We took a 4 hour bus journey followed by a 1.5 hour boat trip south of Rio to an Island called Ilha Grande (known as the big island). We missed out on being in rio for the announcement of rio getting the 2016 olympics by acouple of hours!!! Bummer. Ilha Grande is a beautiful island. There are no ATM's or cars on the island, simplicity!! Our hostel was called Che Lagarto and it was at the end of the beach. It was very romantically set, massive porch area with can...

Arrived in Rio at night after a not so bad flight. Saying goodbyes wasnt all that bad...good ol'hangovers!! After a day of adjusting and wondering along Copacabana beach in the rain we booked ourselves onto a tour. The tour included Corcovado (Christ Statue), Sugar Loaf cable car, Lapa steps, Maracana football stadium, a cathedral, a tour of where rio carnival starts (we tried on crazy carnival clothes) and lunch. Again it rained alday but was a good day. The ev...