9/5/09 Today we had a lie in while we decided what we wanted to do for the rest of the day... We spent so long that we realised it was now too late to walk into Centro because once we'd walked there we wouldn't have long before we'd have to come back again, so in the end we wwalked down to Leme. This is really just part of Copacabana beach; the portion right at the side, on the other end to Copacabana Fort. It was around 30 degrees again.

There's a fort here too, controlled by the military, but instead going into it on the top of the hill, we just walked as far as you can around the base of the hill, past lots of fishermen. The view we got over all of Copacabana and Leme beaches was lovely.

10/5/09 We set off at 9am to walk into Ipanema, via Copacabana, to go to a particular market which only happens on Sundays. It's an arts and crafts market, nicknamed the 'Hippie Market'. It took an hour and a half to walk there, and halfway there I realised we didn't know where the market was held and hadn't brought a map. We just walked along the seafront for a while, and then back again via a different street. Luckily, in the end we stumbled across it in a big square.

We wandered around for quite a long time looking at all the stuff on sale. There were lots of stalls selling paintings, some of a very high standard, and then stalls selling all sorts of other arty things, as well as clothes, belts and sandals; colourful leather bags of all sizes, carved wooden ornaments, animals made of twisted coloured grasses and other natural fibres, animals made of crystals, old Brazilian coins, incense stick holders, keyrings, gemstones, plaques in the shape of strange faces, shining metal plaques/sculptures, leather cushions and stools, jewellery, and lots more. I fell in love with and bought a leather map of South America (it's a small wall hanging), and Dave bought a wooden ornament in the shape of a clenched fist with one finger stuck between either the first and second or the second and third fingers (this is a traditional Brazilian thing - if you give one to someone else as a present it's supposed to give them luck.)

After this we caught a bus into Centro. The driver drove like a maniac, as if he were in a race, and when he eventually skidded to a halt he started up again the second we had stepped onto the pavement. No waiting around for anyone who might have wanted to get on! The first place we went to was Praça XV, but the two churches I wanted to go into were closed. Instead, we headed to the Museu Histórico Nacional and spent a lot of time there. It was great, mostly very well presented as well as interesting, and actually had English translations of the accompanying text which was good. When we got out of there we finally managed to get inside the newly opened Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, the Fine Arts Museum; but most of it was still closed off, so we only got to look round a couple of galleries. One had big atmospheric black and white photos of Paris, and another had coloured photos of people at work in the city - stallholders with their wares, a doctor in a hospital ward etc. There weren't any English translations of the explanations but this is what I guessed. They were very good, anyway.

Our legs were killing us by now so we caught another bus back home after this; this time is wasn't as hair-raising a journey. We had an early dinner and then some internet before bed.

11/5/09 Hang gliding this morning!! One of my lifelong dreams about to be fufilled. I was picked up by a taxi (included in the overall price) at 10am and taken to somewhere where I had to sign a waiver form, and then I was taken along a road leading up the mountain. When I first got up to the ramp and looked over the side my stomach flipped and I thought "I must be mad, hurling myself off the side of this mountain!' - the ramp is 550 metres above ground, and far below me I could see forest, São Conrado beach and a part of Rio I hadn't yet been to.

The instructor hooked me and himself up to the glider and we had a practice run. He said that all I had to do was keep my head up and my back straight, and run as fast as I could with him straight over the edge. It's really important to run as fast as you can and not slow down or stop as you reach the edge, because otherwise you don't get enough lift and it gets dangerous. You don't jump, though, you literally just run off the edge. After the practice run we walked to the beginning of the ramp, waited a couple of minutes for the wind to blow in his face, and then after an "Are you ready!", "Are you sure!" and then "3,2,1, RUN!", off we ran, down the slightly downsloped ramp, straight off the edge and into the air...

We dropped a bit but then flattened out and lifted a little. Suddenly I was soaring far above the forested mountains; we seemed to float, even, though I know we must have been going faster than that really. I felt so exhiliarated I was just grinning all over my face! After a couple of minutes I got out my camera and took photos and a video. I didn't drop it, thank God, due to the string I had tied in a loop from it and kept round my wrist. Paulo, my instructor, guided us round in a circle to begin with, and then out towards the skyscrapers, beach and sea. It felt so strange yet wonderful to be feeling the flying sensation for real rather than in a dream, and to be getting the same sort of views as I've got in the past from looking out of a plane window! We floated over the skyscrapers and sand and then out to sea for a bit, and then looped to the side and descended onto the beach. We skimmed along the sand for a while before putting our feet on the ground, running for a bit and then stopping.

When I arrived back Dave had just got back from the shops, and had brought us back hotdogs for lunch - delicious. He'd also bought a map of Santiago for himself and one of Rio for me (souvenirs - mine is a wall one that I can stick up), a book for himself, and a square of fudge.

Since then we've been busy getting stuff done before we join up with our GAP Adventures tour tomorrow, which is going to take us through Brazil and Bolivia and into Peru, where we will be flying home from Lima on 27th June. Updating this blog, uploading photos, doing washing, etc.