Happy long weekend to our Canadian readers!

After more than three months at high attitude (except for a few days in Lima and our time cruising the Galapagos Islands), we are firmly lodged at sea level for the month of August. And there may be no better place on earth to enjoy sea level than Copacabana Beach.  Blue sky, blazing sunshine, soft clean sand, and no high altitude sickness!

We’re in a small studio apartment about 100m from the south end of the beach, with a side view of the beach out our 11^th floor window. We’re also just a few blocks from the west end of Ipanema Beach, so we have a huge decision to make every morning – will it be Copacabana or Ipanema today?

Copacabana Beach is about 4 km from one end to the other, so we’ve decided that a good way to start the day is with a walk along the water’s edge from one end to the other and back – followed by a few hours soaking up and sun and surf. Everything you’ve heard about sun-lovers here is true, men and women alike sport swimsuits manufactured from postage stamp-sized bits of fabric and string. But it’s a very democratic beach – people of every shape, size, and colour enjoying the sun and sand.

There are several kiosks along the side of the road overlooking the beach, offering glasses of ice cold chopp Brahma (draft beer) for about $2 each – the perfect way to cool down late afternoon.

Of course we’ll check out all the attractions Rio de Janeiro has to offer, museums, galleries, parks, interesting neigbourhoods and more – but they can wait for cloudy or rainy days!

Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro