This photo is of a flower that sprouted from a tree in today's rain. An interesting observation is that Brazilians don't appear to mind or to do/wear/own raincoats. The fact that we do makes us stick out more than ever.
It's actually been ok as we know we're here to stay and it's enabled us to acclimatise and today we went and explored some alternative barrios we could live in. We walked miles through some rather rundown but previously grand neighbourhoods - if it was the UK, they'd be ripe for gentrification. We are confident metro & bus users now & when we returned to Zona Sul there was a band practising for Carnaval in a local square. I think feb 18-21 is going to be an exciting few days - we just need to team up with some Cariocas to show us where to go!