When I left off last time, I mentioned I would write about the favella. We were taken out to Rocinha, the largest favella in Rio with 300,000 residents. We were told we were perfectly safe as we were with a local. First we were taken into their Samba school which is like a big hall. Apart from using it for practices, it is used for sports and also for teaching courses like English and sewing (which comes in quite handy for all those costumes they have to make). Then went for a walk thru the favella. Their biggest problem is open sewerage and we were asked not to take photos of it as the locals are quite conscious of it and don't like it. When they heavy rains, it floods and covers the streets. Not nice.

They all tap into electricity and phone lines illegally. Have a look at those photos. If your line breaks, no chance of finding the problem, just put a new one up. There is also social classes within the favella with the people with money living at the top of the hill and then it trickles down. So, basically the drug lords live up the top. The police are pretty corrupt so if there is a problem you go to the gangs. If your bag is stolen, talk to the gangs, and it will get returned to you within the hour. The thief is usually a druggie, desperate for cash but the gangs deal with him in their own way. There has been no rape here for the last 20 years. The last offender was cut up and spread around town as a deterrent. It obviously works. They don't pay any taxes and it is cheap to live there, as opposed to Copacobana or Ipanema which is just a few minutes away. Very interesting to hear and see, although I am sure there are some favellas which are not so clean and organised.

On Monday night, a group of us went up to Sugarloaf Mountain and Neale and Sally were able to come aswell. There are two separate cable cars you go up in and you get a great view of the city. Rio really is spread out and quite large. Very busy up there, obviously everyone had the same idea as us. Lisa (friend from Galapagas Island) was also up there so caught up with her and said our goodbyes. Afterwards, went out for dinner with Neale and Sally. Buffet restaurants where you pay by the kilo is very popular here, also good as everyone has separate bills and no hassles, especially when out with a big group. Said my goodbyes to them aswell before having a reasonably early night.

Tuesday, up early and we headed out to Christ Redeemer statue. Few problems with taxis but sorted it out and made it there. Got the cog railway up to the top and even though we were there relatively early, it was packed and so hot. The statue is pretty impressive and again great views out over the city and the beaches. We then decided to try and get to Santa Theresa which is an older part of Rio with aging mansions and good views. Taxis wanted to charge too much so we thought we would see if we could get a bus or metro. Walking down the street, we actually had a bus conductor call out to us to see where we were going - first time a bus has tried to drum up business. We said Santa Theresa, he said yes so we got on. A few minutes later, some locals got on and he asked them if they were going to St Theresa and they said yes so he told us to follow them...so we did. We got off the bus and started walking, they asked directions from locals and we continued. Walked up some hills and steps and finally came across the tram lines (a tram heads up there usually) so we knew we were going in the right direction. We bought them a beer and continued on our own. That is when we figured out why the taxis were so expensive and why the bus conductor thought we were headed there - it was a street party. Time to party. Majority of the others wanted to continue out of there but once the drums started I wanted to stay and so did Nikki, so we did. I love the sound of those drums. The percussionists are just awesome and have the crowd in the palm of their hand. You can't help but want to dance or move to the beat.

We eventually made our way out of there and back to the hotel. I started packing my gear before heading back down to Ipanema & Copacobana so I could take some photos. Hadn't taken my camera the other day because I wanted to swim and it isn't safe to leave your belongings. Again it was packed, people still partying on the street and like ants on the beach. It really is a great atmosphere though. The beaches are beautiful, curving around and so long. I would love to be down there really early before all these people hit the sands. I walked along the path, wandered through the markets, bought some jewellery, took some photos and enjoyed more people watching before heading back to hotel. Majority of us went out for dinner and then headed back to Lapa and the arches for more drinking and people watching. I drank quite a bit of vodka this night, didn't realise how much till it started to hit me, but we had a great time chatting and laughing. Got to bed about 1.30am and really felt it when I had to get up at 6.30am to get ready for our departure.

We left Rio and are now at Ouro Preto (Black Gold). We had 9 new people join the truck yesterday so we are down to 26 total which gives us some extra space on the truck. Not much here to do in town. There was a possibility of a city and mine tour but no one was really interested. When we were putting up the tents yesterday it started to rain and we found out our fly leaks, so once it stopped, we put a new one up. It is officially rainy season here in Brazil. We were able to watch the results of the Samba parades in the afternoon. One of the schools that paraded on Monday won. I saw some of it on TV and it deserved to win. Was awesome. It got 399 points out of 400.

Everyone is shattered after carnival so it has been a good time to catch up on the internet. I have uploaded my Rio photos and one video but it is too slow to do any more videos. I have a few from the parade but will have to wait for a faster computer. I think I'm starting to come down with a cold aswell, which isn't going to be fun. After here it is beach stops, which we are looking forward to. Hopefully the rainy season won't interfere too much!!!!!!