Itty Bitty Sailboats

*there should really be pictures with this post, but i usually don't take a camera to the beach so you must use your imagination...
A walk on two of my favorite (nearby) Rio beaches

People often ask me “how’s brazil?” enthusiastically (!!!). It’s a little hard to answer. It’s a large country, ahem, with a lot of people and a penchant for good barbeque...? I thought I'd share a little mini-portrait of Brasil with you, namely a sketch of two of my favorite close-at-hand beach(es) here, where I was walking earlier. I set out around 5 pm to Botafogo beach, which is about a 20 minute walk from my house, through streets that were uncharacteristically empty because the Rio city-wide soccer match was on (Botafogo vs Flamengo). The goal was to catch the remains of the day and beathe some fresh air since I had gone to bed at daybreak, got out of bed at 2 pm, and stayed inside on a gorgeous day in May. May is one of the nicest months in Rio, turning into “fall” which means clear light, lack of humidity and a lovely breeze

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I hopped a bus (only costs a buck) to the other end of Flamengo beach, which is next to Botafogo. Here's some orientation for you:
See how Botafogo is right next to Flamengo? Note that I live in Botafogo basically between the beach and the Lake that sits between Botafogo and Ipanema.




So, Botafogo and Flamengo, side by side. I’m surprised there was no blood in the sand at the point where the two beaches meet, for all the rivalry between the two neighborhood soccer teams. Starting at Flamengo and walking back towards home is a nice route when time is short, and hence the bus-hopping. There were plenty of beach-goers out despite the game, and plenty of sandy kids being hollered at occaissionally by their moms. Flamengo has a pretty view of Sugar Loaf, and other hills that I don’t know the names of but that make for an interesting skyline along the bay which Flamengo Beach essentially sits at one end of.

Today when I stopped to sit on some rocks (at a nice point where you see Sugar Loaf in one direction and the Cristo in the other) I saw two schools of itty bitty sailboats returning back to the harbor. They were about a quarter of the size of a normal sailboat, and no it was not a tromps de loil (however you spell that), because each school was led by a “grown-up” sailboat. They looked like ducks in a row. I don’t really know what it was all about, besides being ridiculously cute sailboats but I have two guesses. Perhaps there is a sailing school for (rich) kids that learn to sail on tiny sailboats. Or, they might have been some sort of undercover sailboat brigade that apprehends pirates..? (Who could suspect trouble from such a cute itty bitty sailboat?)

Walking along (almost back to Botafogo now) and next comes the little Praia (beach) dos Gatos.* This is basically a small park with awesome workout equipment where men lift weights made of cement poured into coffee tins and the like. There are sometimes a couple gatos there getting buff and always some gatos that hang around because they are interested in the fish guts left by fishermen on the rocks nearby. Mostly I enjoy the cute cats and the ingenuity of whomever made workout equipment from little more than some logs and cement.

Coming back along Botafogo beach to where I would turn inland and head home, I could already hear the yells coming from bars where everyone but me was watching the game. I passed the harbor, where the sailboats were nodding sleepily as dusk set in. Crossed the four large and busy streets that one must cross to reach Botafogo proper from the beach. I managed to watch the rest of the game outside a bar where there were a lot of fans who were yelling loudly and were far more excited than I will ever manage to be about a sports match in my life. It was, admittedly, very exciting because it went to penalty kicks in the end. Lots more yelling and singing team songs. Every time a kick scored, the crowd (well, half of it actually) burst out screaming, and I burst out laughing because it's just all too amazing.

*gato = cat, or also a cute guy - hence my name for the beach