Conquer Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Sugar Loaf Mountain

August 9, 2015

After a quick city tour, we drove straight to Urca neighborhood to which the terminal of the cable car to Sugar Loaf Mountain is located.

view from the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain

We got off the bus and lucky for us, there’s no queue. We went straight to the waiting area because our tour guide was taking our tickets at the counter. At the waiting area, it’s fascinating to see the cable cars on the two mountains.

By the way, there are two mountains in the area. The first cable car trip is from the ground terminal to the Urca Mountain and the second cable car trip is from the Urca Mountain to the Sugar Loaf Mountain. A bit of trivia as per our tour guide, Sugar Loaf Mountain or Pau de Acucar as what was known to the locals was an island before. It was just reclaimed due to urban expansion in the early 20^th century. You will clearly notice the sand is different from the sands in Botofago and Copacabana. It was known as the Praia Vermelha or the red beach.

the Sugar Loaf Mountain

round-trip ticket

cable car with Copacabana in it's background

How it was called Sugar Loaf? According to my guide, there’s no name for that mountain before. Then there is this concentrated refined sugar that shaped like that of the mountain, so since then, they called it Sugar Loaf Mountain.

There are many ways to go to the top of the Sugar Loaf Mountain. Some were doing the rock climbing in order for them to get to the top. But for easy climb, just get the ticket and ride the cable car. It was in operation for a century now in which it first operated in 1912. Since then, upgrades were made for efficiency and capacity.

Two cars are working, taking passengers to and from the top of the hill. Aboard the cable car from ground station to Urca Mountain, you’ll be able to see the whole neighborhood, the bay, the yacht club. Upon reaching the terminal at Urca, alight the cable car to go to station III where you will have a ride at the cable car from Urca Mountain to Sugar Loaf Mountain. On your way to station to, you will pass through mini forest where you will see small monkeys. They were a bit domesticated; maybe they were used to the crowd already. They were never shy on photos, but tourists are forbidden to feed them so they will not depend on the food given to them by the people; still they will hunt food for themselves.

Boarding the second cable car gives you a higher view of Rio de Janeiro. The beach at Botofago as well as the yachts on the bay, the parks at Flamengo, even the downtown skyscrapers were the very scene on board the second car. Then you will have a glimpse of Copacabana beach and the Atlantic Ocean.

cable car used before

Breath-taking view of Rio de Janeiro awaits you on top of the Sugar Loaf Mountain; panoramic view of the Guanabara Bay, the Ocean, the City of Niteroi which is located at the other side of the bay. If you’re a plane spotter, you have a very good view at the Santos Dumont airport. You can also see the 14-km long bridge crossing Guanabara Bay connecting Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi. I am lucky, we went there on a sunny day. The sky is blue and the view is clear. You will really feel the breeze.

view of Rio de Janeiro from Sugar Loaf Mountain

 

In each mountain, there are shops on top. You can buy souvenirs, jewelries and even food stuffs when you’re starving or drinks when you’re thirsty. We spent approximately 30 minutes taking pictures, enjoying the majestic view, roaming around the shops, looking for souvenirs and I met a Filipina working at the jewelry shop. She approached me first and invited me to her shop. I called my fellow Filipino tourists to come to the shop as well. She gave us lucky charms.

What’s good with our tour is that we have a videographer. He’s been taking videos on us while we’re busy roaming around. It’s not included in the package but for a minimal fee only. It was such a nice souvenir.

It was almost lunch time when we went down from the mountain. We had a quick stop at the Urca Mountain where they had a replica of the old cable car on display and for photo opportunities. When we arrived at the ground station, our bus was waiting and we’re heading for lunch at Ipanema. I joined the group for lunch at my expense then went back to my hotel.