we saw about 20 different species of birds and beautiful views of the forest covered mountains that make up the Tijuca national park. After our jog we ate lunch at a place called Fellini, which is a "por quilo" restaurant.  Kinda ...

... mountain looks,and how scared I am,and about how I hope I don't freeze on the runway... Trek up by 4x4 through the Tijuca National Park to the platform where the glide begins,heart stops cos its not as easy as I thought - the platform is wood,built on ...

... to the north, with the newly renovated Maracana stadium in full view. To the west the densely folliaged green peaks of the Tijuca national park rise up towards you. Finally if you follow Christ´s gaze to the east you get what is arguably the best view ...

... to believe how quickly the time is passing. Yesterday a small group of us went on a guided hike in the Tijuca National Park just outside of Rio. Actually, it starts right in the heart of the city and is the world's biggest urban forest. We were ...