Tue 9th - Despite the temperature telling us its going to be 28+ with sun & clouds its still raining in Rio. We have been extremely lucky with our booked tours having fine days although overcast. Its also very humid. Despite the rain we caught the metro to see the famous Ipanema Beach, we had it to ourselves because of the rain. It was still nice to see it and walk along. I almost booked our hotel along Ipanema, so glad I didn't, its much quiter than Copacab...

Monday Oct 8thToday was spent walking around the neighbourhood of Santa Teresa. It was a walking tour in a group of 6 people & a local guide that I booked with Urban Adventures on Viator. This suburb is on the Hill up from the centre of Rio, its famous for narrow winding streets and a favourite spot for artists and tourists, it could be called a bohemian / hippy place. The locality first emerged in 1750's based around Santa Teresa Convent, by the end of the...

Saturday 6th Oct. Today we are off the see the big fellow. Before we left home I booked a tour through Viator for a ½ day Christ the Redeemer (early access), Sugar loaf mountain & Brazil BBQ lunch. A quick breakfast and walk to the pickup point we joined 5 others on the bus. It stopped for a little breakfast for those that didn't get any, our guide - Paulo was a bit of a character and you couldn't always believe what he was saying! But he would tell the true...

Friday 5th Oct - A 4.30am start to the day, with sad goodbyes we headed off with Jorge & Cristina's personal taxi to the airport for our flight to Rio de Janeiro - Brazil. Arrived at the airport with heaps of time, so we thought! Joined the queue for check in - 2 hours of checking in luggage, going through scanners, then customs, a really quick coffee, to hearing our names called for boarding!! A pleasant 2 hr flight, and landing in Rio with clouds and rain ...

Thursday 4th Oct - Our last day n Buenos Aires ☹. However, the day didn't disappoint, the weather was glorious and we spent the day in La Boca with Jorge. It was a lovely walking around seeing all the bright colours, tango dancers, and looking through the old Italian migrant settlements. When visiting La Boca you can not miss visiting the "Boca Jnr" soccer stadium. We caught the subway into the city centre, then a short taxi ride dropped us near the river, the ...