At the Copa...Copacabana...

How about that, we made it to Rio! Actually we haven´t stayed in Copacabana, but near Ipanema Beach (the posh end of town, to make us feel at home), where we´ve found a hostel with a good crowd of people and great atmosphere - 5 o´clock beer o´clock makes me happy!

Kicked off with a beautiful jetlagged state - my own fault for not sleeping, and insisting that I spend the entire of my first day doing as much as possible! But well worth it - we went to Sugar Loak mountain (in the background of the photo) and Corcovado, where the statue of Christ the Redeemer is (foreground). Both were fantastic - we were on Sugar Loaf when the sun was at its highest, watching the sparkles on the water and thousands of yachst in the bay, as well as admiring the stunning beaches that loop around Rio´s coastline. We went to Corcovado at sunset (after almost being killed by our rally driving cabbie - let me tell you the corners going up that hill are NOT gentle!), and it was amazing. It´s such an iconic image that it really hit home that I was in Rio, and we blessed with a stunning sunset sky and a beer to toast South America!

We´ve managed not to get robbed (so far so good, although we had a near miss but were rescued by some kind Brazilians) and have thrown ourselves into the typically Brazilian party spirit with a good few nights out on the town - not entirely our fault to be fair, since it´s been a public holiday, so that Ipanema and Copacabana beaches have been RAMMED and the nights have been awesome! One night to remember was spent at a Brazilian samba club - whilst the Brazilians samba´d and tore up the dancefloor, the Kiwis and Irish tore up a good number of beer cans (sound familiar?!).

So all in all Rio has proved to be a fab experience as an introduction to Brazil, and to our South American adventure. We´re off to Ilha Grande next, a little slice of paradise about 3 hours south. Long live the good weather and the caipirinhas (and let me tell you they make them PROPERLY here!).

Til then xxx