Geo: -22.9458, -43.1825Today was the day we were to venture to all of the touristy things of Rio. The stuff that you HAVE to do, but know full well thousands if other people HAVE to do it on the same day!! Deserted places were never going to happen this day!! Before the day had began I got up early to watch the sunrise as it appears over sugar loaf right outside our window. It did not disappoint! After dosing for a few more hours it was up and at it! Lucia, our guide, met us outside our apartment and we had a good old matter while we waited for the minibus. After all of the pickups, we went to a beach further along the coast, where paragliding is famous! It was £100 each to go so ... read more

Geo: -22.9458, -43.1825After a doze and a read and a doze and a breakfast we decided to head for ipenema beach and have a chill out there as every after last night was not most forthcoming! I say chill out, potentially bake out with some of the stickiest sand I have ever had the delight of getting on me! (Took the power shower in the flat to get it off!!) we had more of a read, got offered water and cerveja (beer) ten million times and cocaine and 'a smoke' once!! Now due to carnival most of the cash points in common areas were rinsed which meant we were on a tight budget until we found a working cashpoint ( hoping it wasn't the card being rejected!) At our 4th attempt.... Success and seeing as we ... read more

Geo: -22.9458, -43.1825As tonight has the potential to be an all nighter, today was about eating, relaxing and sleeping in an attempt to store up some energy! It had rained overnight so the temperature was a nice 25degrees when we left the flat. There was a local side football match on the beach opposite whilst we were eating breakfast and the noise of the roadworks (cant even escape them in rio!!!) drove us out to go have a looksee! Looked like hard work to me! We found some free wifi by standing outside the mall of all places but there were travellers stood on the corner glued to their phones... Key give away!! Blog updated we decided to head back to touristville to find a proper feed and indeed we did!! £14 each all you can ... read more

Geo: -22.9035, -43.2096James was awake with the dawn this morning!! God knows why, but the view out of our window was beautiful! After he had had a shower, he was bouncing off the walls so went to forage for breakfast whilst I eventually came around! Breakfast consisted of Ačai juice (an amazon fruit..... Blooming lovely!) and a bacon and chicken sandwich which was blooming huge!!! Job was a gooden! We proceeded to unpack, sort out washing now we were staying somewhere long enough to dry it and there was a knock on the door from the company who were taking us on the favela tour in the afternoon! We showed him the email but said give us 5 mins and we can be ready.... But a min later after a phone call he apologised and said ... read more

Geo: -23.1409, -44.1612Today is time to pack up all our stuff and leave backpackerness and head to chaos in rio! Our boat is not until 1 so we have had a chill on the beach, had another look in the tat shops (James bought a vest!!!) and now awaiting the boat to head to our last stop, our apartment in rio!... read more