We have been loving Rio! Thankfully the weather is no longer wet and we have sunshine and brilliant blue skies. We stayed with Sam at Valdiero's in Volta Redonda and went to special meetings on Sunday and came back by bus in the evening.

Martin got sunburnt on Monday so had suncream put on his little bald patch today! We have had plenty of time to explore this great city. It is in a fantastic location because it's built amoungst mountains and beaches. We have spent quite a lot of time on the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema which are beautiful. The only dress code on the beach for women seems to be the smallest bikini possible - even on the oldest and largest residents of Rio! Men strut around in 'Zoongas' which are basically speedos. It would be possible to spend days there people-watching as there is so much activity. We went up by cable car to the top of sugarloaf mountain where you get wonderful panoramic views of the city and visitied Corcovado mountain (710m) where the famous Statue of Christ looks over the city. Unfortunately though there is a lot of graffiti in Rio and you need to be cautious about carrying valuables with you as there are plenty of pickpockets around.

We move on from Rio tomorrow as we meet up with the rest of our first tour group this evening. We will be spending the next two weeks travelling overland through Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.