So it all began with a relaxing weekend with my parents up in Joburg. We were all packed and had gotten rid of all of our stuff. Those last few days in Cape Town were CRAZY so some days lazing around was just what we needed.

My parents and brother took us to the airport on Monday afternoon. The checkin went smoothly and the guy even managed to see to it that we had three seats to the two of us :-) After a quick drink, it was time to say our last goodbye's.

We got through security without any issues and spent some time browsing the duty-free. When we got bored of looking around, we sat down and waited to board. That was when we heard our names being called over the PA system... "Passengers Kevin & Monique Reid, please report to gate number four."

Almost immediately we realised that we didnt have our documents folder (containing passports, tickets, immunisation certificates, etc.) We sheepishly apprached the man at the gate, who proceeded to give us quite a stern talking to before handing our passports back. It turns out someone had found them in the duty-free and had handed them in. We gratefully headed to the back of the line and tried to stay out of trouble.

The flight from Cape Town to Dubai was great. We were on a modern plane and everything just worked. We had a two hour stopover in Dubai, which gave us just enough time to freshen up a bit, grab a smoothie and have a quick look around. The airport is very modern and spotlessly clean - from the outside it looks like a giant glass cucumber.

The flight from Dubai to Rio went just a smoothly as the first. We left Dubai just as the sun was rising, so we got quite a nice view from above. What struck me was how brown and dull everything was - its mostly just sand as far as the eye can see. The extra seat that we had made such a difference - it meant that we could take turns to stretch out fully and sleep.

We arrived in Rio at about 3pm local time - slightly ahead of schedule. The first thing we noticed was how green it looked. The forests and mountains and sea all seem to blend together quite beautifully, and the beaches are long and wide.

We got through immigration quite easily and were SO stoked to find that our bag had made it safely too. After a bit of admin (money, accomodation, directions, etc.) we walked out the airport down towards the bus station. And that is how we came to be in Rio!

Kev.

PS - HUGE thanks to everyone back home who helped us get here. Just about everyone we know helped in some way - lending us things, sharing travel advice, keeping our stuff, helping with tranport, and just all-round support and being excited with us. We both really appreciate it :-)