Your Travel Experience with Finest Journeys
Tour
This morning, what better place to enjoy Yoga with an expert teacher than deep in the Tijuca National Park, the world’s largest urban rainforest and a triumph of reforestation. Covering the hills which surround Rio, this man-made tropical forest offers a stark contrast of natural calm to the busy concrete jungle of Rio's streets. The trails wind past multiple waterfalls, orchids gardens, and tropical fruit trees, all of which thrive in this protected space. Tijuca is also ideally situated to offer walkers panoramic views over the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana, Guanabara Bay and Sugarloaf Mountain. After a transfer from the hotel, the guide and teacher will lead along scenic tracks until reaching a suitable clearing, at which point the lesson will begin. The location is unique, and there will be a chance to enjoy the flora and fauna both before and after the class, during the relaxed hikes to and from the chosen site. Feeling fully refreshed and calm after Yoga, the next stop of the day will provide even more tranquillity and quiet, with a visit to the Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. Paradoxically located right in the heart of the hustle and bustle of Rio, Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro is widely regarded as Brazil's most impressive botanical garden. There is an extraordinary array of over 6,000 native and foreign plant species, Tamarins (small omnivores related to monkeys) and a host of colourful bird species thriving amongst the tropical vegetation. The lush, spacious gardens are an oasis of calm, and a little bit of a history lesson. First opened in the year 1822, there is still much of the original architecture and ornamentation on show, making a walk through the gardens feel like going back in time. As the pathways snake through the flora, some Culturally noteworthy stops along the walking tour include the old gunpowder factory, and the Solar da Imperatriz, home to the National School of Tropical Botany, the first of its kind in Latin America. The trip ends with a visits to the Atelier of Isabela Capeto, considered to be one of the most influential designers and stylists in Brazil today, known to create unconventional and supremely glamorous embroidered patterns, which are like a work of art in themselves, before returning to the hotel.