12/5/09 We checked out of the Vila Carioca hostel and took a taxi to the Hotel Bandeirantes, Copacabana, where our tour group was due to meet up and we would stay our first night. When we arrived there were a couple of sheets of A4 stuck on the wall in the reception lobby, informing us that there would be a welcome meeting in the lounge at 7pm where we would all be introduced to each other and a lot of information given out. Reception gave us a form each which we had to fill in and hand in at the meeting. This was the first hotel we'd been in since 22nd November, so we were overcome by the seeming luxury! We rested for a while and then went out to buy a couple of necessaries we needed to get before we left Rio - batteries and shampoo - and some lunch and a drink from a supermarket. We rested again until it was 7, and then went down to the lounge for the meeting.
Our tour leader, Angela, is 26, Peruvian and is lovely, and then apart from us there are 9 others. 6 more Brits, 2 Australians and one Swiss! Jay, Mark, Olivia, John, Jess, Nick (Nicola?), Megan, Nick & Chris. Angela took our forms, and after we'd been round introducing ourselves, she gave us copies of our itinerary until we reach La Paz, Bolivia. At this point some of us leave, we get a new tour leader, and some new people will be joining us; our tour to Lima is made up of two separate smaller tours joined together, so although some of us continue on to Lima, some of us leave at La Paz.
She went through it explaining everything in more detail, and then after some more general info, we all went out for dinner! We went to a churrascaria restaurant; a Brazilian grillhouse. To begin with you go round a buffet with sauces, cold salads, sushi, vegetables and some hot dishes; I had beansprout salad, asparagus, broccoli, sushi and bits from a hot creamy seafood dish which I took to be pasta but then found out after I'd sat back down were actually bits of squid. (I ate it anyway -it was OK.) Once you've sat down with that, waiters come round every now and then throughout the meal with long skewers with big chunks of different types of meat on, and they carve off onto your plate however much you'd like. I had some chicken, lamb and medium-rare beef, and it was all delicious! Dave's favourites were the pork, which I didn't have, and a steak from a platter a waiter had brought round (I missed this one somehow.) Platters of grilled vegetables came round too; when one came my way I had one or two of each - button mushrooms, wide strips of red pepper, shallots, and aubergine; they were lovely! A waiter also came round with a skewer with little rolls on; they were slightly crunchy on the outside but soft inside, and had a delicious creamy garlic sauce in the middle - the best garlic bread I've ever had! Then another waiter brought round a platter with small baked potatoes in foil, which also had a creamy garlic sauce in, and again, the texture was just right, as well as the taste. Chris had asked for some small meaty things from a passing skewer, not really knowing what they were; he was told they were chicken hearts, and suddenly he didn't want them any more! He offered them round, so I felt it was my duty to try a little bit of one, for experimentation purposes! It was soft and a bit floury, so although it wasn't bad as such, it's not worth trying again in my opinion. After we'd all finished, a couple of people had puddings, but Dave and I didn't because they cost extra and we were too full now anyway. For the all-you-can-eat buffet, meat, potatoes, hot veg, garlic bread etc., it was 32 real; this is almost exactly ten pounds! Good value, and it was all so delicious (apart from a couple of pork ribs and sauage chunks which Dave had, and the bit of chicken heart I tried), I think it was the perfect start to our tour. It was past 11 by the time we got out, due to us all talking so much, so we all went back to the hotel to bed; we had been told we were leaving at 10 tomorrow and our free breakfast was available between 6 and 10.