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Published: February 28th 2012
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The flight from San Jose to Rio de Janeiro with Taca was comfortable and included copious free alcohol and a very easy transfer in Peru (take note USA!) so I arrived on Wednesday 15th feeling relatively refreshed. Rob and I crashed out on the bus but luckily Amber was alert and we got off next to their hostel in Copacabana. I was reliably informed that mine was a few blocks away but it was actually a half hour walk in searing heat with all of my gear. I arrived and found out I couldn't check in yet so headed to the beach for a quick nap and some sunburn.
After seeing barely any Brits in over a month travelling Central America I was suddenly in a room with ten others, a few of which lived in Harrow. On my first evening I ventured out with them to watch Arsenal play Milan in the Champion's League – shouldn't really have bothered.
The next few days were relaxed as we waited for Carnival to begin. Rio has an easy-to-navigate linear shape and we were conveniently located on the south side of Copacabana ,near the scenic and famous Ipanema beach. Rio, and
Brazil in general, gets ridiculously hot at this time of year (the other day it cleared 40) so being near the icy Atlantic water had its advantages.
Carnival started two days in and we headed for our first – and probably best – street party in Santa Theresa, a bohemian area situated near favelas and the Centro on a hilltop. The party spilled into neighbouring Lapa, a cultural but slightly edgy area that tended to be where we ended up most nights from then on in.
Rio de Janeiro was different to how I expected it to be. It does have a large petty crime problem and the favelas really are situated right next to the main areas, but overall it feels similar to somewhere like Los Angeles or any European beachside city – clean, relatively safe and extremely cosmopolitan. It would be naïve to judge a huge city on only its most affluent areas but considering I had been told to expect a dangerous metropolis filled with muggers and pickpockets, I was surprised how relaxed I felt throughout my time there.
Carnival was essentially five days of street parties and a nocturnal lifestyle but a real
highlight was visiting the Sambadrome to watch Rio's main samba schools compete for the annual Carnival prize. This is Carnival's main parade, situated in a huge purpose built stadium, and its by far the most amazing spectacle of the week. The floats really need to be seen to be believed – pictures don't do them justice – and the money involved must be incredible. There are literally thousands of dancers.
Carnival ended and I decided to stay in Rio and actually see the city. This included visiting Christ, Sugarloaf Mountain and the Santa Teresa steps. Another highlight was going to see Vasco play Flamengo in a intercity cup competition. It was a great experience and a good game; an opportunity to see Ronaldinho, Wagner Love and
one of the most incredible misses of all time . Vasco won and the atmosphere in our end was therefore electric – a little bit louder than the Emirates at least.
Travel in Brazil is completely different from travel in Central America. For a start it's actually very expensive, and also very busy (we're in high season). For the first time we're having to book places ahead and plan in advance where we're going. I was now travelling with Josh, who I
used to work with in Watford, and for that reason we decided to go to Paraty, a beach city to relax for a few days post-Carnival and wait for accommodation to come available in nearby Isla Grande.
Due to some creative advertising by our hostel, we actually ended up in Trinidade, a small beach town near Paraty. This was a happy accident as Trinidade's beaches are some of the best in the area and we spent three days relaxing there, visiting beaches and climbing waterfalls. I briefly met up with Rob and Amber for one last time – they have to move down the coast pretty quickly as they need to be back up in Colombia five weeks from now.
We then moved into Paraty, a pretty colonial town (not another one!) where I write this now. Like most of Brazil that I´ve seen so far, it's affluent, beautiful and strangely European-feeling.
Special mention has to go to Brazilian food, which is a massive improvement on the endless tortillas of Central America. They like their meat here, with per kilo buffets selling massive portions of beautifully cooked beef, pork and chicken. The juice bars here are also spectacular; Brazil has more types of fruit than any other country in the world and they make epic juices from most of them.
Tomorrow we will travel to Isla Grande, a Brazilian island with good bars, excellent beaches and some hiking. It comes highly recommended so we're looking forward to spending at least five nights there before heading south to Sao Paulo.
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