Rio’s urban rainforest

Just like the Baroness d’Escragnolle, my wife is luxuriating in the cascade of a waterfall.

Kerry raises her face to the cool tumble of water and flicks her hair, much like the 19th century aristocrat must have.

This re-creation of nobility is happening at Cascata de Baronesa, which means in Portuguese, “Baroness Waterfall.”

The waterfall is in the Tijuca National Park, the world’s largest urban rainforest, covering 40 square kilometres smack dab in the middle of the megalopolis of Rio de Janeiro.

This rewilded rainforest used to be a massive patchwork of coffee plantations and sugarcane fields.

The Baron d’Escragnolle was one of those coffee-plantation owners. He and the Baroness and their kids loved to do the 1850s version of a park hike with a waterfall finish.

Our waterfall whimsy is the last stop of a four-hour hike through the rainforest with Jungle Me guide Pietro Nava.

Pietro quips the hike is exercise and education, a free steam bath (it’s 31 C and the humidity is off the charts), and then an exhilarating refresh in the waterfall.

Everyone on the tour — me and my wife, Kerry, marriage counsellor Lindsay from Denver, doctor José from São Paulo and guide Pietro — paddle and splash in the pool at the base of the waterfall.

It’s an intoxicating novelty for us tourists, but a regular ritual for Pietro, who guides this tour almost daily.

Kerry and I signed up for Jungle Me’s Tijuca rainforest hike to take a break from our very urban pursuits of the previous few days,

That was beaching it at world-famous Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, touring the top attractions of the Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugarloaf Mountain, climbing the 215 steps of the elaborately and colourfully tiled Selaron Staircase and eating Brazilian steak and sipping the national drink, the caipirinha (sugarcane liquor muddled with lots of lime), at various restaurants, bars and poolsides.

But, back to Tijuca, where Pietro tells us the Baron and Baroness and all the other landowners were kicked off their holdings in 1861 by then Emperor Pedro II because the plantations were sucking up all the water destined to keep the city of Rio de Janeiro running.

There was initial chaos, and the plantation owners were pissed.

Freed slaves headed for the hills, establishing the now-famous favela slums of Rio.

And the emperor started a hit-and-miss rewilding of the rainforest with both native and non-native species, some of which turned out to be quite invasive (bananas, jackfruit, eucalyptus, bamboo and papaya).

Today, the rainforest is still a mix of flora, but is moving toward being as natural as possible to create a biodiverse environment where the water flows, carbon is sequestered and temperatures are cooled.

On the hike, Pietro points out the 1850-era Mayrink Chapel used by plantation owners, the ruins of plantation owners’ manors, the native Pau Brazil, hollow Embuba and various palm trees alongside the invasive plants.

He leads us up steep trails, down rocky paths, over bridges, along clifftops, through streams and into the Bat Grotto through a squeeze-and-duck-and-you’re-in entrance.

Where to stay

We stayed at the five-star Fairmont Copacabana, which is ideally perched at the south end of the beach, rising 13 storeys in all its mid-century modern glory.

The Canadian-founded luxury hotel brand was purchased by French hospitality giant Accor a decade ago, and as such the Fairmont Copacabana has a familiar sumptuousness with Brazilian flair.

Our bright and breezy suite on the ninth floor had the ultra-comfortable Fairmont Signature Bed, floor-to-ceiling windows and two balconies overlooking the beach.

The 375-room hotel has not one, but two pools — an infinity pool reaching to Copacabana, of course, and a cabana-ringed courtyard pool.

Our Fairmont Gold status gave us access to the exclusive Gold Lounge for breakfasts, all-day access and daily happy hours, from 6-8 p.m.

The hotel, also has a guests-only beach club and restaurant over the sand — Tropik.

The Fairmont Copacabana was also our home base from which to take the must-do Rio de Janeiro tours — the aforementioned Jungle Me foray, Nattrip’s jaunt to Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain, and a GuruWalk of the hilly and bohemian Santa Teresa neighbourhood and the elaborately and colourfully tiled 215 steps of the Selaron Staircase.

Getting there

Air Canada has started three-times-a-week, non-stop seasonal flights between Toronto and Rio de Janeiro that will continue until March 27.

With a two-hour time difference and 8,270-kilometre distance between the two cities that takes 10-and-a-half hours to span, the flights both ways are overnighters. As such, you might want to splurge on Signature (business) Class tickets for a pod with lie-flat bed so you can get a full night’s sleep to arrive rested and raring to go in Rio.

Air Canada is using the 298-seat, quick, quiet and comfortable Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jet on the route with a configuration of 30-pods in Signature Class, 21 seats in Premium Economy and 247 in economy.

For more information, check out: jungleme.com.br, fairmontrio.com and aircanada.com.

smacnaull@nowmediagroup.ca