We headed out of the terminal at 9am and met our guides. We would be taking a jeep tour through Tijuca National Forest and going to see the Botanical Gardens in the city. However, the weather wasn’t quite cooperating. It was pouring!
We loaded up into the open sided jeeps and headed out on an hour drive through the city to make it to the botanical gardens. On a normal day, the ride would have been enjoyable seeing the sights of the city. However, with the rain it made for a rather miserable ride.
Donning our rain jackets, we arrived at the gardens and set out to explore on our 45 minute walking tour. We saw beautiful waterfalls and exotic trees and flowers. In the middle of the gardens lay a pond with giant water lilies ideal for taking pictures.
Making it to the opposite end of the gardens, we hopped back into the jeeps where we headed into the Tijuca Forest. On our way, we past the favela where Michael Jackson filmed his music video for the song, “They Don’t Care About Us.”
In the national forest we saw views distorted by cloud cover and more waterfalls along with various flora and fauna. After our hour spent driving through the forest we headed back out for our drive back to the port. Along the way we saw the stadium where the World Cup will be held in 2014 and various areas being constructed for the 2016 Summer Olympics. We also taught our tour guide English slang and pick up lines commonly used in the states after he informed us of the various slang used in the Portuguese language.
Overall the day spent on our jeep tour was a success. Although we came back soaked to the bone and covered with dirt, the day was a lot of fun. Now we are back on the ship for another 6 days at sea until we reach the Amazon where we will spend 2 days traveling up the river to Manaus.
Only 24 days until I am back in the states…crazy how time flies.
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