At last the sun shines in Rio! Took full advantage by relaxing on Leblon beach for most of the day. Sea dips were a bit limited due to the temperature being a bit fresh and the strength of the current - in 2 days on the beach, seen a lot of lifeguards in action, including 2 helicopter rescues. Rob jogged to the Arpoador point and back, taking in the surf action and great views of the Ipanema/Leblon bay stretching back to Vidigal. Ventured in to Ipanema to visit...

Still cloudy in Rio. But perhaps less cloudy than it has been. So as we were nearby we took a chance on Sugar Loaf. We could only imagine how magnificent the views would be with bright blue skies, which was a pity, but they were pretty good all the same. Taxi to switch hostels to one up on the cliffs in between the fancy Leblon area and the Vidigal favela. Had a beer and food at the bottom of the favela whilst military police mixed with the local flamengo suppor...

The sun tried to peak through briefly in the morning and for about 2 minutes in the afternoon but it was largely cloudy. The clouds were not going to stop our Saturday on Copacabana beach though and we were treated to an active beach full of games of volleyball, 'head tennis', beach tennis, handball and football, surfers, skim boarders, kite flyers, large elastic band trampoliners (!)....... oh and the odd person lounging about. The waves were also something of a...

A family of the tiny monkeys joined us for breakfast, grabbing all the bananas they could get their hands on. Unfortunately rain scuppered our plans for a trip to the beach so instead we ran in the rain over the hill to Copacabana and along the esplanade, bumping in to the Dutch from our last hostel on the way. Soaked through from the rain, took a free tourist bus back to Botafogo. With the rain having subsided (although no sign of the Rio sunshine we were expe...

Slightly confused over the fact it is time to open the first door of the advent calendar but yet its necessary to dodge from one bit of shade to the next to avoid the heat. Opted for what we thought would be an easy and quick transfer to Rio rather than risking arriving by bus in an area that is allegedly a bit dodgy lugging around all our gear. As it was, given the multiple snack stops and the fact we went via the Isla Grande ferry jetty it wasn't all that quic...