By David, on April 27th, 2010 Last week we decided that, after all the shooting, robbing, noise and chaos of life in Lapa, enough was enough. It was time we found a flat in Copacabana.
We began our usual net search and contacted countless landlords in Ipanema, Botafogo and Copacabana, mostly using Google translate and Alugal Temporada. All we received in response were owners of small over-priced studios; most at around BR$3000 (£1100) per month, which we can’t justify whilst out here volunteering. As luck would have it however, whilst visiting a ‘cambio’ money exchange place called ‘Blame it on Rio’ to change some money, I got chatting to the owner Bobby, who is super friendly chap from New York. I mentioned I was looking for a flat, to which he replied that he’d just been doing one up for a friend on Copacabana beach, just one block away. He called his friend and 15 minutes later we had ourselves a beautiful apartment on the corner of Avenida Atlantica, with sea views of Copacabana Praia and Forte de Copacabana, Cable TV, Internet and Air conditioning! We went to visit this morning, and it really is the perfect flat. Marju and I celebrated with a Coco verde on the beach opposite, realising it even has a roof terrace!
I don’t feel sad at all to leave Lapa (which is a shame – because beneath all the scum is a beautifully neglected neighbourhood which could be so cool) and now can’t wait for Friday. It’s all fallen into place nicely too. This Friday we leave the flat in Lapa then head to Paraty for the weekend. Then on Monday, we come back toward Rio, but are stopping off in Ilha Grande for 3 days, before arriving back in Rio on Thursday to move into the new flat and watch the UK election coverage on BBC World! We’re going to stay in the flat for 6 weeks, then head up to Manaus and spend my last week in Brazil in the Amazon. we got the flat for BR$3000 for 6 weeks – so 2 weeks free over some of the others we saw, spot on our BR$2000 per month budget, and only slightly more than we are paying in Lapa too – bargain!
Let the new chapter of my Rio experience begin.
Pictures of new flat in Copacabana below:
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