A short blog on Rio

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I'm currently in Sao Paulo, but I'm not here for very long, I got here yesterday and I leave for Campinas tomorrow. I'm therefore going to keep this blog short, so I don't waste time on the net, when I could be out exploring. I'm back on my own now, it feels slightly strange not being in the company of Shannon, Sherry and Alyssa. Shannon is now back in Canada, while Sherry and Alyssa are now hopefully in Buenos Aires.

Ok, the brief summary of what I did in Rio is as follows:
*Went shopping: I should have realised going shopping with three girls, would take some time. Most of the shops were relatively expensive - the prices were similar to here. Although while we were in the mall we managed to sneak onto the room car park, which had a great view.
*hung out on the beach at Ipanema briefly (I've got photos but they're on my disposable camera).
*spent most of a day wandering around the botantical gardens in Rio. They're huge, saw all sorts of plants and wildlife, the attached flora and fauna photos are from there. I also saw a toucan flying overhead. The biggest disappointment about the gardens, was that there was meant to be monkeys but I didn't see any of them. There was also a lot of noisy tourists, who probably scared away most of the wildlife.
*wandered around the centre of Rio and visited St Teresa. Highlights include the New Catherdral and the steps at Saint Teresa. The steps have been made by a Chilean artist and include tiles from all around the world.
*rode the cable car up Sugar Loaf Mountain.
*Got introduced to Sushi, which was fantastic. Although the Girls tell me that the Sushi is likely to be the best Sushi I will ever taste. The restaurant gave me chop sticks with "training wheels" essentially a rubber band tied round the top of them) as I was struggling with the chop sticks.

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Photos

Turtle fight
At the Botanical Gardens, they had some turtles. There was a lot of figting going on for the best spots to perch.