Visiting Christ the Redeemer on Easter Sunday
A statute of Jesus Christ towers over Rio de Janiero, protecting the city. It's a 3.7 km hike from the base in the botanical gardens to the summit, with the first two thirds on a dense jungle path, and the last third on a winding paved road for tourists who prefer to take a bus to the top.
A local resident of the city had told us the hike was easy and could be completed in 60-90 minutes. The first part of the jungle trek was true to his word. The incline caught our breath, but we plowed on without much difficulty. We were on the lookout for wildlife and stood frozen in amazement when we stumbled on a group of eight or nine monkeys jumping from tree to tree right by the path. However, toward the end of the hike we had to climb a ladder up a boulder. This did not fit the "easy" description, but was fine given the manmade handles for ascent.
I missed those handles as soon as they were gone as the next part of the climb entailed scrambling up a slick mud path at a daunting incline. I grabbed onto roots and young tree branches, giving each a gentle tug before throwing them my weight to make sure they would hold. Slipping backward would not have been a healthy option. It's possible this was not the "easy" path our local friend had described, but it was nonetheless a real path as indicated by the wooden arrows pointing to Corcovado.
About an hour and fourth five minutes after commencing, with our hands covered in dirt, we reached Jesus. Most people had taken the funicular to the top and were dressed in Sunday best--nice dresses and colorful Brazilian pant suits. A priest was conducting an Easter service at the foot of The Redeemer while tourists stood and knelt in a circle listening to the prayers.
My friend and I zig zagged between tourists to go from one crowded railing to the next to seeing the views at every angle. The sky was intermittently dark with rainclouds, and sunlight grazed only certain curves of the mountains, but the panorama was breathtaking. It was a paradise lagoon.
After a few pão de queijo at the summit cafe to refuel from the hike, we wrangled a ride down the mountain in one of the vans (20 R/person), which dropped us at the northern part Copacabana beach. Leery of the 30+ minute walk home as we were still recovering from the Corcovado climb, we decided to eat a proper Sunday lunch at Amir. Without realizing it, we ordered enough food to comfortably feed four people. We sipped on tiny mint teas and feasted on the Mediterranean fare. We had to drag ourselves back to the Airbnb, then promptly fell onto the couch in a state of semi-conscious.
