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Published: February 6th 2008
The eagle has landed!! Just kidding it´s only our arrival, though with the size of my nose you could be easily fooled.
8 of us (some of the guys we did our trip with) arrive into Rio at the same time and quickly disperse to our accommodation. Chris and I are in the upmarket area of Ipanema, two blocks back from the beach and all the others are staing one bay along in Copacabana. Straight away you can tell how big this city is, from the 20 minute journey we take. So me and Chris are led to out room by Felipe the bell boy. He tells us if we need ´anything´, ´anything at all´ to go to him. Hmm not sure what he meant by that but you can use your imagination.
First port of call is to head to Ipanema beach and take in the views. Trust me we were not disappointed, the bikinis were ridiculously small! (just kidding....though they were) I am of course reffering to the picture postcard view you always see of Ipanema beach, with the large split hill at one end. As we wander down we go through the 3 different areas of
Jump Around!!
Just like the prodigal son, Ben´s returned.....Ipanema beach. At our end home to the beautiful people. The muscular, the plastic and the waxed. (the latter being mainly men, Kellsy step forward)
Next and we realise this a little too late, we are walking directly through the gay section. I dont have a problem with their sexuality, but I do have a problem with being surrounded by men in Ben style ´nuthuggers´, where are you supposed to look!
Finally you have the surfers at the far end of the beach ´Arpoador´.
We then wander round the corner to Copacabana beach, which is more lively and much busier. This is one of the most famous beaches in the world and offers a great view of Pao De Azucar AKA Sugarloaf Mountain. Both beaches are heaving with vendors selling beer and other cold drinks, and even though they are only running little stalls they will bring you a parasol, chairs and as many beers as you can handle!
Of course in the excitement of arriving here, we managed to lose Brad. Who went to Copacabana to sort out his accommodation. We know he´s sharing an apartment with Ben who arrives tomorrow, but we have no
Ipanema Beach
The postcard view I was reffering to idea where! We then head to the rest of the gangs hostel only to find they´ve already gone out! Bugger, first night in Rio and Chris and I have a couple of beers and an early night...rock and roll. (course you know this is merely a one-off and Carnaval starts properly tomorrow!)
1st February 2008. The first day of Carnaval and Chris and I are winging our way to the airport to meet Ben. Yup, he enjoyed South America so much first time round that we couldn´t keep him away! (Just kidding it´s good to see him, even if he has gone a bit crazy with the razor!) We head to his hostel to sort his apartment, where we are finally reunited with Brad. Unfortunately in the melee of Bens arrival we forgot to arrange any plans with the others, so first night of the Carnaval is just the four of us!
Oh well, we aren´t ones to mope and so we head off out looking for a street party or ´Bandas e Blocos´as they call them here! We don´t have to look very hard though and soon we are following the party down the road!
Of
He bangs the drum!
Street musician in Copacabana course, no street party would be complete without ridiculous attire, and there´s ´plenty of it to go round. Chris opts for the facemask, Ben the Slightly ´camp´tie, Brad a ´Man from Del Monte´ style hat and yours truly a novelty hairband! (well I cant stray too far from the grain)
The party is actually really good fun and we follow the truck dancing and drinking until it stops at around midnight. Obviously we didnt stop at this point, we headed into a bar and carried on! Shortly after that we headed to the beach with some fellow revellers we met and drank with them til 4am! Not bad for the first night, if this is what the Carnaval is all about then potentially you might be reading the last sober blog I write for a while!
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