On the 3rd February I met Kerry at Heathrow airport and we flew to Rio, arriving there on the 4th. We checked into our hostel, had some lunch and then headed to the famous Copacabana beach. It was such a surreal beach, right on the edge of the city, was really pretty but so so busy. Constantly harassed with people trying to sell you things! We came back to the hostel, showered and then went downstairs where we met some other English and American people staying in the hostel. As it was the beginning of Carnival we decided to go to a Bloca (street party), it was amazing! you basically party in the street and follow the party as it moves along from road to road, with music and drums playing.

On the second day we went to see the famous Lapa steps and also went for food with the people we had met the day before. I was a little worse for wear from the night before so went to bed early to rest for the next day!

On the third day we got up early and went to visit Christ the Redeemer, the big statue up on Corvado mountain which overlooks Rio, it is said it is there to oversee and protect the people of Rio. It was really cool to visit and the views from the top of the mountain were amazing! We had tickets to the Samba Parade in the evening and this was incredible! Unlike anything I had experienced before, the samba schools had insane costumes and paraded and danced along the strip!

On the fourth day, we went to Fogo dos Chao, an amazing Rodizio, where they serve all you can eat Brazilian meat. The meat tasted incredible, it was quite expensive but definitely worth it! After this we caught the cable car up to Sugar Loaf Mountain, on the first stop the views were incredible but on the second higher stop it was so cloudy we couldn't see anything! We came back to the hostel in the evening and just had a chilled evening.

On the fifth day we went to Praia do Leme beach in the morning where we sunbathed and swam for a couple of hours and then we walked all along the beach to Copacabana where we had lunch on the beach. After lunch we went to visit the lagoon, it was so pretty and peaceful! In the evening we cooked dinner argue hostel and then we pre drank with everyone else and went for our final night out in Rio. We ended up in some samba club and upstairs they had a live band playing English songs, it was amazing but very sweaty after dancing so much!

In the morning we checked out and caught our bus to Paraty.