The following is an excerpt from Roger’s travel journal. He went to Rio de Janeiro in 2006.

The thing about traveling in a great group of people is that it takes forever to get moving. Planning for an early morning start meant that we finally got rolling out of here at about 11:30. About two hours after the plan. One of the things about being in a hostel is that when you find people to gang around with, it can take a while to get us all ready to do the same thing. Once we finally got out and ready to go, we took a bus to Corcovado and instead of the tram, the five of us split with a private driver. He took us to a couple lookout spots on the way up. (Corcovado is in an urban forest – a remnant of the rainforest that was around Rio years ago and some of which is still there to the north and south of the city). The views were stunning, you could see everything and the planes which were landing in the local airport (jet planes, mind you) are just about at eye level. It’s a little nuts. After we got to the base of Corcovado, you have two options. Stairs (which give you more opportunity to pay ridiculously expensive prices for cheap looking souvenirs) or the elevator. I was all about the stairs, all about being the fit, healthy me that I’ve always wanted to be. About half way up the stairs, I changed my mind, but it was too late to stop. Before long, I was at the top, with the same view that Jesus has.

Corcovado is the name of the mountain that Christ the Redeemer sits on. It was named it for the shape of the mountain, described as a hunch back. Atop the mountain is the statue, the largest art deco sculpture in the world. It really is a wonder and was built in 1931. One thing you notice from being that high is the smog. Rio is a city of ten million people who are not so concerned with air pollution and the haze was so bad that the entire north end of the city was barely visible from the top of Corcovado. The south side was somewhat prettier. The water over the ocean helped to clear some of it off.

Rio never has many smog free days, but that’s because its tropical, literally. It lies just north of the Tropic of Capricorn which means even winter days can see highs in the mid 90’s, like today. You can get used to the heat, and after a few days, its not that noticeable. But without cooler winters, the air is always hazy. Nonetheless, up at a vantage point like this, its easy to see why Rio is a magical place. Corcovado and Sugarloaf are both nice oases of calm up above a never stopping city.

There are lots of ships that make Rio a port of call. Click here for a list of cruises that leave from Rio. North American Winter is traditionally the best time to cruise South America, although Rio can be a lot of fun to visit, and a lot more affordable during the summer months as well. For more information, contact a Crown Cruise Vacations agent at 877-283-1114.