After lunch, the rain was holding off (although it was still a gloomy day), so we decided to rent a couple of beach chairs for R$8. We did not rent the umbrella as there was no sun to shade ourselves from that day.
While sitting on the beach, we were approached by vendors selling swimwear, ice cream, food, juice, and kangas. The kanga is a multi-purpose rectangular fabric that is used in place of a beach towel and also as a wrap by the ladies. We had an enthusiastic kanga salesman who attempted to sell us a kanga for R$50. This was very odd to me as, I had just walked by another vendor selling kangas for R$25. Paul really liked this enthusiastic salesperson so he paid R$30 for a kanga. Here's the kanga we negotiated from R$50 to R$30. I still think we overpaid.
Our next enthusiastic salesman came by with his inventory of bikinis. One of the other guests of our bed and breakfast mentioned to me that morning that bikinis were quite cheap to buy at the beach. She said that she had bought some bottoms for her friends for about $5 each. I was once again shocked when the salesman wanted R$60 for one bikini. I declined. Next he moved onto the European ladies about 20 feet away from us and offered them bikinis for R$20. I think it is quite apparent to everyone that my husband and I are Americans and we were quoted the "American" price.
The question I have been asked most often since I returned is, "Did you enjoy the nude beaches of Rio?"
Answer: NO Ipanema and Cocacbana are NOT nude beaches. The guidebooks even specifically state to keep your clothes / swimwear ON. Just to clarify, we did not see any naked people on the beach in Brazil. The most risque thing we saw were a heterosexual couple standing up and making out on the beach.
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