Day 8: The Final Stretch

After a phenomenal closing program last night and just a few hours sleep, we hit the road at 4:45 am with a touch of cafe con leche and some pao de quijo (cheese bread) to get the engines roaring before our first domestic flight from Belo Horizonte to Rio de Janeiro. Unfortunately, the van with our luggage got tied up in traffic and we missed our flight, which meant that Teca spent the next two hours booking us on the next available flight at 9:45 am. We arrived in Rio at 10:45 am eager to see the Christ the Redeemer statue, voted one of the modern wonders of the world as of 2002. It was overcast today -- so not the best day for heading into the rainforest and up the mountain. Because of our later flight, we opted to skip seeing Sugar Loaf mountain, which meant more Reales (Brazilian money) for supporting the local economy at the Hippie Market in downtown Rio. Monday is a national holiday -- Brazilian Independence Day -- so everything was packed. It was slow moving but our group final made it up the mountain in the rental tourbus. The ride up the winding road with some Brazilians walking on foot, personal cars careening around every corner, plus other tourbuses felt nothing short of a Roller Coaster ride at Kings Dominion. The Christ the Redeemer statue, standing 95 feet high can be seen from all over the city and is a testimony to the presence of God in this part of the world.

We're boarding so must run. Will post photos tomorrow. God bless -- I'm officially exhasted, but it feels good just the same.