Sugarloaf cable car station |
Surgarloaf
from Copacabana |
We could see Sugarloaf ahead as we rode along Copacabana, but there was a low
cloud just behind it. The bus turned into the Botafogo district and dropped us
at the lower station of the cable cars that run up to the top of Sugarloaf. It
was about 10:00.
Sugarloaf is a huge granite slab at the entrance of Guanabara
Bay. It's a strange rock formation, yet there are others very much like it in
the Rio area. It's 1,295 feet high, and you take two separate cable cars
(total length 4,265 feet) to get to the top. The first stage goes to the top
of Morro da Urca, and from there you have a few minutes walk to catch the
second cable car to the top of Sugarloaf. On the way, we spotted a couple of
the playful little sagui monkeys that live there.
Model of Urca & Sugarloaf |
Sugarloaf from cable car to Urca |
Sagui monkeys at the mid-station |
Cable car to top of Sugarloaf |
Unfortunately, the light rain started up again as we
ascended to Sugarloaf and a low cloud moved onto the north side. Conditions
were bad, but we could
still see Copacabana and much of the city from the top when we first arrived.
but conditions were really bad. Then it rained very hard and we had to
seek shelter. There were food stands, tables, and rest rooms up there.
Rio from Sugarloaf |
Copacabana from Sugarloaf |
Copa when the heavy rain came |
We spent about 30 minutes on Sugarloaf before
taking the cable car back down to Morro da Urca. There we saw one of the
original open-air cars that were used when the cable car line was built in 1912.
We took the next cable car down to the bottom
Cable car down to Urca |
Urca & Botafogo from cable car |
Jane by old cable car at mid-station |
Then there was a considerable
delay, first for the rest of our group to get down, then for our bus to return for
us. It was close to noon when we got underway, and we expected to go directly to
the ship terminal where we were scheduled to arrive at 12:30. But our guide
informed us that HAL had phoned her and asked her to delay our arrival there
because of some problem with the embarkation procedure. We didn't mind initially
because that would give us a chance to see a little more of Rio. Little did we
know that the delay would stretch to four hours.
