Ron Steinhoff
June 11, 2016
After a busy week full of studying and finals, it was great to be able to unwind at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden. This beautiful garden was full of many different types of exhibits showing off the more than 6,500 species spread throughout the 54 hectares of the garden. We had learned about the botanical garden when discussing the influence of the Royal Family as the garden was founded in 1808 by King John VI of Portugal.
The garden was also full of people taking pictures for special events because of the many breathtaking views that the gardens offered. To be honest, it was hard to know where you were while in the gardens because it was so immense and each different view would show a whole new side of the gardens that you hadn’t seen before. However, our day did not end there. Professor Sanchez, with her street smarts, was able to order us a tour van to bring us to the base of the Pedra do Telégrafo trail. This move saved the group hours on public transportation as the trail was past Barra de Tijuca, an affluent neighborhood in the West Zone that we had read about in our Rio de Janeiro Readers. Once we arrived at the base of the trail, we had a breathtaking view of the ocean from the restaurant where we ate 
before starting the hike. This place also had some of the best seafood that I have had all trip. The hike itself took about 40 minutes and it was full of views that continued to get better and better as we hiked. At the top of the trail was the much anticipated Pedra do Telégrafo.
I would recommend to google this name to get a visual, but pretty much it is a great picture opt that makes people look a lot more adventurous than they really are. Then after taking many pictures, including one where all of the students are pretending to push Professor Sanchez off the cliff, we headed back down and were only 30 minutes late for the van that waited to bring us back home. Needless to say, it was a great day to be in Rio de Janeiro!