Aubree Stone
Cancun, Mexico to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Getting There
Cancun sits on the Yucatan Peninsula. It has beautiful clear blue waters with bright white sandy beaches. It has stunning weather and an adventure waiting to happen. Rio sits on the boarder of Brazil and meets with the Atlantic ocean. This beautiful place also has white sandy beaches and is just a great place to have fun.
Flight Information:
-To Cancun:
US Airways costs only $1712 for two people. For this particular flight, we leave at 7:00am and got there at 12:32pm. Also, since we are not flying an entire day, we only have to pay $10 per person for the one meal we will have.
-To Rio:
After we visit Cancun, we have a 2 day flight to Rio de Janeiro. United only costs $1094 for two. The time we leave is at 5:31pm and the first flight lands in Texas at 7:56pm. A total of about a 2 hour flight. We then get about a 2 hour break before we leave again at 9:15pm. This flight takes 12 hours before we finally land in Rio at 9:20am.
Car Rental Information:
-Cancun:
The best and cheapest place to rent a car is at Fox Rent a Car. You only have to pay $34 a day, and we are staying for 5 nights before we finally return the car. For this deal, we can get a silver convertible which we will mainly keep the top open since it is hot.
-Rio:
In Rio, the prices are a little different but are worth it. At Budget, you only have to pay $92 a day, and we are staying 8 nights before we return the car and leave back to America.
Where to Stay
-Cancun:
A good hotel to stay at is the Le Blanc Spa Resort. For 4 nights and two people, we only pay a total of about $603. At this wonderful hotel, they have a spa, a giant clean and clear pool, a restaurant, a bar and lounge, and a fitness center open to everyone. Also, with this deal, you get an air conditioned room that faces the ocean, a parking spot specifically for you, wifi and internet access, and free breakfast. Some really good features of this hotel is that the beach is only a walk away and you can see the beautiful sun as it sets. Perfect!
-Rio:
In Rio, a wonderful place to stay is at the Sofitel Rio de Janeiro Copacabana hotel. For 8 nights and two people, you only have to pay $484. For this deal, we get access to a spa, pool, restaurant, storage space, fitness center, a bar and lounge. Also, we get an air conditioned room, express checkout, internet and wifi, and a parking spot. Upsides to this hotel is that there is no smoking and pets are allowed to stay at the hotel with you.
Cancun
Cancun
Rio de Janeiro
Activities
-Cancun:
Spend some of your days at the Cancun Underwater Museum for $191 per adult. There are more packages that are more expensive but this particular package lets you experience everything. This 2-day experience lets you dive under waters in the daylight and night to see some of the most interesting things known in Cancun. You also have the choice of a 2 tank conzumel or cavern dive. Another great activity that you can go to is the Ik Kil. For this tour, it is $89 per adult. You can experience some of old Mayan ruins and waters that are amazing. There are lots more to do in Cancun but there are few days to experience it all, so I thought that these two things would be fascinating to go to.
-Rio:
Have you ever just wanted to see the entire city of Rio at once? Well on this Rio de Janeiro helicopter tour you can see it all! A great way to spend one of your days is to go around the entire city of Rio for only $259.99. Also, we had to do something wild and adventurous so we decided to take surf lessons. For this adventurous day, we will take 5 hours out of our day and have fun trying something new. Another thing that we can do that is amazingly fun is go on a zipline. To go on the zipline, you only have to take 5 hours out of your day just like with surfing. There are lots more things to do in Rio, but I recommend that you spend at least one of your days just relaxing on the beach and enjoying yourself.
Cancun
Cancun
Rio de Janeiro
HISTORY AND CULTURE
-Cancun:
Since Cancun is in Mexico, there are lots of Mayan Ruins. Some big ruins in Cancun are the Chichen Itza and the Chetumal. In 550 A.D. the Chichen Itza where built by, of course, the Mayans. The "El Castillo" is the biggest of all the Chichen Itza buildings. It has 365 steps, which some say is for each day of the year. Researchers and founders say that about one hundred years later, these amazing buildings were abandoned. Crazy!
-Rio:
Rio was colonized by the Portuguese. They changed a lot of things in Rio that made them who they are today. Also, Brazil had begun to engage and start finding gold, diamonds and riches. When they started to do this, the Europeans numbers were increasing by a lot. This was difficult for them. Thankfully, Rio got passed these hard times and become the amazingly wonderful place that they are today.
http://www.sunofcancun.com/history-cancun-mexico.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Rio_de_Janeiro
Problems/Solutions
Problems:
-Cancun:
A problem that might occur in Cancun is that they speak a different language than me. They speak Spanish which is completely different from what us, Americans, speak.
-Rio:
There are a few problems in Rio that can occur to Americans. One is that they have a history of violence. Another is that because the trip is so long, you could get jet-lag for a couple days. And that's never fun!
Solutions:
-Cancun:
Since they speak Spanish in Cancun, one solution is that I can ask a tour guide that speaks and understands English to help us if we need help. Also, we could get Spanish lessons from some of the natives in Cancun.
-Rio:
A solution for avoiding the violence is to always have someone with you. If someone is with you, they might not want to do anything just because of the dangers of someone finding out. Also, you probably don't want to go into a bad part of the city at night. You are probably a lot safer if you stay inside at night. Secondly, to avoid jet-lag you probably would have to relax the first couple of days on the beach or go get a massage. The jet-lag will go away much faster.