Our nerves have calmed down now we've left Rio and joined our final tour group. Rio was pretty much how we imagined, impressive, upbeat city but we couldn't feel that relaxed with all the stories of muggings, not that we've much left to steal - I'd have been happy to part with the fleeces and stinky walking boots. Copacabana (Rio's playground) was a stones throw from our hotel and by 11am on Sunday there was barely a patch of sand left and the surfers were crashing into each other. It was great for people watching though - we were astonished by the number of day to day activities that take place in nothing more than a pair of speedo's. We braved it and made a visit to see the flamingo's play goia's at the maracana stadium. Best football match I've ever been to - as I didn't need to follow the worlds worst game of footy with all the crowd activity. Atmosphere was amazing. Since then we've been trying to bond with 2 American scientists and more successfully....... a couple of danish, a couple of dutch, 3 english and an irish headmaster. We're feeling our age trying to keep up with the 18 to 22 yr olds, but last night they all crawled off to bed before us after learning to make caprinha's. Yesterday we spent a few hours cruising around small islands (until our boat ran out of fuel and was towed back by the luxury Francis Drake) and wandered around the colonial coastal town of Paraty eating ice cream by the kilo. Now we're on a marathon bus journey to Iguassu falls. We hope it's rained.....these falls are supposed to be 3km wide, 80m high, wider than Victoria and higher than Niagara.......but 2 weeks ago were the driest they've been in 50 years........................................................ We hope those of you going or on your hol's are having a good time .....bye for now