Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Day 2

 Sunday February 11 - day tour

Today we were headed out to visit Corcovado Mountain (Christ the Redeemer) first thing. We had bought tickets in advance online about 90 days out to not  have to stand in a line for several hours. Gus told us to get tickets for 8:40. We got there in plenty of time and caught the next train. He took us to the front and had us sit on the side of car with the best view.

Statue of Christ – Corcovado Mountain (Portuguese pronunciation: [koʁkoˈvadu]), meaning "hunchback" in Portuguese, is a The 710-metre (2,329 ft) granite peak located in the Tijuca Forest, a national park. It is known worldwide for the 38-metre (125 ft) statue of Jesus atop its peak, entitled Cristo Redentor or "Christ the Redeemer".

 wow, where are the street parties.....

 at the bottom of Corcovado

 Plain Parakeet

 in the train

 another tour group's guide - so cute!

 back of the statue

 Gus, our tour guide

 killer views from the top

Gus took photos of us - even laying on the ground on his back to get one. Greg and I took photos of each other as well. Gus showed us the views and explained what all we were seeing and then left us on our own and he met us at the bottom. We walked the steps up and down. (there is an elevator there)

 Chapel 

 Marroon-bellied Parakeets

yikes, look at the one on the left....

there was a bird bath on the balcony

After leaving there we went for a drive/walk in the Tijuca Forest visiting Taunay cascade and the Chinese pagoda viewpoint. Gus found out we were interested in birds and he found the Red-breasted Toucan we were searching for. We also saw a couple of other new birds as well. We also found a small group of Capuchin monkeys. The Tijuca Forest was where the cycling was done at the Olympics.

 Tijuca Forest

 Channel-billed Toucan

 Chinese pagoda viewpoint

 Green-headed Tanager

 Taunay cascade

It was time for lunch and we went to a restaurant called Picanha & Etc across from the beach. We all ordered appetizers and we split them. Gus ordered a potato, bacon & cheese casserole, we ordered fried shrimp & pastries with cheese, shrimp or beef in them. All were very good.
Our next stop was at Sao Conrado beach to see the Hangliding and Paragliders.

 Picanha & Etc -  our lunch stop

  

We stopped for a short 1 hour visit to the Botanical Garden. There were a lot of birds there and we saw a couple of Capybara. 

 Masked Water-Tyrant

 Green-headed Tanager

Barra Beach where the Olympic village and Park were. We saw where they did the rowing at the Olympics. Many street parties along the way....

 floats waiting to go to the Sambadrome

I'll post the Sambadrome Parades in the next post.

Rio Brazil day 2 https://photos.app.goo.gl/eOgRCB1eaXhN5Hdu2