Andrea: Christ the Redeemer - wonder of the world #1 in our trip - tick! We ascended the mountain that towers above Rio on a tram car through the jungle, passed an abandoned mansion and rattled onward to vistas of Rio, its bay and its favelas. Unfortunately the blue sky from sea level, which tempted us up the mountain, was partly cloudy by the time we got 3600 feet up to the statue. So the tourists played the waiting game. Most lying on the floor to take a photo ...

Vern: We made our way from our island-style hostel, Che Legarto in Ipanema, to our no-style hotel, in Centro (downtown). Navigating public transport was a cinch and Andrea's spanglisheguese is getting us successfully through most transactions. Centro is bustling, like the business district of most major cities, and there are hundreds of people walking in every direction. We haven't figured out the traffic lights yet which seem to go green or red together on three...