Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — My trek into Tijuca National Park started on a crowded tram that carries tourists up Corcovado Mountain, rising more than 2,000 feet above the city. The big draw here is the famous Christ Redeemer statue, one of Rio's biggest attractions.
I came for a taste of wildness. Rio boasts the world's largest urban rain forest, more than fifteen square miles of steep, jungle-like terrain woven among the city's bustling, crowded neighborhoods. Within minutes, the tram rattled up into a world of green shadows and bright red blossoms.
I'm sixty years old and a northerner, not used to Brazil's fierce heat. So my plan was to let the tram do the hard work. It carried me close to the top of the mountain. Then I set off hiking down a winding series of trails. My only real goal, other than exploring, was to find a famous chain of waterfalls deep in the forest.
Minutes after leaving the tram station I was alone in the shade of the high forest canopy. Picture trees as big as cathedral columns. Bright red flowers called Flaming Torches glowed in the shade. Monkeys tussled through the high branches, shaking down twigs and leaves.
This is no city park. For the next few hours, I scrambled down trails that were steep and often ankle-twisty. It was steamy hot so I stopped frequently to rest and drink from my water bottle by tumbling streams. As I descended, the forest grew more and more wild.
At times, up in the high tree canopy, I could see bright orange butterflies moving through the hot sunlight. I also caught glimpses of Rio through the trees and heard distant sirens, music and motorcycles. But as the afternoon heat intensified, the drone of cicadas also grew louder, drowning out the city.
After another hour I found it: the chain of popular waterfalls that draw locals to swim. I scrambled up under an enormous face of moss-covered rock, curtained with shimmering water. I stripped to my shorts and dunked under the shower, rinsing away the day's sweat.
It was shivery cold and wonderful. I stretched out on a rock after my swim to let the sun dry me off before hiking the final half-mile down into the city.
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