Last Adventure in Rio and a day in Sao Paulo

We woke up the morning of our last day in Rio excited for the upcoming activity. After running to the supermarket for a yogurt and granola bar, we waited outside our hostel for our ride to come. A guy pulled up in a truck with bars around the pickup end and seats with seatbelts in the back. We loaded into the back of the truck and buckled up. The ride through the city was refreshing. We started out going through the usual area of Botefogo but then continued on through what is known as a shanty town (basically a very poor neighborhood). Right after the shanty town there were golf courses and mansions. It seems so wrong to put a gold course right next to one of the poorest areas in Rio. We ended at a beach and there we exited the vehicle. We signed all the necessary papers and then told we were heading up the mountain to our takeoff spot. The ride up was insanely steep. Our driver (who happened to be the owner of the company) told us that he has been doing this for 28 years and in those he had went through 21 vehicles trying to drive up this mountain. Once at the top we walked to the takeoff area where many hang gliders were already set up. After watching others take off, we finally got our chance. The guide came over and suited me up in my harness. He then instructed me on how to grab his shoulder and where to place my other hand during takeoff. We practiced running together for takeoff. I was told not to jumb at the end of the ramp but to just keep on running. After a couple practices, we went over to our hang glider. He strapped me in and had me lay down to get the feel of letting the glider hold my weight. Once i felt comfortable, we prepared for takeoff. I thought the hardest part was going to be running off the cliff but actually it was very easy. He said one two three and I had no choice but to start running. Once leaving the ramp, it felt so surreal. We floated over the land and sea. At one point I was able to take control of steering the glider. We waved to people on the roof of a sky scraper. After floating around, we prepared for landing. He unstrapped one of my legs and told me when he said run to take off and not until then. We landed on a beach south of Ipanema.

After leaving hang gliding we headed to the hostel to pack up. Then we caught a taxi to the bus station. The bus ride to Sao Paulo was about 6 hours. Once arriving in Sao Paulo, Maria came to pick us up. It took awhile to figure out where she was parked but eventually we found them. Maria and Pedro (her boyfriend) were there to meet us. After placing the bags in the back and all four of us in the back we were quite cozy. We headed to a Japanese restuarant to enjoy some sushi. There we met two of their friends, Vivian and Louis. Dinner was delicious, i would have to say that it was some of the best sushi i have ever had. After dinner we headed back to Maria´s parents house to call it a night. After a good nights sleep, we woke up to a filling breakfast. They treated us so well during our stay. Anita had bought me my favorite Portuguese nuts. We talked after breakfast with Anita and Ricardo. Once all of us finished getting ready, we packed up our things reloaded the vehicle and headed to Sao Paulo for the day. Our first stop was the Market in what is considered the old part of town. We walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere. There were fruit, fish, dried meat, nuts, spices, oils, etc. They were all seperate stands inside a large building. We headed upstairs and enjoyed a huge, greasy bologna sandwich. Afterwards we bought some fruit and nuts and then continued to explore this part of town. We went to a couple old catholic churches and looked around and also walked around the Brazilian stock market type area. The streets were lined with trash, grafitti was everywhere. It was sad to see how dirty the city was. We left and headed to the main avenue, Av. Paulista. This is th newer area of Sao Paulo. We walked around a mall and then through a street market. I bought a simple necklace from a local vendor. Afterwards we returned to the mall and went to the food court to try a Aqui dessert (a type of fruit). It tasted alot like laffy taffy. Maria and Pedro and Vivian and Louis then took us to the bus station where we said our goodbyes and headed for a 16 hour bus ride to Puerto Iquazu.