Thursday 24th July 04 We have arrived in the final destination of our trip - Rio De Janeiro! Having arrived just after midnight we checked into a nice hotel in Copacabana, to rest out weary bones! Friday 25th July 04 After a lie-in this morning. we put on our summer clothes and headed out to see what Copacabana has to offer! It was just as we had imagined! After walking the short distance to the beach, we found hundreds of people dressed in the smallest bikinis and Speedos strutting their stuff on the beach and working out on the beach gymnasiums!!! It's very entertaining to watch! We then followed the coast along to the area of Ipanema, which is full of bars and restaurants and people dressed up to the nines - this is a place where the locals dress to impress! We then decided to join the sun lovers and hit the beach for a spot of afternoon sunbathing! From Copacabana beach you can see the huge Sugar Loaf Mountain - which we will see next week! In the evening, we found a restaurant with a huge buffet which is paid for by the kilogram - strange concept but great food! After stuffing ourselves silly, we headed to the cinema to watch Shrek 2 - which for those who haven't seen it yet - it's hilarious! We then headed for bed after an eventful day, very pleased that we are spending the last 2 weeks of our trip in Brazil!! Saturday 26th June 04 We woke today thinking we were going to the huge 200,000 capacity football stadium that is the Maracana, but discovered that the game is on tomorrow - so what better way to spend the day than to lay on the beach soaking up the sun and generally people watching! We also ventured into the huge and very powerful waves where Nat got battered by one and ended up with a mouthful of sand - not nice trust me!!! The rest of the day was spent updating the website and generally chilling out before we see the tourist sights tomorrow and Monday. Sunday 27th June 04 Today we wandered to the Hippie Market in Ipanema where we both purchased some souvenirs - too good to resist! We then went to the Maracana stadium in the afternoon to watch two local teams - Botafogo vs Fluminense - where Botafogo scored in the last 2 seconds of the game to equal the score to 3-3 - it was an exciting game! The stadium once held 200,000 people, but today's capacity is 70,000. Football is the Brazil's life, which is shown through their colourful banners, drums and music during the game! Having been so impressed with the pay per kilo buffets which are everywhere in Copacabana we could not resist another visit! Monday 28th June 04 Today we visited Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain), which after catching the cable car to the top, offered spectacular 360 degree views of Rio de Janeiro. The day was quite hazy but the views were still breathtaking (the photos will prove this!!). We spent a few hours soaking in the view and relaxing at the top before heading back down to the city where we walked around Ipanema. We had planned to see the Christo Redentor statue today but will visit when the haze has lifted. Tuesday 29th June 04 Today was spent looking around the shops of Copacabana and catching the last 2 hours of sunshine on Ipanema beach. We then walked over to Copacabana beach and sat at a beach cafe watching the sun set, as groups of men played a rather strange version of beach volley ball where they can only use their heads, shoulders, chests and legs to pass the ball - basically any body part except for their hands!! After dinner we walked around the Copacabana beach front night market and purchased yet more souvenirs -we are not sure if the aeroplane will make it off the ground with all our bags!!!!! Wednesday 30th June 04 Today we spent the entire day on the beach soaking up the sun and cooling off in the sea before returning to the hotel to watch the Holland vs Portugal and update the website!! In the evening, we caught the metro to the Maracana football stadium to watch a league final game between Flamengo and Santo Andre. We managed to get 2 tickets with the help of a young Brazilian guy, who took us under his wing to sit with his family and girlfriend during the match. He had told us it was not safe for us to be there! It was a great game with a fantastic atmosphere until Flamengo lost 2-0 which soured the atmosphere somewhat!! However, we had a good evening, and managed to get back to our hotel in one piece, after encountering many unhappy fans on the journey home! Thursday 1st July 04 This morning we went on a tour around the Rocinha favela - Latin America's largest slum - housing some 300,000 people! Dan and I being the only ones on the tour, were told by Gabrielle, our tour guide, that all other tours drive through the favela, but because he lives here we would walk through!! It was a little daunting at first but the locals were very friendly saying 'hola' as we walked passed! The favela is owned by 2 rival drug gangs who frequently fight and Gabrielle informed us that 10 people were murdered last night in the favela. We weren't sure whether to believe this but it was reported on CNN!! Pretty scary stuff!! In the afternoon, Gabrielle took us up to see Christo Redentor, which sits on top of the Corcovado mountain at 710 metres. It is an amazing sight which offers 360 degree views of Rio De Janeiro. We were lucky that the day was perfectly clear as we were able to see for miles! On our way back to Copacabana we were taken to Carnival Lane where the annual Rio de Janeiro Carnival takes place. Here, we were able to try on very colourful and flamboyant carnival costumes - Dan looked very dashing in his!!! You never know, we may get an offer for a part in next year's carnival! Friday 2nd July 04 Today we packed up all our belongings and headed to the bus terminal in order to catch a bus 4 hours south to the small town of Paraty. However, we found on arrival at the terminal that their computer system had crashed meaning they couldn't print any bus tickets. We waited as the queue got longer and longer and lots of angry Brazilians began pushing to the front! Five minutes before the bus was due to leave, they decided to write out the tickets and we managed to get the first ones, which was pretty lucky! Once we arrived in Paraty we checked into a guesthouse and went out for dinner with a Dutch couple, Irene and Jeron, and their 8 month old baby Faye, who we met at the bus station. Paraty is a lovely old town, with cobbled streets - it has a really relaxed atmosphere and is a place where the wealthier Brazilians go for their holidays. Sat 3rd July 04 This morning we checked into a nicer hotel for the same price and headed to the beach. After spending a few hours soaking up the sun, we wandered back to the hotel to laze around the pool until the sun disappeared behind the trees. We then strolled back to the town to have a look around the small craft and souvenir shops in the evening. Sun 4th July 04 We decided to board a 5 hour boat cruise today, around the bay of Paraty which is home to hundreds of tropical islands. We stopped at 2 palm-tree lined beaches and 2 islands where we saw hundreds of tropical fish in the clear blue waters - it was paradise! It was a great day soaking up the sun and relaxing! In the evening, we headed into town and bumped into the Irene and Jeron, so joined them for a few drinks and tried the Brazilian national drink Capirinha, made from sugar cane, which tastes very much like Tequila! Monday 5th July 04 This morning we caught the bus back to Rio. This was excellent timing as the weather has turned overcast and rainy, but still very warm and humid. We checked back into the Savoy Hotel in Copacabana to have our last 2 nights of our trip in luxury! We went shopping in the evening at one of Rio's many shopping malls and treated ourselves to some new clothes. Once back in Copacabana we headed to the night market by the beach for some last minute souvenir purchases and headed for bed at midnight. Tuesday 6th July The weather was again very overcast today, so no beach for our last day in Rio! We headed to the bottom of Sugar Loaf Mountain, where a small walkway leads you through a forest inhabited by lots of monkeys. A local lady gave us a banana to feed the monkeys, which came running down the trees at the first sight of the banana and we were able to hand feed them which was great. Our final evening in Rio de Janeiro and our last night of travelling was spent watching the famous Plataforma 1 Show in nearby Leblon. With all kinds of Brazilian dance including Samba and amazing carnival costumes! It was a fantastic last night to our 8 months travelling! Wednesday 7th July 04 Time to go home...... Well, the day has finally arrived that we must pack up all our bags and head back to rainy old England. We boarded the plane in the afternoon and said goodbye to Rio and to our 247 days of travelling. We have had a truly, unbelievably, and spectacular time and have been able to do so many things that only a year ago we were dreaming of doing. From sky-diving, to glacier walking, swimming with dolphins, to walking the Inca Trail and much more - we have so many outstanding memories to look back on. Now it's time to return home, to the normality of life in England. We'll never forget the experiences we have had...........