For some reason, when I imagined Rio in my head, it was always with the sun shining. So when we arrived to heavy rain it didn't feel quite right. Luckily it soon brightened up but the weather was very mixed the whole time I was there. I tried to do most of my sightseeing in the first couple of days, with the intention of going to the beach later, but the weather was awful for the last couple of days - pouring with rain - so I didn't make it to the beach once!

On arrival in Rio, Julio took us for a walk around the Copacabana and Ipanema districts before we all went for our last group dinner at a great churrascaria (Brazilian barbeque).

I had planned to visit Rocinha favela (the biggest slum neighbourhood in Rio) the next morning but just before we arrived in the city there had been a shooting there and six people were killed in broad daylight so the armed police had taken over the area and tourists couldn't go in.

Instead I visited the famous 'Christ the Redeemer' statue which looks down on Rio from atop the Corcovado hill. It is such an iconic symbol - I had seen it so many times in photos and films - I never thought I'd be seeing it in real life! It was exciting and awe-inspiring to be standing at the foot of this 38-metre-tall Christ, looking up at his outstretched arms and around at the beautiful panorama of Rio's hills, beaches and bays. It was one of those great-to-be-alive moments in which I reflected on all the amazing experiences I'd had while travelling and I felt very lucky

After that I stopped briefly at the Maracanã football stadium where the final of the 2014 World Cup is going to be held. I also saw the Samba Parade where Samba troupes compete during the Carnival festival.

I went to the Escadaria Selarón - a stairway between rows of houses (typical in Rio due to the hilly terrain) which a local resident - Selarón, an artist originally from Chile - has spent many years decorating with painted tiles. Some reflect personal feelings or events from his life; many represent other countries, having been contributed by visitors from all over the world. Escadaria Selarón even featured among other images of Rio in the video for Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams's song 'Beautiful'.

Later I took the cable car to the top of Sugar Loaf mountain (Pão de Açúcar) to watch the sunset - it was fabulous!

In the evening, a few us went to the renowned restaurant Casa da Feijoada (House of Beans) in Ipanema for dinner. They serve fantastic traditional Brazilian food; I had rice, beans, various meats in a type of stew, crackling, some fried yucca-type vegetable and some token green stuff! Monica persuaded the sceptics among us to try some Brazilian wine which turned out to be very nice. Afterwards we popped into Shenanigans Irish bar for a drink.

The following day was Denise and Simon's last in Rio and the three of us went hang-gliding over the city. I was nervous before I jumped off but actually it wasn't a scary experience - it felt very tranquil and relaxed. I was attached to a professional guy who was doing all the steering and hard work. We jumped from a hill and flew around part of the city, then out over the sea for a bit before landing on the beach. I really enjoyed it and had a celebratory caipirinha and acai at the bottom. It was sad to say goodbye to Denise after almost three months of travelling together!

Day 4 in Rio and the tension in the favelas had eased so Phoebe, Emma and I went on a tour around Rocinha. We hitched rides on the back of motorbike taxis to get up the hill into the middle of the favela. Over 200,000 people live there and looking down from up high, the thousands of tiny multi-coloured houses piled up on top of one another looked like Lego bricks. We walked around visiting various shops and houses - I was surprised to find that there was a post office and a medical centre there. We visited the home of an artist who painted striking images of Rio. We also went to a childcare centre that was supported by the 'Be A Local' company that organised this favela tour. Our guide, Marcio, was able to advise where it was and wasn't safe for us to take out our cameras. It was only as we were leaving the area that we saw some of the drug dealers that effectively run the place, walking around with guns and walkie-talkies - they looked shockingly young.

From what I saw, most of the people in Rocinha are not living in total poverty - although conditions are very basic, they have good food, decent clothes and essential services; some had radios and TVs - but the houses are tiny and poorly cobbled together; the narrow streets are full of rubbish and dangers. Moreover, they live with the constant threat of violence even though most of them are not connected with the drug trade. It was saddening to see so many people living this way right next door to Rio's luxury hotels and villas. It made me feel very privileged.

In the evening I met up with my friend Clarice who had flown in from Paris with her boyfriend, Jose, to visit her parents who live in Rio. I met her grandmother who was very smart and friendly - she spoke fluent English as well as French, Portuguese and God knows what else - so impressive! I can see where Clarice gets her linguistic talents from. Clarice, Jose and I went to the Carioca da Gema samba club in the Lapa district. We had fun dancing, drinking caipirinhas and dodging dirty old men!

Unfortunately that was the only time I managed to meet up with Clarice while we were in Rio due to a combination of conflicting schedules and messages being delayed or not delivered. Coincidentally we were both at the same football match the following night but on opposite sides of the stadium - she was supporting Fluminense while I was in the Botafogo end. Christian had arranged tickets for Phoebe, Emma and I to join him at this Rio derby at the Maracanã stadium. Botafogo scored the first goal and the crowd went crazy but they ended up losing 2-1.

On my last day in Rio I braved the rain and met up with Emma and Phoebe one last time to peruse the 'hippy market' in General Osorio Square in Ipanema where I picked up lots of last minute presents and souvenirs. Then I took the 'bonde' train around the Santa Teresa district where there are some pretty buildings.

Rio is a cool city but I felt on edge all the time because everybody kept telling me things like "don't take any belongings to the beach", "don't take your camera/phone/etc. anywhere", "don't go to the ATM alone after dark", "don't go near the beach after sunset", "don't go to that area alone", and on and on and on... And I know they are correct - it is a very unsafe city and tourists complain of being robbed and attacked there much more than anywhere else I've been. It meant I couldn't relax when I was out and about - I was on my guard all the time so I think I didn't enjoy it as much as I probably should have, which is a shame. I hope these issues improve in the future because it is a great city.

I was supposed to be flying back to London from Rio and the airline kept changing my flight details - I called them and they said I could have a full refund if I wanted to cancel the flight. I had been seriously thinking about extending my trip anyway (every time I spoke to people in London it was all doom and gloom - crap weather, recession and people losing their jobs...) so I went for it - I cancelled my flight and decided to stay on the road until further notice! I was slightly terrified but very excited! I had already discussed with Helena the possibility of joining her for a couple of weeks in Mexico so I had to get on the case to organise that very quickly!