Father & Son on top of Dois Irmaos

After Dad saw the pictures from our previous attempt to conquer the Dois Irmaos mountain (and all we saw was pure whiteness), he wanted to see it for himself ... so on the 29th of December, 2013, we set out to climb the mountain.  Here is the proof!

On the bus to Vidigal Favela ... 

 Yes, we got some idiot with a big thumb to take out picture ...

 When we first got up there it was cloudy once again ... pure whiteness ...

 Dad rested disappointingly given the lack of view ... 

 ... but then God must have seen his tears ... or drops of sweat streaming down his face ...

 ... and 20 minutes later, the view was clear as foggy glass ...

 Next time we're going up Pedra da Gavea, right Dad?

 Dad liked this jungle picture ... 

 On our way down we walked through the Favela and ...

 ... Dad concluded that the buildings were not up to structural engineering standards ...

Later that day, we enjoyed a cold drink at the Lagoa ... when Dad pointed out that he went all the way up there (see exactly where Dad's finger is pointing to).

Dois Irmaos

Ever since my first visit to Brasil nearly 10 years ago, I've wanted to climb the Dois Irmaos mountain - it's the spectacular duo of peaks that stand tall to the right of Ipanema beach (facing the ocean) ... millions of tourists take awesome pictures of this pair of solid rock mountain tops with crazy beautiful sunsets from Ipanema beach and Apoador rock.  I've been living in Brasil for almost 7 year - I finally can say that I made it to the top.

 On the way up ... we already noticed the clouds moving in ... or maybe there were there all along :-)

 Rocinha - the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro with a population of close to 1 million people.

 It is crazy to see the mosaic of houses built on top of houses built on top of other houses.

 The proximity between rich and poor is ridiculous ... US$15million mansions no more than a block away from "shanty-town BRZ".

 And just as we arrived at the top - the cloud cover closed in.  This was the last picture taken where I could still identify Ipanema beach ... 30 seconds later ...

... pure whiteness!!!

 Three colleagues from BP joined me on the adventure ... 

 This photo will one day be preserved in the historical archives as "The Inspiration for Christo-II on Dois Irmaos Mountain"

As we descended, we broke back beneath the cloud cover ... pretty cool stuff!