We´ve arrived! 2 days of fantastic sun, beaches etc and now we are in an internet cafe telling you all about it because it is raining. Booooo (but hope it makes you all feel better). So far we have eaten the traditional Brazilian dish of pizza - twice! On day two we actually found a restaurant that had an English menu so that we knew what we were ordering, however, since the waiter didn´t speak any English we ended up with random meals that bore no relation to what we ordered. Oh well, at least it was more traditional that pizza.

Away from food - we had a great day on Copacobana beach - not sure where all the beautiful Brazilian babes were though - everyone here is certainly happy to let it all hang out. The other sight from the beach was what seemed to be the entire Brazilian Navy cruising past the bay, accompanied by military helicopters - either Brazil are going to war or there was some national day going on?

As it is raining today we have spent lots of time getting to know the other people on the trip - all seem nice but I´m sure you´ll hear more about them over the coming months.

Thanks so much to those of you who have sent us e-mails and messages so far - please keep them coming.

Oh and thanks to Matt re the plug - has been invaluable already!

Richard and Nicky