Today was our second day at Copacabana Beach, and Gail and I visited the Botanical Gardens in Rio de Janeiro.
Today, I woke up early at around 6 am. I had a shower, dressed, and went downstairs for breakfast at the buffet. Once again, I wasn't impressed by the buffet, but I ate what I wanted, had some fruit juice to take my tablets, and then sat down to read my Kindle until Gail joined me. We sat talking about what we wanted to do today and decided to get a taxi to take us to see the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Gardens.
While Gail was having her breakfast, I walked to a small shop around the corner and bought myself a couple of new T-shirts before going back to my room to put on my new Brazil shirt. After Gail had finished her breakfast, we asked the doorman at the foyer how much a taxi would cost and if he could get us one. He told us he thought it would be about R$40 and took us to the corner of the road, where he spoke to a taxi driver and got us a taxi to the Botanical Gardens in Rio de Janeiro. We jumped in the cab for the 7.5 km trip and were soon at the Botanical Garden, where the driver only charged us R$35, so we were delighted. In Spain, this would have cost around €15 to €20 for the journey, and R$40 worked out at around €7.50.
We walked to the shop where we thought we had to get a ticket to enter the park, only to find the tickets for the park were sold in a hut we had walked past on the way to the shop. We returned to the shop, and Gail walked up and asked for two OAP tickets, which she was given immediately. I was happy to get a heavily discounted ticket, but not so glad they didn't ask me to prove I was an OAP. I think it was because they saw my walking stick and felt sorry for me as I hobbled towards the ticket office.
After we had purchased our tickets for the Botanical Gardens, we entered them. We spent around half the day exploring the different areas, looking at the various plants and animals, and just sitting in the calm and beautiful gardens. I particularly liked the cactus garden and the orchid house, and I also really enjoyed watching the monkeys playing around in the gardens. I was glad I saw a massive ant before I sat on it. It would have given me a nasty bite.
I did manage to get some lovely photos whilst we were at the Botanical Gardens, and it was beautiful to see the Christ the Redeemer statue on top of Corcovado Mountain through the leaves of the trees that lined some of the walkways through the gardens. The monkeys, running across the paths and climbing the trees, seemed disinterested in the people standing below them, trying to take their photos. My favourite area was the orchid house. So many beautiful orchids were growing, some of which I had never seen before. As we walked towards the garden entrance, a man walked past us wearing a matching t-shirt and a pair of shorts in a Leopard print. I don't know what effect he thought walking through the Botanical Gardens in a leopard ensemble would have, but he only made me chuckle, and Gail laughed out loud. Please let your girlfriend dress you next time you go out together. You didn't fade into the foliage, and your bright red man bag didn't help.
Rio Botanical Garden Photos.
These photos were all taken when I visited the botanical garden in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Click on any image to see a larger version of the image with a description. Use the navigation below the thumbnail images to see the previous set of images, the next set of images, or the previous or following photo albums.
When we left the gardens, we were trying to see where to cross the road to get a taxi, but a lady at the garden entrance said she could get a cab for us. We climbed in and set off back to the hotel. The driver went a different way around and took a longer way back than when we arrived. It didn't help that our route was all along the beach areas. We drove past Ipanema Beach and along Copacabana Beach. It was around 11.5 km on the way back, but because of the heavy traffic, it took us around 45 minutes to get back. As we were travelling, I looked at the beaches we passed. Gail was watching the meter, and steam was coming out of her ears when the fare came to R$120. I quickly paid the driver and pointed out that although it looked like a lot of money, it was only around €22 for an 11.5 km trip in heavy traffic. I thought it was quite a good fare under the circumstances and enjoyed seeing Ipanema Beach. It also meant I didn't have to go out again to see it another day.
When we got out of the taxi, we went across the road and sat in a beach bar for a coconut each. The bar owners chop the top off a coconut, and you drink the coconut water from it. It was refreshing, but I gulped mine down and had to sit and watch the wildlife on the beach while Gail finished hers.
When we had finished our coconuts, we went to have something to eat at a restaurant on a road that ran away from the beach. We ordered our dinner. I ordered special rice with Brazilian potatoes, black beans, and a steak described as Portuguese. The beans were fine, the rice was good, the Brazilian potatoes were a stale pack of crisps, and the steak was very disappointing again. It was a thin steak covered in ham and melted cheese. I will have some great memories of Brazil, but generally, the food won't be in them.
When we finished our meal, we walked back towards the hotel and stopped for a drink at the bar near the hotel before returning to the hotel and booking a trip to see Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain tomorrow.