Well its been an amazing couple of weeks since we left the tranquility of the Pantanal, the theme has been beaches and Brazil now finds itself firmly on my favorites list; the culture, people, cities, beaches, jungles, parties, sights; its all fabulous! It was with mixed emotions we headed to the airport today, sad to be leaving fabulous Rio, but excited to be starting our journey home. Apart from the obvious fact I have to get on a plane of course. So about Brazil....settle in :)

Our journey from the Pantanal to Sao Paulo and then onto Paraty was as long and hideous as suspected, taking about 36 hours in total. There was one highlight, on the drive out of the Pantanal we saw an animal even more elusive than the Jaguar, a Puma. Unfortunately this Puma looked to be taking a very recent nap by the side of the road, he looked very peaceful. Again i was super excited, Emmett was a little concerned about my new found morbidity.

After a couple of months dealing in spanish, and becoming quite comfortable with it, venturing through the various bus stations, the fact we were now in a Portuguese speaking country was evident. I tried to order Emmett dinner in the form of their bread rolls stuffed with different things. I thought i said all the right things and made the vegetarian aspect very clear. All three items turned out to have meat in them. Fail. Portugal should have taken one for the team and handed Brazil over to the Spanish. Would have made life so much easier for South American travelers.

When we finally arrived in Paraty I was delighted. A gorgeous colonial town with cobbled streets, whitewashed churches and colorful colonial buildings set against the ocean on one side and jungle on the other. Being a Saturday night the streets and town squares were buzzing with life. My kind of town.

Though the temptation of lying on the beach was high, we were good tourists. One day we headed out to visit some waterfalls in the national parks. They were all beautiful, one is also a kind of thrill ride. There is a massive sloping boulder that one of the rivers runs over that is covered in a black, slippery moss. The local guys use this as a waterslide, some, with the aid of a run up, slide on their feet doing twists and jumps as they go. It's insane. Emmett's attempt was less insane and more embarrassing.

Being Paraty is on the bay of Ilha Grande surrounded by her many islands, we thought a boat trip was in order. We ended up on this big pirate like schooner cruising around islands, stopping at lagoons and beaches for swims. The big day beds on deck were perfect for watching the world go by. We were also subject to the Brazilian bikini as the rule, not the exception. A 12 year old daughter and her mother both exhibited bare bum cheeks. I'm not sure it's something you get used too or need to be born into?

Given Emmett's dietary requirement and the areas love of meat, finding a restaurant has not always been easy this trip. Paraty introduced us to one of Brazils favorite concepts, per kilo restaurants. Essentially a buffet, but the food is actually good, and you only pay for what you eat, so the temptation to eat until you feel ill is nullified. We love them. Ones in Rio even had steak restaurant quality fillet steak on the offering. Amazing. Plus did I mention their relatively cheap?! Being back in the tropics, tropical fruit is everywhere again too. The juices are beyond amazing.

After hearing about one of the best beaches in the world, Lopez Mendes, we decided we had to go. The fact it's located on a jungle covered island void of cars, Ilha Grande, was a bonus. It's a little like paradise; the main settlement is basically a couple of sandy 'streets' set against the beach filled with restaurants, bars and shops. My feeling that you cannot beat a bar on the beach was again confirmed.

It was a 2 hour walk through the jungle to Lopez mendes in 40 degrees and 100% humidity. Sweat was an issue. We passed a couple of beautiful beaches then finally through the trees spotted our destination. A super long curving beach with icing sugar sand and aqua blue water. We spent the whole day there marveling at the beauty and the various butts on display.

Another beach town was next up, something a little different, buzios, where the rich and famous Rio residents play. Immediately I loved the place, my favorite beach destination. The main town is a couple of tree lined cobbled streets set along the ocean full of boutiques, restaurants and very cool bars. From there you can walk along the coast to more than 10 different beaches. It was once just a series of fishing villages, then Bridget Bardot discovered it. Thank you Bridget.

3 amazing days were spent lying on different beaches, they all attract different crowds, we did avoid the nudist ones. Frankly there was enough flesh on display as it was, men in tight little shorts, women (and girls) in teeny, tiny triangle bottoms (front and back) and just as brief tops. It became very obvious that the Brazilian bikini wax didn't come out of Brazil for the sake of fashion, more necessity. One thing I did admire from this is the brazilian ladies body image. Doesn't matter if they are 10 or 90, a size 6 or a size 26, they all rock the g-string bikini with not a care in the world. My cut out 1 piece didn't get a showing, I already felt like a nun in my full bottom bikini!

Nights were spent bar hopping, continuing our caprihina tasting journey. Paying $4-5 for a cocktail is brilliant, except for the hangovers they give. Ibiza's Pacha and Privilege were both in attendance and I was eager to visit them again. However Emmett 'morally' objected to paying $50 for entry and all you can drink. I think he was just dirty girls enter for free.

Tanned and relaxed it was time to head to Rio for 5 terrific nights. That city has to be the most naturally beautiful in the world, it even has Capetown beat, In my humble opinion anyway. Jungle covered mountains run into the beaches and bays with buildings nestled in their valleys, the big guy, Cristo, sits on his mountain looking over it all. It really is spectacular.

For our first 3 nights we stayed in a green suburb nestled under the watchful eye of Cristo, Botofogo. Getting up to see him was first on the list. It's a long way up the Corcodovo through the forest, there were monkeys!! Climbing the stairs I was hoping Karl Pilkington of Idiot Abroad's disappointment in Cristo was misplaced. Of course it was. The view alone is worth admission as being on top of the highest peak in Rio affords amazing 360 degree view. The big guy is actually huge up close and very serene looking. Needless to say the crowd tested our patience.

Another great sight was in Santa Teresa, one of the older barrios in brazil, which climbs up a hill. An eccentric Chilean artist has taken it upon himself to mosaic a huge staircase. The brightly coloured tiles are from all over the world and the whole thing creates quite the sight.

Rio residents love a party and it's all about the Samba. The older district of Lapa is literally streets of bars with people spilling out onto the roads. Live samba bands play, Capis are a couple of dollars and the atmosphere is magic. Makes our bars at home seem kind of sterile and boring.

Being I have always wanted to attend carnaval we did the next best thing, a samba school rehearsal. Being December all the barrios have chosen their song and are seriously preparing a couple of times a week for February. We got lucky on the night we attended as they were doing a full run through on the streets, which were closed and packed with hundreds of people. It was absolutely fantastic, dancing lines of residents led off, then the samba band, followed by a huge truck with massive speakers, next up were the lines of samba dances. I swear 14 years olds should not know how to 'shake their thang' like that, let alone wear such suggestive outfits! Hundreds more dancing residents closed the parade off. Emmett and I were both completely blown away by how fantastic the experience was, definitely confirmed our next trip to Rio will coincide with Carnaval.

The expensive samba show we attended was nothing compared to the rehearsal, but still enjoyable. The capoeira 'dancers' were absolutely incredible, so were the sparkly, intricate outfits the girls donned. As per usual bums were on full display. The 'entertainer' who proceeded to sing numerous different national anthems of audience members was far less entertaining. Painful infact.

I was a little torn on doing a favela tour, seems a bit voyeuristic to me, however I'm so glad we did as it was a very humbling experience. There are over 900 favelas in Rio, many controlled by the 3 main drug factions and well known for their violence. With the world cup and the olympics coming up the government had decided to do something about them, 23 are now controlled by favela police, one of the most dangerous types.

We visited one of these, and also the biggest favela, Rocinha, just driving there was mind blowing as this favela has been built above one of the richest suburbs in Rio. You drive up the hill past beautifully walled compounds (with electric fences on top of the flower draped walls) worth millions, then you turn a bend and are confronted by something totally different. Narrow windy streets surrounded by tall ramshackle buildings made of plywood, concrete, bricks and tin. The electricity poles are a huge jumble of wires as people illegally tap into them. The view is priceless, looking over the beaches and out to sugarloaf in one direction with Cristo keeping a watchful eye on the other.

Wandering around, with a well known guide in the area, it was hard to imagine the violent shoot outs that are frequently reported. It seemed just like a poor neighborhood, similar to others I have visited in developing countries, with little shops, restaurants and friendly, smiling people. The heavily armed groups of police (never alone, 'they would get shot') walking the streets suggest otherwise. Apparently the main aim isn't necessarily to stop the drug trade, which locals believe to be virtually impossible due to demand and 'mismanagement', i.e. corruption, but rather to rid the favelas of guns. If running out, or killing drug dealers is a by product they seem pretty happy with that too.

Before we dedicated ourselves back to the beach we thought we should at least have a wander around downtown. Though Rio is known for its natural beauty turns out its also home to some stunning old Portuguese buildings. Unfortunately many of them seem to have fallen into various states of disrepair, it's like they are crumbling in the tropic, gives centro a bit of a rustic air about it.

For our last two nights we moved to a luxury hotel over looking Copacabana beach. It was magical. We had our first shower with water pressure since arriving in South America. Not too mention a pillow top bed. 2 days were spent on the beach doing some serious people watching, and working on my actually existent tan. Other than lots of flesh (again off ALL shapes and sizes) another thing we noticed was how multicultural Rio is, every colour of the rainbow is pretty much accounted for. As Emmett said, even I almost fit in.

Not quite though, I did continue to be a novelty as had been the trend in SA, though the men in Rio are forward they are quite nice about it all. Unlike gropings in Egypt, marriage proposals in turkey or hissing in Mexico, they stare, say hello and even provide gentlemanly kisses on your hand. Certainly not horrible for ones confidence.

We finished our time in Rio with a trip up Sugarloaf which juts out of the coast. Two quick cable cars up and the whole of Rio spreads out in front of you with Cristo opposite. It was absolutely gorgeous. Then as if on cue, fog ate Cristo and a tropical downpour came. Our cue to leave. Santiago here we come!