Rio From Above: Barra da Tijuca to the Reserva

Most people meet Rio de Janeiro at eye level: Copacabana's mosaic sidewalk, the line for the Christ statue, the cable car up Sugarloaf. Take one minute and look at it from the sky instead. That's where you see what the postcards leave out: the city is an argument between mountains, lagoons and the Atlantic, and the water keeps winning.

My parents are from Rio. So I don't do the tourist version of this city, and I won't sell you a tour of it. Brazil is home. What I can show you is the side of Rio that cariocas head to when they want room to breathe: the West Zone, where the beaches get longer, the sand gets emptier and the mountains stand back far enough for you to see them whole.

The video that goes with this piece flies over two places: Barra da Tijuca and the protected stretch of coast called the Reserva. Here's what you're looking at, and how to take it in once your feet are on the ground.