So from day one and almost every other day in Rio we spent at least a couple of hours on the beach. Our flat was about a 15 minute walk from our favourite beach, Copacabana so we spent most of the time there, where we made friends and already felt at home. The beach in Rio is such a vibrant place and full of people selling everything from sarongs (of which we bought half the beaches supply) to Guarana and beer to shrimp kebabs. We even made best friends with one sarong seller called Jai. He would sell us half his product, run off back to the supplier to stock up again and then run back to the beach where my mother would eagerly buy another suitcase full of sarongs and arrange to meet him the same time same place tomorrow. By the end he made so much money of us and admired our bargaining skills so much he gave me a sarong free as a gift.
Even during weekdays the beach has lots of locals hanging out, playing volleyball, having a Bohemia beer or just going for a dip, but you know whenever you are there, there is always a great vibe going on and the beach is always full of people.
The next beach along from ours was Ipanema. It was a nice walk away from Copacabana (thats where the man oogling took place) and Ipanema is famous for having one of the most beautiful sunsets in Rio. Obviously we had to check that one out as well. This was the slightly posher beach where the hipsters and the higher classes and “beautiful people” would hang out. It is a lovely beach although we preferred our “commoners” beach which we thought had a more relaxed atmosphere. Our 4.5 km of Copacabana beach mixed tourists, locals, favela kids and the odd prostitute…what more do you need?!
Experimenting with one of our millions of sarongs
Girl from Ipanema
Ipanema sunset
