Tourism day 3

View over Rio towards the Cristo Redentor statue in the distance from the half-way station [22 57 5 S, 43 9 55 W] of the Sugarloaf mountain cable car on Morro de Açúcar.

Helicopter taking off from the helipad on Morro de Açúcar for an aerial tour of Rio.

(L) Looking west towards Botafogo beach [22 56 50 S, 43 10 40 W].  (R) Looking east out towards the Guanabara Bay.

Second leg of the cable car to Sugarloaf mountain itself.  The name comes from the resemblance between the shape of the hill and the conical “sugarloaf” produced by traditional sugar refining.

From a distance Sugarloaf mountain looks like just a bare rock, but forests, complete with wildlife, reach right up to the top.  This lizard was a more patient photography subject than the marmosets.

View from Sugarloaf towards Copacabana beach.

View of the channel connecting Guanabara Bay to the ocean.  The impressive Rio-Niterói bridge, which crosses the the bay, can be seen to left.

The tiny, but beautiful Vermelha beach [22 57 20 S, 43 9 53 W].

Final classic image of footballers on Copacabana beach.