Rio Day 1

 met a new hostelmate over breakfast and we paired to tour today. Since the weather was overcast while staying dry, we Ubered to Jardim Botânico, a well kept, magnificent and very lush botanical garden that is a park, a scientific laboratory, and a UNESCO biosphere reserve.

With an area of about 137 football fields, it's worth spending a few hours to walk around with shady avenues, fountains, statues and ornamental ponds. Emperor John VI founded the Botanical Garden in 1808 as a nursery for herbs, teas and spices imported from Asia, exclusively for the royal family.  Today is one of the most important botanical gardens in the world, with 8000 species of plants growing in their natural habitats and in greenhouses. Highlights include orchids, bromeliads, ferns, splendid forests of giant bamboo, a collection of medicinal plants, stunning trees which red flowers perched on the same tree and giant cacti. But we did not see many animals today, yet seeing the statue of Christ the Redeemer in and out of the clouds via the day. 

The 2nd sight was the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas in the middle of South Zone, with great views to Corcovado and Ipanema and Leblon beaches. Many people were jogging or cycleing all the way round. 

We then walked to the Ipanema beach. There were three surfers and no swimmer baca use the water temperature was about 20c. Most tourists were just eating and drinking at beach front restaurants. It was safer than ever expected, and I took photos without problems.

After the beaches, we surveyed the prices of the famous Brazilian flipflops, which range from 80r in the famous Havaianas store to 25r from a street vendor. I also learned to buy and use Rio METRO today. Very productive day!