Sunday I woke to the misty morning of our first full day in rio. It was early and I was eager to get outsidei the hotel and enjoy everything Rio has to offer. So I left the hotel and l headed to the beach. !The streets where quite, hardly a soul was awake, just the occasional runner and dog walker, but other than that it felt like I was all alone. It was a was a surprisingly comfortable feeing as I walked along the ornate black and ivory mosaic sidewalks, watching the venders begin to set up for their daily ritual.
Looking over the embankment I could see the pale sands of Ipanema weighted by the two brothers to the south and a large rock protruding in the ocean to the north. This rock, or series of large rocks piled high on each other captivated me….I had my heading. As I got closer I noticed the beach wasn’t only inhabited by street venders, the sands were freckled with teenagers lying in piles on each other cuddling, half naked toddlers playing in the rising waters, and energetic dogs tackling each other, leash-less. The soothing crash of wave interrupting my every thought, making it impossible to think of anything but the shear beauty of the landscape. As I approached the pier-like rock I began hear more barking. My passage between the hotels lining the beach and the rock lead me to a dog beach. What looked like hundreds of dogs played in droves around the few owners who watched them. Try as I did I couldn’t get through the crowd of canines without being covered in lovable licks and sniffs. But my destination was just past them so I mustered up the courage to be adored. Fishermen cast their lines from the edge catching the small fish that swam in the morning shallows. From the top of this rock I was awarded for my trouble with a stunning view of all of Ipanema.
On my backside was Copacabana, more specifically a sliver of golden beach leading to Fort Copacabana. A thin wire fence and a armed guards stands as a barrier between the beach and the rocks leading up to the fort. These guard prohibited me from moving forward so I settled for a secluded cornered nestled between the beach and the rock, this is where I slipped into the sea.
Like in all of rio beach front property is gold so it wasn’t long before beachgoers began to flood the tranquil sands. This is when I began to see the real heart of these beaches. The beaches are alive with locals and tourist alike claiming their own slice of the beach for the day. The vendors, now in full operations scurry around the towels and umbrellas, like ants in a colony, selling Globos and Matte
Coco, my new favorite drink, epitomize my idea of the beaches here in rio. They have a way of breathing life in and reviving you. The water is like the city, rough but gentle — rash moments of adrenal rushes followed by calms of effortless motion, and utterly saturated by prolific culture and life.
