So technically this is not a message from Ilha Grande but I wanted to finish this thing properly, if only for myself! We left Rio (a very sad day), laden with bags containing all the tat gathered between Ecuador and Rio. Bit of a mission getting a bus to Angra dos Reis and then a boat to the island itself, but we managed it. Luckily there was a friendly little chappie on hand at the dock who worked at our hostel who helped us cart it all down there. Our host...

The sun is finally shining in Rio, woohoo!! But I did manage to do some touristy stuff while it was raining... Went to a street party in one of the neighbourhoods in Rio which was fun, although I had some weird indigestion thing which meant I couldn't really eat or drink anything - I seem to be over that now, I think it might have been a result of one too many all-you-can-eat places..... I also went on a tour of Rocinha, which is the largest favela (sha...

So it's been raining in Rio for the last like 4 days.... I'm not impressed my tan is fading fast! Although it has given us the opportunity to look around most of the shops in the Ipanema and Copacobana areas. We have also found somewhere new to live (in Copacobana which is cheaper) - Rio backpackers - a hostel which looks very friendly. Myself, Shauna and Faye (the stalwarts from our truck) are moving in there tomorrow so hopefully the money will stop falling out...

So I forgot to mention on my last post about our eventful day on the beach: We went for a few hours sunbathing on the beach in Ipanema, about 30 seconds walk from our hostel. We settled ourselves in a nice sunny spot - not too near the water as we had seen other people further along getting washed away as the waves came up. So after an hour or two I decided I needed some more suncream on my back so I had to wake Reiko up (she was asleep listening to he...

So we arrived in Rio on Monday night and had our final group meal together. We did try to go out dancing afterwards but apparently Monday night is not the most happening in Rio. The next day myself and Reiko went on a bit of a mission to try to find somewhere to live for the next few days. We ended up walking all around Copacobana and Ipanema (a very nice area near Copacobana, according to the guidebooks it is the place to be....!) in search of hostels whic...