Her name was Lola..

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We set off from Ilha Grande on the dodgiest of small boats, with rainclouds looming & water sloshing in from the side. We arrived at the port where we were picked up by a van and a car. 4 of us dove for the car, me shotgunning for passenger seat and set off for the final destination of our tour, Rio de Janeiro. Oh my god we´re going to RIO!!!

We arrived at our hotel a block back from Copacabana beach, flung our gear in our rooms, raided the ATM (all the while watching over our shoulders, there´d been plenty of scaremongering about how dodgy the area is and how susceptible we will be to getting mugged), and were picked up to go on a tour of this lovely, and ridiculously large, city of Rio de Janeiro.

First stop was Christ the Redeemer, which at 38 metres high, including the base, doesn´t quite loom over the city like you´d think, but still very impressive all the same. Earlier when we were driving into Rio an argument unfolded as to whether ´that thing up there´was Christ the Redeemer or just a mobile phone tower. It was infact the statue, albeit on a cloudy day.

We did a quick drive by of Rio´s most famous football stadium, Maracana, went into Sao Sebastio Cathedral which from the outside looked like some ug government building (not dissimilar to Wellington´s beehive) but had the most magnificent stained glass windows inside, well worth a visit. Had a quick spin through where they host Rio´s Carnaval every February (did a small shimmy) and then onto Sugar Loaf mountain via cable car. A bit of a letdown as the top of Sugar Loaf was completely encompassed by cloud... being troupers we still went up anyway. The first mountain we stopped at had a great view though. We left there at about 6 pm and the lights of Rio were shining happily, such a gorgeous city.

That night we had the final dinner of our tour and i´m really going to miss those buggers. I was a tad apprehensive about doing a tour as this was my first one, but everyone was brilliant and always up for a good time.

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Photos

Sao Sebastiao Cathedral
Not so flash on the outside.

Christ the Redeemer
Tourists!

Sugar Loaf
alas, not the best view..