23rd of November until 11th of December
Ciao Buenos Aires, Bom dia Rio de Janeiro
In Buenos Aires we boarded our next, almost 3hour, flight to Rio do Janeiro. Halfway, we got served lunch, which was made up of a drink, a small sandwich with one slice of ham and cheese🥪 and a small pack of 3 fruit flavored cookies🍪. By the time food was served we were starving.
I didn’t get many pictures (only the last 2, the others were from the previous flight) because it was quite cloudy.
By the time we got out of the airport, it was already late, then we had to offload our bags at the apartment (21e andar/floor this time!) and unpack.
So by the time we got down to food it was dark and we couldn’t find any shops. All the food places nearby were rather expensive for lousy fast food. In the end we got 6 hot dogs (with funny mini fries sprinkled on top) at a street corner stand that was packing up🌭🌭🌭… We sure made that lady happy. Then we went home after eating, and went straight to bed😴😴😴.
Crazy, loud, chaotic, colourful Rio
Rio is known as the “Cidade Maravilhosa” (Marvelous City). It was founded in 1565 and served as Brazil’s capital until 1960.
Of all the places we’ve been to, Rio is the craziest, with homies everywhere and funny looking people. To give you an idea, on the metro I saw a woman with 8 piercings around her mouth, 8 on her eyebrows and 3 in her nose!!!. There are many things to see, but the main thing was there was way too much noise. Everyone plays music at top volume and speaks in raised voices (angry or not!). They are walking next to each other or standing 1meter apart, yet they need to scream the words at their listener. Another thing was that there are just too many people everywhere and if you don’t pay attention while walking you’ll be run over by fat old ladies…
Remember that Rio is Brazil’s second most populated city, after São Paulo, and the fourth-largest metropolitan area in South America. Rio de Janeiro’s population is around 6.7 million for the city center. The Greater Rio metropolitan area houses over 13 million people. Compare that to a small country like Belgium (the total of Belgium’s population in 2025 is around 11.8 million) and you’ll have a better idea of what we mean with busy.
Carioca or Karaoke?
We were staying in an area called Carioca in the city center. Carioca is also a word used to refer to residents of Rio de Janeiro and their culture. Like other Brazilians, Cariocas speak Portuguese, but in their own unique way, all at the same time… making it sound like karaoke in your head!
Though the original meaning of carioca is unsure, the more accepted origin by academics is the meaning derived from “kariîó oka”, which comes from Tupi “house of carijó”. It is also linked to the Guaraní, a native tribe of Rio de Janeiro who lived in the vicinity of the Carioca River, between the neighborhoods of Glória and Flamengo.
Carioca people are well known for having invented footvolley, creating the bossa nova style of music, Carioca Samba, and of course the Carnaval Carioca, which is the Portuguese name for the famous Rio Carnaval.
Key characteristics of Carioca:
- People (Cariocas): Friendly, outgoing, beach-loving, and embodying a relaxed, easygoing spirit.
- Culture: Deeply connected to samba (the birthplace of Pedra do Sal), beach life, simple meals, and vibrant street culture. Funk Carioca is a distinct genre, often reflecting favela life, with “clean” and explicit versions.
- Geography/Landscapes: Defined by the dramatic contrast between mountains (Tijuca National Park, Carioca Mountains) and the sea.
- Urban Hubs: Centro (Downtown): Historic heart with modern skyscrapers and cultural spots like Largo da Carioca, Olympic Park.
- Transportation: Bus, metro, tram including modern systems like the Carioca tram in the revitalized port zone.
Walking around the town centre
Our 18 days in Rio passed in a blur, and went by rather fast. Sometimes dad would take us on walks and then we would see the things in our area:
Convento de Santo Antonio, Assembleia Legislativa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, Theatro João Caetano, Centro Cultural Justiça Federal, Ghandi square, Arcos da Lapa (18th century aqueduct with 2 rows of arches now serving as a bridge for the tram).
We were staying in a strangely designed apartment. It had the smallest kitchen in the world, that still managed to pack a laundry machine in there! Then the eating area was in between the entrance (door) and the fridge. Next to the fridge was a dryer. There was a flimzy ‘wall’ in between the eating area and the bedroom. The biggest space had a double bed, a normal couch and 2 thick and heavy single matresses.
On the roof was an entertainment area with outside kitchen, chairs and benches, a wooden playground, and a metal gym area. Every night a young guy would go on the roof with his electric guitar and play along to Metallica songs. At least mom was happy to hear some of her favorite songs from long ago …
For some reason it’s awfully hard to find a proper grocery store in our area. There were only 2 that we found in our area, and one of them was in the metro station!!!
On this trip we often looked for ‘the place’ or should I say soft serve ice cream cones, but what’s funny is in Argentina they are called conos while here in Brazil they are called casquinhas!🍦🍦🍦
10 things (NOT 😆) to do in Rio
By Gitane
#1. Mercado de Uruguay
The noisy, busy, over crowded Mercado de Uruguay is just the place to forcefully stretch your legs as it extends endlessly in all directions. You can buy souvenirs there varying from: brightly colored capulanas, to shirts and bags, to semi-precious stone animals and mini Christ the Redeemer statues. Or basically anything you can think of. It is like a maze, and very easy to get disorientated and aimlessly stroll the streets up and down looking for that one specific shop with the indi dresses!
#2. Discover a library
While we were walking up and down the streets we stumbled onto the Real Gabinete Português de Leitura, a huge and impressive building that on the outside looks like a fresh greek temple, but on the inside it looks right out of a middle ages setting fantasy book. Unfortunately none of the books are accessible to read, only some were open on display☹️. But on the plus side I have a perfect reallife model for Dungeons and Dragons…📜📘📙📗
#3. Trimming time on the tram
In the morning we took a historic ride, going back in time, on an old tramway that was built in 1896 and now serves to bring tourists and visitors to Santa Teresa. The tram station was just around the corner from our apartment.🚋🚋
On the way you get a view of some favelas (shanty towns) sprawling up the mountain slopes. And climbing the steep slope in our small tram cart bravely making sharp turns while things rattle about really felt like a timewarp.
In Santa Teresa there was nothing much to see because we left at 8am and things only open at 11am. We got off at a touristy area looked at the buildings and scenery.
Then we walked all the way back….
In the afternoon we walked around the port which has been revamped and took the brandnew airconditioned tram back.
#4. Walking……
If you like scenic walks then I would suggest walking from the port from there to the submarine museum, where you will see a Replica of Christopher Columbus’ boat, same as we saw in Madeira. And then on to the climate museum, and then all along the port buildings where everything had been renewed. And after that straight home… 🥵
The musee de manha Climate museum could be seen from far, but as we got closer we realized they shaped the outside like the big blue whale even though it was a climate museum…🏛🐋
The port area was renovated really nicely, and the harbour cranes and tramways covered in neatly trimmed grass and a broad walkway made us think of another place where we once lived.
#5. Botafogo or But of Fogo?
Because Botafogo beach was inside the bay there would be no swimming because of polution, not to mention it was freezing cold… but that didn’t stop everyone from wearing thongs and speedos… We decided to stay away from all that… and were walking around in the Botafogo area.
From a distance we could see the famous Christ the Redeemer, an iconic Art Deco statue atop Corcovado Mountain. Actually we could see him from the rooftop of our apartment building as well! I think a lot of people just go for the panoramic city views. From Botafogo we could also see Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar), a granite peak accessible by cable car with spectacular harbor vistas.
#6. Stumble upon the Escadaria Selarón
One day while walking around we found a llllong staircase where each step had tiles with multiple colors. It was Escadaria Selarón: A colorful, mosaic-tiled stairway created by artist Jorge Selarón.
Halfway up we realized you can’t go anywhere when you get up. It’s a walk up and down, so mom and dad got caipirinhas and I got a lemonade thing.🍹🍹🍹
#7. Getting a cara camarones at Copacabana
Copacabana & Ipanema Beach are Famous stretches of sand known for their beauty, sports, and lively atmosphere. But really it was crowed and the water at Copa cabana was c…c…c…cold🥶🥶. And of course we didn’t do any of our normal beach day protocols like longsleeved UV shirts, sunglasses, or a hat, so we all got sunburnt, mom had the worst. A couple days later we were all shedding skin like snakes…
Vendor photographing – mom made snapshots of all the different sales happening on the beach: Milho (corn), Camarones (shrimp), t-shirt, dresses, bikinis, hats sunglasses, jewlery, capulanas and beachtowels, caipirinhas, erva mate and biscuits, açai, churrasco, pão quiejo, beers and coqueteis, candyfloss… You can even have a guitarist play a couple of songs for you.
I don’t know who’s idea it was, but someone decided the promenade should be a wavy pattern… In my opinion it was very disorientating…
Later we went to this place called ‘Casa do Gaucho’ to buy yerba mate for a friend, but somehow I ended up being crowned cowgirl of the day!
#8. Ipas on Ipanema beach
(Mom and dad took a liking to IPA beer in Argentina, so they didn’t actually drink IPA on Ipanema but they did get a normal beer or a caipirinha).
Me and dad were body surfing in a perfect water temperature, definitely warmer and calmer than Copa Cabana, and luckily the promenade was a different pattern…
and luckily it wasn’t as crowded as copacabana!
#9. Praia de Flamengo and Marina da Glória
We took the metro to Flamengo, it’s a small-ish local’s beach. There were local families there in all shapes and sizes noisily enjoying a family day out. You are not supposed to swim there because of pollution, but they didn’t seem to care and had fun anyway. We (by ‘we’ I mean ‘my parents’) decided we should walk alllllllllll the way home.
My favorite part of the day was when we got off the bus and saw a huge park that had a cat care area.😺🐈🐈⬛
#10. Sunday craze at Ipanema
When we got on the metro on Sunday, the trouble immediately started: People shouting at each other inside an overfull metro, kids laying on the metro floor🤢 eating and drinking while the rest of us were squashed together 😠. Luckily their group got off at Copacabana beach, along with half of the people and we had some more space… The worrying part was that the other half would be going to Ipanema along with us. Mom said it felt like queuing for a big summer festival. Then when we arrived, the park had been transformed into a huge market with all sorts of things like weird paintings or realistic stuffed animals. We had a look around and then made way to the beach….
When we arrived at the beach we barely recognised it. We couldn’t see the beach, it was just a rainbow of brightly colored sun-umbrellas !!! We barely got a spot, almost squashed against the promenade wall. All the spots near the water were taken!! After we settled down, me and dad went for a dip in the water, only to find the water filled with people! When we finally found a place to swim we got turned into ice blocks, the water was freezing! Quite unlike our previous visit… This wasn’t really the last relaxing beach visit in Rio we had imagined, but we made the most of it.
It also made some things clear. Looking at the Christmas preparations on Botafogo beach (huge floating christmas tree that would be filled with lights, a giant stage looking like a christmas present) and the rising tension of christmas madness and shopping frenzy in the air made us really grateful we were not going to be in Rio during the festive season. It also cured us of any wishes to visit Rio during Carnival: The world-famous annual festival with parades, samba, and vibrant street parties. Too noisy and too crowded for us! (Editor’s note)
The long way home
We got up 2am and did last minute packing and got our Uber to the airport. Once it was our turn to check in we were told we needed yellow fever certificates to fly to Costa Rica! And I don’t have one! That information is not on the ticket, but on a QR code at the check-in desk. Then we tried to get the last part of our flight cancelled because we were going to stop over in Panama City in any case, but they wouldn’t let us and they all had this snobbish attitude! Then they were giving us 24/7 Copa airlines numbers to call but none of them were working! And their booking office was closed at this nightly hour. In the end we managed to cancel our non-refundable tickets and started looking for the cheapest flight to Panama City. After a while dad booked an Air BnB room for the day, and later we booked a flight for 1am the following night.
We had “burgers” at this small local restaurant/bar, and then watched movies, slept a little, then at 10 pm an Uber to the airport.🍔🍔🍔
After boarding we all tried to get sleep and later got woken up for “breakfast” which was either an omelet with half a sausage and 3 cubes of veggies (mom and dad had that) or a small empanada with cream cheese and sweet ‘n sour sauce (I had that, it was heaven 🤤) both with a ball of bread and a watermelon and melon salad!🛩
7hours later we landed in Panama City and discovered a few more changes for the better. There’s now a metro line from the airport Coredor Sur where you catch the line to San Miguelito and then you transfer to the main line that takes you to Albrook. Very convenient!🚅🛬
We got tickets in Albrook Station for the 8:30 nightbus to Almirante, and had a brunch. Then we took an Uber to Tribunal Electoral so I could get an ID card but then we discovered my residence card needed to be updated first so then we went allll the way to the immigration office (which was utter chaos, people everywhere) and then it turned out we needed to get even more stuff! So what should have been a 1step process became a 3 step process, where we’d have to come back 2 times!
After deciding this was a waste of time we went back to Albrook and me and mom went shopping in Oca Loca and got some tops and then we didn’t know what to do with the hours we had left. So I did the only reasnoble thing a tired person would do, sleep, I slept with arms and head on the table…
Later we had dinner at Don Pan (best place ever….🫠🤤🤤) for some delicoius sandwiches….
Then at 8:30 we got on our bus to Almirante and the next morning we woke up all very miserable and tired… Then we got a watertaxi to Bocas, and a while later I was reunited with my Capo 🥰🥰🥰…
Road Trip Statistics
For those readers who like numbers and geography, we made an overview of the long distances we’ve covered in our 3.5 month trip:
🚍 São Paulo — Curitiba 407 km
🚍 Curitiba — Balneário Camboriú 230 km
🚍 Balneário Camboriú — Florianópolis 80 km
🚍 Florianópolis — Porto Alegre 470 km
🚍 Porto Alegre — Rio Grande 315
🚍 Rio Grande — Chui 320 km
🚍 Chuy — Punto del Diablo 43 km
🚍 Punto del Diablo — Montevideo 292 km
🚍 Montevideo — Colonia de Sacramento 181 km
🛳 Colonia — Buenos Aires 52 km
🚂 Buenos Aires – Mar del Plata 405 km
🚍 Mar del Plata – Bahia Blanca 506 km
🚍 Bahia Blanca – General Roca 496 km
🚍 General Roca – Bariloche 481 km
🚍 Bariloche – Comodoro Rivadavia 896 km
Total kilometers by long distance bus/train after 6 weeks on the road: 5124 km
And 52km by ferry
And on this note, I’ll finish this last blogpost.
See you next year as we travel South Africa🇿🇦!
Slowly peeling apart
-Gitane