Blogs from Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America

Each time I reached for my wallet the guy pointing the gun at my head would start yelling. Why didn't he want my money? I put my hands back in the air and repeated, "No falo Portuguese!" To my relief, he lowered the gun. But relief was brief. He only lowered the gun to pull the hammer back. Now I was looking down the barrel again. I was certain he was about to pull the trigger. Oddly, I wasn't afraid. I found myself wondering what it would sound like. Would I have time to hear the bang? What would it feel like when the bullet hit me? Would I have time to feel pain? Unlike the townships of Johannesburg and Harare, the favelas of Rio are not on the outskirts of the city. Instead they are ... read more

Today was the day for ticking off the last of my must do things in Rio - Cristo Redentor, the iconic statue which looms over Rio from up above,day and night. Along with Sugar Loaf and the Iguaçu falls, which I saw three years ago, I would then have done the three things that tourists must do in Brazil and could do the things I really wanted to do such as avoid big cities! The day got off to a bad start when the metro machine swallowed the integrated ticket that was also supposed to get me on the bus which would take me the rest of the way. However since the woman in the ticket booth had been less than helpful I decided not to make a fuss for the sake of about 75p. As ... read more

En voyage d'affaires, ma sœur m'a fait d'honneur de sa présence pendant trois jours trop courts. Non contente de voyager en éco à 4 mois de grossesse, ma chère sœur me demande à peine arrivée si l'on peut faire l'ascension des Dois Irmãos (les deux rochers que l'on voit en arrière plan de toutes les photos prises sur la plage d'Ipanema). Dois Irmãos en portugais cela veut dire "Deux frères".... arf! C'est un signe, les deux sœurs monteront sur les deux frères! Nous voici donc au sommet du plus haut des deux monts, en petite robe et claquettes..... Trois trempettes dans l'océan, quelques bons plats partagés, une rencontre avec mes nouveaux amis et la voilà déjà repartie. En laissant ma sœur dans l'aéroport je sens un gros pincement au cœur...... les Rio/Lyon seront moins fréquents que ... read more

Today began with a trip to a doctor's office. You see we've gone 5 days now without American Airlines delivering our luggage, and it was beginning to become dangerous for my wife to be off her anti-seizure meds. Luckily we found a great clinic just blocks from where we're staying in Copacabana. http://www.clinicagaldinocampos.com.br The Doctor there saw us without much delay and was able to prescribe my wife the meds she needed. After that it was time for some fun stuff. Enough wallowing in our sorrow over our lost bags. We pulled on our new swimming suits and hit the beach at Copacabana. We probably could have spent longer finding an area that suited us. The one we found straight away was full of people that seemed very local (and a tiny bit sketchy). But we ... read more

Sorry I haven't blogged lately, any spare chance I get I sleep or go out to the beach! So on Sunday morning we did a tour in one of the favelas which is what they call the slums in Rio. We had to be very careful as we are a bit of a target waking around the slums being a tourist. It was one of my highlights in Rio, just seeing that side of it was cool. After the tour we went to a soccer match (the same place the world cup was held). The team we decided to go for won so we were pretty pleased! After the soccer match we went out for dinner and then spent most of the night dancing. The next day we were supposed to go hang gliding but the ... read more