Blogs from Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 2

Here are some pictures of Rio. Some are taken around Santa Teresa (where we stayed), one is of Ipanema beach, the others are taken at the top of Sugar Loaf and Corcovado. We hope you enjoy looking at them. Miss T... read more

Rio De Janeiro Our heros try to negotiate a new country and a new language whilst battling sleep deprivation, disorientation and dodgy shower systems...will they survive? Yes, yes they will, obviously... The first port of call on this adventure is Rio De Janeiro, probably one of the more glamorous cities on the planet, with a reputation of a dangerous underbelly. We arrived at 5am after very long overnight flight from London via Rome and I was woefully short of sleep. It's hard to be impressed by much when you've been in a haze for the previous 12 hours watching a couple of terrible films (Inglorious Basterds and Safe House in case you were wondering). That said I was awake enough to know that my first impression of Rio wasn't too great. Coming through the arrival gates ... read more

Descending out of the gathering cold and cloud, we caught our first breathtaking glimpse of Rio de Janeiro. Its famous coastline of countless beaches, oddly formed peaks and one particularly famous statue appeared from nowhere as we excitedly squashed our faces against the window of the aeroplane, our eyes straining to catch sight of one of Rio’s more famous landmarks – at that height impossible of course but our anticipation had suddenly armed us with irrational, child like wonder. Our tiredness following our arduous twenty-seven hour journey from Mumbai disappeared as quickly as the cloud covering. Here against the cool blue of the Atlantic Ocean, Rio de Janeiro and indeed the rest of South America lay before us... At that moment, it seemed like years ago that we had ended our time in India, a country ... read more

Having ummed and aahed as to whether or not the plane journey of death was worth it, with vague jaded notions of having ´seen waterfalls before´, I was completely blown away by Iguazu. Alarm going off at 7, armed with mosquito repellent and sun cream, we set off on the ramshackle bus into the national park towards the falls. One extortionate entrance fee later (30 pesos for locals, 120 pesos for foreigners), we started the walk around the park to the first part of the falls. This walk, despite not actually being that far, took a lot longer than it should due to almost everyone around stopping every 30 seconds to take a photo. I was no exception, and you´ll all be pleased to hear that my 500 photos will be winging their way your way ... read more

Rio De Janeiro Other than Machu Picchu in Peru, Rio de Janeiro seemed to be the most iconic destination to begin my travels in South America. So my friend Mary and I set off, completely blind to customs and native tongue, to Brazils second largest city. With no plan in mind, we decided it was safest to book into a hostel for the first two weeks, to organise ourselves and re-immerse ourselves into the backpacker, shared-room lifestyle. After a night stopover in London Heathrow followed by a 12 hour flight to Rio’s international airport ‘Tom Jobin’, we finally arrived into 26 degrees Celsius heat at 8pm on a Brazilian summers evening. Walking through the arrivals gate we were greeted by our hostels assigned airport transfer driver. A quick twenty minute drive later, we arrived at Rio’s ... read more