We booked this trip 3 years ago and were heartbroken when I suffered a detached retina and had to cancel just 2 months before we were slated to depart. Then issues with my eye prevented us from rebooking until recently. So now we're finally getting to make this trip a reality. First destination is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for 5 days and then on to a 14 day G adventure tour that will take us to various places in Peru, including a lodge in the Amazon Rainforest, Cusco, Lake Titicaca, Lima and Machu Pichu.

We arrived at about 11:30 am local time after a l o n g plane trip. The first thing that hit us was the humid air. It was 26 degrees when we landed. After the cold fall air in Toronto it was nice to have a touch of summer again. Rio is 2 hours ahead of Toronto time. Rio lives up to its nickname of "Cidade Maravilhosa" (the Marvelous City) with its white beaches and towering mountains. It is the second largest city in Brazil and the state capital of Rio de Janeiro. The bustling city is best known for its sandy beaches, carnivals, football matches, music and its well preserved lush tropical forests. Rio is a world famous, beautiful city that welcomes visitors with that big statue of an open-armed Jesus atop Corcovado Hill. Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) is part of the new edition of the Seven Wonders of the World. Rio is home to a 45-mile (83km) stretch of coastline that houses 23 different beaches.

My first impression of Rio wasn't great. It seemed run down and in need of sprucing up. But we were coming from the airport through a poor area and we are in South America after all so I guess I should have expected this. I can see why tourists think Toronto is a nice city with its clean and well kept streets and buildings. However, after walking around, the streets are actually free of litter. It's just the maintenance that needs some attention. So my first impression wasn't all that accurate. The second thing I noticed was that the blue collar workers all seem to have a uniform of sorts - all in blue or red or orange or black depending on their particular job.

Once we were checked into our hotel and settled in we decided to walk the beach (right across the street) to get "acclimatized" and have lunch. The beach is 4 km long and is very wide where we are (probably 500 feet wide). We made our way to the waters edge and shlepped along the beach to find a cafe to quench thirst and stop the hunger pangs. The beach is a flurry of activity along its length: soccer players, cariocas (residents of Rio) and tourists lining up for caipirinhas at kiosks, favela kids showing off their soccer skills and beach vendors shouting out their wares among the tanned beach bodies. We saw what looked like a suitable place and went back to the street area and parked ourselves down at a beach front table overlooking the activities. Each beach cafe/ bar seems to have a specific type of beer in 600 ml bottles. So we ordered one of those to share and some food. The beer comes in a cooling bucket to keep it cold. Vey civilized! At lunch we met a couple from Ottawa and chatted with them about what we should do, politics (we found out the liberals got a sweeping majority), and safety in general. Apparently we just give any robbers what they want and not try to negotiate. They just want the goods not our lives. Very reassuring. But seriously, I didn't feel at all threatened the entire day. We also found out that there is a soccer game at Maracana Stadium tomorrow night. Hopefully we can get tickets. We ended up walking the length of the beach - all the way to Fort Copacabana at the southerly end. It was probably 3 km each way. There was a gorgeous breeze to keep us cool along with the lapping of the riotous ocean waves that often took us by surprise and got our shorts wet. My calves were burning by the end of our trek. So much for grabbing a chair and umbrella and sleeping on the beach! We slept about 2 hours total on the plane so that meant we had maybe 9 hours of shut eye over the past 2 days. But we were pumped and didnt want to "waste" our time sleeping.

We returned to the hotel and decided to have the national drink (caipirinha: a mix of sugar, lime, and cachaca - sugarcane juice that is fermented and then distilled) at our hotel rooftop bar overlooking the beach. It was very much like a marguerita. Then it was back to the room to get showered and go for dinner. I found out what I forgot - deodorant (not a good thing to forget in this climate) so I asked Vic to use his until I got to the store. Sure enough he didn't have any either!!! What are the odds of both of us forgetting deodorant?!? We ate dinner and then called to a night to get some shut eye.

A little Brazilian history: When Brazil achieved independence in 1889, Rio was named the capital. After World War II, Rio shifted from an agricultural economy to an industrial economyettingnlea. The population of the city increased in gigantic proportions and this turned out to be a curse. There were too many labourers and the number of poor and unskilled people increased. This situation exists even today and puts intense pressure on Rio's resources. In fact, Rio is one of the most populated cities in the world. In the 1960's the capital of Brazil was moved from Rio to Brasilia and later to Sao Paolo, to reduce the economic and financial pressure on Rio. That's why they say that the crime rate is quite high. So we have been extra vigilant while we're exploring. However, as I said, I did not once feel threatened and am regretting leaving all my adornment at home.

Rio is the capital of the State of Rio de Janeiro and part of the Southeastern Region of Brazil. To the north it borders on several municipalities of the State of Rio de Janeiro. To the south lies the Atlantic Ocean, to the east Guanabara Bay (Baía de Guanabara) and to the west Sepetiba Bay (Baía de Sepetiba).

The official language of Brazil is Portuguese, spoken by the entire population (except for a few, very remotely located tribes). Brazilian Portuguese has a number of pronunciation differences with that spoken in Portugal (and between the regions there are some quite dramatic accent and slang differences), but speakers of either can understand each other. This may be due, in part, to their non-verbal communication. Brazilians use a lot of gestures in informal communication, and the meaning of certain words or expressions may be influenced by them.

• The thumbs up gesture is used to mean everything's OK, yes or even thanks. You should avoid using the OK hand gesture for these meanings, as it can be considered obscene.
• Wagging your extended index finger back and forth and/or clicking your tongue behind your teeth two or three times means no.
• Using your index finger to pull down one of your lower eyelids means watch out.
• Stroking your two biggest fingers with your thumb is a way of saying that something is expensive.
• Snapping a few times means fast or a long time (ago).
• Stroking your lips and then snapping means delicious; pinching your earlobe means the same in some regions.
• Making a fist with your thumb between the index and middle finger, known as the figa, is a sign of good or bad luck depending on the region.
• Touching the palm with the thumb and making a circular movement with the hand means I am being robbed/ripped off/ in some regions.
• The hush gesture is considered extremely impolite, about the same as shouting "shut up!" to someone.
• An informal way to get someone's attention, similar to a whistle, is a hissing sound: "pssiu!" It is not perceived as unpolite, but gets really annoying if repeated too often.

Copocabana beach was named by the people of Rio as Princesinha do Mar (Little princess of the sea), after a popular song by Brazilian composers João de Barro, aka Braguinha, and Alberto Ribeiro. And, of course, we have Barry Manilo to blame (I mean thank) for making this beach world renouned, as well. Copacabana beach is located in the quarter of Copacabana, in the South Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Copacabana has bicycle stations, bicycle tracks, kiosks, hotels, bars and restaurants, which are full of people both day and night. Besides that, it has two Military Forts, one on each extremity of the beach, and it offers panoramic views and is open for visitors. There is also a beautiful sidewalk at Avenida Atlântica Avenue (which, so happens, to be the street where our hotel is located), cobbled with Portuguese Black and White stones forming an exquisite mosaic in the shape of waves, inspired by the sidewalk in Lisbon and used by landscape artist Burle Max at the beach. Copacabana is also rife with hotels and kiosks. We heard it was hard to find room to plant an umbrella on it. We didn't find this to be the case. I was disappointed and yet also pleased at the lack of crowds.

The beach is also a stage for the biggest New Year's eve party in the planet, its fireworks display is well known all over the world, gathering more than three million people each year. The beach can also host grand events, such as the 2007 Pan-American Games, and world championships for sports such as beach soccer and volley ball.

My first impressions:

• The beach and streets are clean and free of litter.
• The people seem to be a fun-loving people with a charming attitude towards life and truly enjoy having a good time. It seems that beer, football, samba, barbecue and woman is what they seem to desire. They do all sorts of activities like volleyball (with no hands - using only heads, chests, knees, really any body part but arms), keeping a soccer ball off the sand around a circle, raquet sports, swimming, paddle boarding etc.
• The locals do not speak Englsih very well or at all! Rude awakening for sure. We get so used to everyone speaking English we take it for granted.
• The older men appear quite solemn. They always have a very stoic expression on their face.
• I feel safe. I know I'm not supposed to and rest assured we are being vigilant about our surroundings.
• The women are not all Gisele Bunchen look a likes. In fact, quite the opposite.