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.
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| 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 20th 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.
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| the Sugar Loaf Mountain |
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| round-trip ticket |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
