Wonders of The World: Christ the Redeemer & Escadaria Selaron

Today was a holy day. We booked ourselves onto the 'Big Dude Tour', which promised to show us everything Rio had to offer, Favelas and all. We were promptly picked up at 10, and upon meeting our animated, fluent, English speaking local tour guide, we knew we were in for an exciting day. We'll call him Mo, as we couldn't pronounce his real name. There was about 12 people on our tour from all walks of life. Two Norwegian nurses, a Graphic Design lecturer from New York, and a friendly Scot who was just there for a good time. (He smelt suspiciously of the local lager and spent the first hour of the tour sleeping off his hangover).

First stop was 'Christ the Redeemer', not a bad outlook for a Monday morning. Despite the obvious excitement of seeing Christ himself, we had to drive right up into the heart of Tijuca National park, and vast protected rainforest to see him. 'The lungs and aircon of Rio' as Mo proudly reminded us every 5 minutes. Before we headed up the mountain he showed us all the hot spots of Ipanema on sea level, including the local football ground (home to the best football team in the world!?), the horse racing grounds, trendy golf clubs and exclusive apartment blocks. Mo was the equivalent of a gossip mag of Rio, he knew who to be seen talking too, and how much they were paying to be a member of the local clubs.

This Lake will be host to the 2016 Olympics rowing events and will be free for the public to watch live!

Once headed up the mountain it was a completely different atmosphere, 10 minutes ago we were trying to spot famous footballers downtown, and suddenly we were surrounded by jack fruits and looking for sloths, sadly, unsuccessfully finding any. Mo showed us where the para gliders usually jump of  the two brother mountains (the iconic tall ones seen at the end of Ipanema beach), and we looked over Ipanema beach where they land. As it was still fairly early, the morning fog was still around, but you can still make out some of the landscape. There were no para gliders either, as there was no wind for them to glide on!

Next was a small waterfall situated in the middle of the rainforest. Here we got out, and took a look around.

Large Jack Fruits

Mo was really informative about the natural world of the rainforest, and clearly had a real passion for it, as he got just as excited as us when an eagle flew past our van, and sacrificed a loaf of bread (which we think was his lunch) just at the chance of a large Koi carp surfacing in the man made lake.

As we carried on our ascent upwards, we passed a few favelas, which reminded us of the inequality in Rio.

As we finally neared the top of the moutains, the weather started to go against us, and a fog was looming over Rio. Would we get the spectacular view at Corcovado?! Time was against us as the tropical rain moved in, and just as we got to the summit of Christ the redeemer, it started to rain a little. Still, with heads held high, we excidedly reached the escalators to take us to Christs feet.

What an amazing and surreal experience. The statue we'd lusted over from Pinterest and Google images, was suddenly right in front of us, and we were a little overwhelmed.

We took THOUSANDS of pictures, and we can proudly say we were the most inventive people up there when it came to posing.

 It was here that the rain really started to come down, so the views of the bright blue seas were slightly greyed which was a shame, but we still got the panoramic views we came for. Nevertheless, it was one of the most amazing moments of our lives, and we still had the rest of the day to go.

We spent an hour at the statue, which was the quickest hours of our lives! Luckily, the rain deterred a few people so it wasn't hideously busy. Once we were back to our van and over the sheer joy of it all, it was time for lunch. Mo assured us that he knew a good spot, just by the Saleron steps in Lapa. To get there, we went through the picturesque town of St Teresa, which was renovating its infamous tram system, (to look its best for the 2016 Olympics), and passed a few more large favelas. 

Saleron is the name of the artist who physically tiled the steps, and the restauraunt we went too was a favourite of his. It was covered in all of his paintings, artworks and images. Here we had a really good valued meal, that filled us up lots! Double carb rice and potato, and some tasty grilled chicken all for $R24.00 each (about £6.00!)

This pregnant black lady features in every one of his paintings. A bit like his version of'Where's Wally?'

A picture of Selaron hanging in the restauraunt

Once we finished, we headed over to the steps, to be yet again, awe stricken at the real thing in front of us. The tiles are so bright and pretty, and Mo found us in the crowds specially, to show us a few tiles that were dedicated to London, including Lady Diana, and his favourite band the Beatles (who he saw in the 60s don't you know!!)

After reading that the steps can be dangerous for pick pocketing, we were really comfortable in the party area, taking pictures and browsing. Apart from a few drunks at the bottom who seemed too zonked to try anything, and who Mo seemed to have complete control of anyway, it was just tourists and fellow tile enthusiasts. Selaron devoted 20 years of his life decorating the stairs just outside his house, and unfortunately, yet poetically, died on the stairs just 2 years ago. Apparently you could go to his house and buy a tile and get it signed by the man himself on this very tour! Obviously this wasn't an option for us now, but it was nice to know the success didn't go to his head!

From here, we had the option to go to sugar loaf mountain, but Mo said the weather wouldn't do the R$65,00 trip any justice, so we will do that another day. He did however drive us past the Rio school of the blind, and loudly pointed the students out, crossing roads as if they were an attraction in themselves, and also as if they were deaf too.

 We were dropped off at the door of our hostel, and tipped Mo for his informative, fun and unforgettable tour, which he took bashfully. We love Mo, he was great at his job and full of streetwise tips to keep us safe. The tour only cost us £35 each, and will remain the best £70 we've ever spent.