Where it begins... Rio!

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Landed on the 17th and welcomed at the hostel El Misti with a ridiculously strong Cairpirinha, we felt ready for Rio. Not to be stopped by jet lag we used our four days to see the main sites and attractions:

Ipanema Beach
On the first day we ventured to the famous Ipanema beach and was strangly greeted by a Justin Beiber song, which has continued to follow us since - Hopefully this is just a Brazil thing and won´t continue the 3-4 months we´re in South America. It felt like paradise with the mountainous views, blue sea and long stretch of sand. With some swimming, beer drinking and lounging we admired the pretty bikinis and turned away at the speedos.

Botanic Gardens
After being toasted in the sun on Ipanema beach we moved onto the Botanic gardens. Unfortunately we didn´t have our cameras but it was stunning. We saw several monkeys, wild flowers, a cave which is really several stone plinths... We would recommend visiting!

Christ the Redeemer
Waking up early we used the very helpful buses to take the tram up to see Christ the Redeemer. On the tram we were entertained by a samba band and walked the last leg up to the top. Though amused by the outdoors escalators leading up to Christ, we probably enjoyed the vast views more than the statue.

Saint Teresa
Although later we realised getting here would have been half the battle if we went straight from Christ the Redeemer, we had a nice tour of the city trying to arrive at the tram in Centro. After a suspicious walk through quiet streets, directions from Ibis hotel we found the tram beginning and paid our 60 cents. Everyone piled on as we took the tour around the area, many locals jumped and held onto the side without care. We departed the tram to walk down the St Teresa steps, which has millions of tiles, with several reflecting different countries around the world.

Sugar Loaf Mountain
It was difficult, sweaty and steep but we hiked up to the first peak of Sugar Loaf Mountain. On the way we saw more monkeys, a snake being chased by a local and beautiful views. It was tough going but was worth it! We took the cable cart up to the second peak and again enjoyed the vast veiws and photo opportunities.

Copacabana Beach
After taking the metro too far we missed the opening times for the musuems so carried onto Copacabana beach. Beer on the beach front and football playing on the TV we admired the locals enthusiasm.

Carnival Rehearsals
Back at the hostel we began chatting with two English boys, one of which strangely comes from Bracknell - it is a small world. They invited us along with them and 3 Swedish girls to the Sambadrome as there was a carnival rehearsal. We were so pleased we went, we saw the footballer Ronaldinho, and enjoyed the campness of the festival and dancing. It makes us less envious about missing Rio´s carnival but excited about attending the one in Sao Paulo.

As we finished our time in Rio we moved on to Paraty - Entry to follow shortly.

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