So as I wrote last there was a possibility of going to the football. Shortly after Marcio made a flurry of calls and it was annouced that we would be going to see his team, Vasco play- something we were really keen to do as we heard that you had to go to a football match whilst in Brazil.

6 of us piled into his mate´s vauxhall corsa and unfolded ourselves 20 minutes later at the stadium after getting an amazing view of it from above coming over the hill. We paid for our tickets and Marcio´s friend Leo took us to a member´s only area that his family have tickets for- another gesture of genorisity amongst many from Marcio and his friends who have been so kind to us. A band was playing at full volume accompanied by shouting and cheering.

Unfortunately Vasco drew 0-0 with the other team which was not a popular result. By the end of the match all of the fans were screaming and shouting at the manager and players that were right near us- they got into the spirit of it too shouting back, everyone was so passionate and obviously took it very seriously. They didn´t feel the need to all beat each other up afterwards though like they would in England which was a relief.

After the match was finished and everyone was in a foul mood we headed up to Tavares Bastro Favela where we were staying to go to the monthly samba party they hold there. Marcio left us for a bit to pick up some other friends and Charles, Leo, his girlfriend and I got a taxi to the top of the hill (The favela is on a huge steep hill overlooking Rio) Whilst we were on his way Leo turned to me and I asked if I knew how to walk to the party when we got there- he seemed a little nervous and later he told me that he had never been into a Favela before- I thought it great that we were showing the locals a part of Rio they hadn´t seen!

When we got to the start of the Favela the party was in full swing- there was bunting and flags in the streets and sound systems on the go- everyone was out socialising, dancing and enjoying themselves. We arrived at the Maze (Bob the English guy´s house we had been to before who holds the Samba party) and there was a live samba band playing. Bo´b´s wife took us to see our room overlooking the whole Favela, Rio and the Sugar Loaf mountain. Marcio then pitched up who was in a bit of a state because to his shock he had just seen 2 BOPE police in full uniform- (all black with lots of guns) dancing downstairs with Caprhina´s in their hand- pretty unheard of let alone in a Favela. Later we came to the assumption that they were not the leading lights of the force when we came up to our bedroom to find one with his trousers round his ankles (still holding guns) enjoying himself with a very drunk girl. I wanted to take a picture but was reliably informed that this was a pretty quick way to get shot as they don´t like being caught doing wrong themselves much....

We had an amazing night with Marcio and his friends listening to samba, eating yummy pea soup (he put Cardoman seeds in it- thoroughy recommended) and enjoying ourselves. We finally went to bed at 4am but the party was still in full swing around us and to be honest itwas just as noisy when we woke up in the morning!

Yesterday (Saturday) was sadly our last day in Rio. Bob´s wife (a local girl from the Favela- wife 4) made us amazing passion fruit pancakes which we devoured and then walked to Marcio´s house to meet him. After some tummy lunch time snacks of Cod fish balls and File Mignon skewers we headed for Copacabana beach. We bought loads of Havaina flip flops to send home (I very annoyingly lost one of my new ones so only have a flip) and chilled out- soaking up the views.

We had decided to go for a nice last supper and Marcio did amazingly on this front- he took us to the Japenese retaurant in the Marriot hotel right on the beachfront. The chef is the best sushi chef in Brazil and that is saying something as San Paulo has the largest Japenese sommunity outside of the country itself. They have an AMAZING deal there- you pay 20quid and can order anything you want off the menu as much as you want with all drinks included as well. As you can nimagine we stayed there for 3 hours as plate after plate of amazing sushi, hot skewers, Tempura, noodles and all sorts of yummy dishes were brought to us in waves. Marcio came into his own- long after we were full to the brim he was ordering more and more and to his credit he ate everything that was delivered (about 25 dishes) and still had room for 2 puddings (also included.) The waiter was wide eyed as he came to collect the order for the last round- ´so just to clarify you are ordering 5 puddings....´ÿup¨we beamed back and jolly nice my caramel banana was too. The only thing left unfinished was a bean curd mousse that noone really fancied but we though rude not to try as it was pretty much the only thing left we hadn´t had! It was a lovely way to end our time in Rio and with Marcio and we will miss him lots!

We finally got back to the Favela at 3am and another party was in full swing- the bunting was up again and sound systems out and it was an amazing atmosphere- it felt so great as well to be able to see this part of Rio Life. When we finally let ourselves into the Maze it was pitch dark and everyone was fast asleep (noone locks their doors in the favela as you don´t steal from your own) we headed upstairs but then a little later I decided to look for a bottle of water from the bar area. I was a quite nervous and jumpy because Bob had been telling me stories that morning about the police coming into his house and surrounding his son with guns and him coming in and scaring the life out of them and making them crawl back down the wall they used to get in as he refused to let them walk out of his door. So I was creeping around hoping I didn´t make a noise and he would think it was someone dodgy and all hell would break loose and I went into the pitch black bar area- imagine my surprise to suddenly find myself in the middle of someone else´s party with them all staring at me in my pyjamas! The houses are all built on top of each other so the side of his bar is also the side of next door´s kitchen terrace where the party was being held- I was told today that that´s Favela life- everyone knows everything about everyone and they live so close to each other they practically share houses.

So we went to sleep again with music and laughter in our ears which was lovely and woke this morning with beautiful sunshine streaming through the windows. After a strawberry pancake this time we said our goodbyes. It was sad as we had not had a chance to sit and chat with Bob as much as we would have liked because of being out and about so m,uch making the most of our last 2 days. He said that he was pleased that we had made it to actually staying because he loses about 5 bookings a week from people who arrive and then are just too scared to stay! We walked all the way down into town and to Marcio´s for the last time where his friend the taxi driver (also called Marcio!) was waiting to take us to the airport where we were flying to Iguazu falls. It was sad to say goodbye to them when we left but we know that we will see Marcio again!

Luckily 2 days ago Marcio had asked me about our plans for Iguazu. Oh I said I´ve booked a hostel and showed him the address. ¨Jemma¨he said, ¨this is in Argentina¨ ¨Yes I know¨I replied- that´s where we´re going- Puerto Iguazu, Argentina. Well how was I to know that there was also a Brazilian side to these huge waterfalls?! Even sillier is that there is 2 airports- a Brazilian one and an Argetinian one and they are quite a distance apart! Of course me being me and not reserving anywhere to stay until 3am on the morning we left had booked a hostel in Argentina when we were flying into Brazil! Good old Marcio saves the day again and we jump on the internet to find somewhere else to stay whilst relying on his native tongue to sweet talk the Argentinian hostel owner to cancel our booking without charge! I´m not completely mad though because our onward flight is from the Argentinan side so we will stay here on the Brazilian side for 2 days and then go across to the Argentinian side for a couple of days before flying on from there to Buenos Aires on Friday.

So as i write this we are sat in a lovely hostel at the side of a nature reserve- it could not be more different from the hustle and bustle of Rio- there is a big lake with hammocks and a very relaxed atmosphere- the owner´s aunt also does washing which is paid for by the kg so Charles and I have just put in 5kg- such a relief as everything was feeling a bit dirty and horrible. They grow their own veg here and it is simple and lovely but also half the price of our Rio places so a bonus all round. I feel so so tired from no sleep last night so apologise if the whole of this makes no sense- tomorrow we will go to see the waterfalls from the Brazilian side but for now it´s hammock and then bed!