What Cariocas like!

A beautiful winter Sun-day!!!

Leblon beach

Leblon-Ipanema

Ipanema beachfront!

hummmm! colourful!!

"Cariocas don't like cloudy days!"

Thursday, July 7th

It was rainny and cold.... 

Probably the coldest day of the year!

Friday, July 9th

The sun came out but temperatures were still low...

It is nice to see Cariocas in Winter outfits... 

many of us look forward to these days!

but when colder days come, it feels awkward... 

We are not used to it at all.

Winter Solstice and the Pink Ipê

The Pink Ipê is flowering! One of the most beautiful spetacles promoted by Nature from June to August! All the leaves fall and the flowers grow in bouquets! In Rio, here and there, it is a show of colours!

When the first Portuguese arrived

Disembarkation of Cabral by Oscar Pereira da Silva, 1922

The arrival of the Portuguese in the land that came to be called Brazil is directly related to the European commercial expansion which began in the XVth c.

In the search for gold and for an alternative route to Asia circumnavigating Africa, the Portuguese princes had a chance to prove their military skills, to the glory of the Avis dynasty, and to rescue souls, to the glory of the Christian Church.

 With the sponsorship of Genovese bankers, they went beyond, and shaped an Oversee Empire, provider of colonial goods to the European market, in parts of Africa, Asia and South America.

They arrived in India in 1498, but they missed the privilege to be the first ones to arrive where became known as America, done by Colombo sponsored by the Spanish kings. But for all the service already delivered, they could negotiate with Spain and get a hold of possibilities in the newfound land.

With the blessings of the Pope, the Treaty of Tordesilhas, from 1494, established a meridian to divide the Earth in two exploiting domains - any land “found or to be find” to the East of this meridian belonged to the Portuguese, and to the West, to Spain.

In 1494, Portugal was granted  only a part of Brazil

In 1500, a second Portuguese fleet was sent to India. 
Under the command of  Pedro Álvares Cabral, they deviated from the route along the African coast and arrived in the region today known as Porto Seguro in April.

The route travelled by Cabral in 1500.

The date of this first contact, as well as their first impressions upon arrival, are registered in the letter which Pero Vaz de Caminha, the oficial notary, wrote to the king D. Manuel I. This letter is considered by many today as the most accurate descriptions of what Brazil used to look like in 1500. "Arvoredo Tanto, e tamanho, e tão basto, e de tanta folhagem, que não se pode calcular", which roughly translates as "The vastness of the treeline and foliage is incalculable". He also described the natives, for it was not a vacant land.

To the European public though, it was Americo Vespucci, who gave account of the place for his writings were the first printed texts about Brazil – “Mundus Novus" – published around 1503-1504. He says: “And if in this world exists a terrestrial paradise, without doubt cannot be far from these places”.

The ideia that Paradise could exist on Earth abounded in the imaginations of medieval Europeans. 
 But the taste for wonder and mystery, almost inseparable from voyage literature during the Age of Discoveries, occupies singularly, very little space in Portuguese writings about the New World. They had become more practical with the occupation of Africa, as they exorcised the ideias about monsters and demons inhabitting the unknown Seas.  Even the fabulous India became a mere market to profit from in the name and glory of their souverain. 
The ideia of an Eldorado persisted though as the fantastic element to guide them.

In the search for riches and to map the territory, Portugal sent the first expedition in 1501, with Gaspar Lemos in command and other experienced navigators, and cartographers like Americo Vespucci, who verified an abundance of trees called PAU-BRASIL (literally ember stick). A similar species was formerly brought from Asia, cherished by medieval Europe for the red tint it produces. Thus, with the inexistence of gold at first glimpse, Brazilwood became the first lucrative colonial product. And is in the origin of the name given to the country.

Established as a crown-granted Portuguese monopoly, trading posts where created along the coast where the natives could stack the logs in exchange for trinkets, like mirrors and knives. Other nations tried to harvest and smuggle the logs to Europe, and corsairs began the attacks on Portuguese ships.

Woodcut from Andre Thevet's Cosmographie universelle, 1555

  

In hundred years, these trees were almost extinct, as well as the native population.

In this first expedition, important sites where mapped, like Cabo de São Roque – 16/08/1501; Rio São Francisco – 04/10/1501; Baía de Todos os Santos – 01/11/1501; Cabo de São Tomé – 21/12/1501; Rio de Janeiro – 01/01/1502; Angra dos Reis – 06/01/1502.

Bibliography:

HISTÓRIA DO BRASIL: Boris Fausto

VISÕES DO PARAÍSO: Sérgio Buarque de Holanda

O POVO BRASILEIRO: Darcy Ribeiro

Visit Rio! In Autumn...

Clear skies, mild temperatures... a delight!

Monument of Christ, the Redeemer


The momument is on Corcovado Mt. at the Tijuca Park!

Floresta da Tijuca

Rio, painted from Niterói, Henri Nicolas Vinet, XIXth c.

For its lush abundance, the Atlantic Rainforest became an inspiration for many foreign artists, botanists and naturalists.

Floresta da Tijuca, Henri Nicolas Vinet XIXth c.


But in the city, the forest was already deteriorated by extreme exploitation of its resources - logs for construction; firewood and coal for the numerous sugar-mills, brickyards, and domestic uses - as well as to extend coffee farming in almost all areas. 
In 1797, there were 120 sugar-mills. 
In 1763, coffee began to be planted uphill, protecting from the marshes down the plains. 
Only inaccessible gorges kept the original vegetation. 

Droughts succeeded, as well as historical floods. Either rivers dried, threatening water supply, or landslides provoked calamities. 

In 1856, sites began to be expropriated, and in 1861, a protected area called Floresta da Tijuca was created, and a reforestation program began. From 1861 to 1874, the man-in-charge, Major Archer used native species from adjacent regions. And from 1877 to 1887, it was carried on by the baron of Escragnolle, using also exotic species, with a total of around 95 thousand seedlings.


Escragnolle, who had his home uphill, with the help of  Auguste Glaziou, the Emperor's own landscaper, transformed the Tijuca Forest into an area of leisure and amusement, building roads, parks, belvederes, fountains, tracks, bridges and artificial lakes.

In 1943, Castro Maya, from a traditional family, was charged with the mission of refurbishing Escragnolle's and Glaziou's works.

Cascatinha Taunay

próximo à Cascatinha Taunay

Açude da Solidão

Quatis

Vista Chinesa

Paineiras

privileged view!

The Tijuca National Park

It was created in 1961 to protect the Tijuca massif 
 and its forest - “the lungs” of the city. 

In 1991, it was included in Unesco’s MAB Program as a Biosphere Reserve.

mico-estrela

tucano-de-bico-preto

preguiça

Embaúba

The Embaúba is so important for the whole regeneration of the forest. It is a pioneer plant. Its seeds lay dormant until a clearing happens, either naturally or induced. Then, it grows fast for it is hollow, and makes shade for the other species that need it to grow. And the sloth loves its fruit!!

silvered-leaves-embaúba

see more

Pedra da Gávea

Pedra da Gávea (Crow's nest Rock) is one of the landmarks of Rio.

It is situated in the São Conrado area, with the beach of Pepino at its foot.

In the XIXth c., there used to be a coffee farm.

Nowadays, a golf club!

Pedra da Gávea in the film "Rio"!

Different from the film, in Rio, the hang gliders and paragliders land on a reserved area at Pepino beach!