Around five o’clock in the morning—three hours before the official opening of the Sugarloaf Cable Car— it is still dark, and there are no lines of tourists or street vendors offering tours.
At this time, the cable car receives only one group—the "sunrise experience." Launched a week ago in partnership with Belmond Copacabana Palace hotel, the tour combines a sunrise and breakfast at the Sugar Loaf Hill.
The tour, exclusive to hotel guests, only departs with at least four paying (R$ 1.500 per person, plus 10% tax). The regular ticket costs R$ 116 per person.
Arriving at dawn, one finds a cable car with plenty of space to take pictures under the light of the waning moon. At peak times, the same wagon holds up to 65 people.
At the first stop of the cable car at Morro da Urca, a red line marks the horizon and the day is becoming clear. The group then rushes to the place where the second cable car leaves, towards the Sugar Loaf.
The second station offers a 360º view of the city, so it's tempting to look for Christ or Copacabana beach.
But dawn radiates from another direction, that of Niteroi, and the best place to witness it is near the woods, a little far from the terrace where the hotel set the breakfast table.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon