Ilhabela mishap to Rio adventure!

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So ilhabela was beautiful! An island paradise. We pitched up at our hostal and headed straight to the beach. That evening we had some amazing seafood and a couple of good beers for good measure. The next day was pretty much suncream-sunbathe-swim-repeat!! Just what the doctor ordered! Over the next few days this is pretty much how it went. We did hire some bikes and found ourselves on a private beach after nearly killing Jo going up hill on a bike. However the best day was when we tried to watch the rugby in a pub and failed! So we took our bikes for a short ride (according to the map) to one of ilhabela's many beautiful waterfalls. When we set off it was fine, nice and flat but really hot and sticky. This only got worse when we started going up hill in the midday sun without any suncream on. To put it on at this point would prove to be fruitless as it would just slide right off! Maybe 45 mins later- many stops and cursing at our choice to do this we arrived and it was excellent! The waterfall was split into three sections. The top pool was just a chill out section, the middle a natural spa where the water massaged your back as it came over the ledge and the bottom one a natural slide! The water and beers were cold and it was welcome relief from the midday sun! The return journey was a different kettle of fish with all of it downhill, wind in our hair it took a mere 5'mins!! Jo's brakes failed so it skiddy moment for many reasons!
So there we were all set Sunday morning ready to leave the island- just the small task of negotiating a taxi to the ferry port for the 8am boat. The guy who owned the hostal booked us our taxi the night before, so all was sorted. Or so we thought. 7am the next day, there we are all ready to roll waiting for the taxi. Long story short, it didn't turn up. So we tried to get another for a good hour. Finally one came, bless the taxi driver he drove like a bat out of hell to get us to the port but we missed it by a whisker. So we were stuck on the island for another few days (it's such a hard life)
So we decided to take a jeep safari to a beautiful beach over the other side of he island. We chilled out on the sunbeds, ate seafood and swam in the sea. The only downside to this was the size of the waves. They were huge! It did make for some interesting filming from jo though when she accidentally put the slow mo setting on whilst I was getting out- Pamela Anderson has nothing on me lol!
Leave the island take two- to make sure we made the ferry and bus this time we decided to return to the mainland and stay into a motel for the night. We couldn't miss this bus we had to be in Rio the next day!
Another bus another story!!! This time the title of the bus is Sauna- the sweat story! We were sat at the back of the bus, on top of the engine for 9 hours. I genuinely nearly passed out with the heat and I wasn't even sitting by the hottest bit. How Jo didn't cook and die I will never know. But still we finally arrived in Rio with bated breath for what was about to come.
Now I can't explain the reason why, but I have wanted to go to Rio for my entire life and Rio plus carnival is top of the bucket list! So you understand how excited I am be here! I'm like a kid in a candy shop. Checked into the hostal (cheeky little upgrade to a smaller dorm and a private bathroom later) it was time for a well earnt beer! Within the space of an hour we had been adopted by a woman at the hostal, invited to the beach and to a nightclub the next day! We just said yes! It wasn't until the next day it kind of dawned on us that we had agreed to get in a car with a total stranger and drive for 1 hour outside of Rio lol! It was the best decision we have ever made. She was lovely- really looked after us and turns out others were joining us to. The rest as they say is history and over the next few days it was a blur or colour, beautiful beaches, street parties/blocos, more partying again, meeting more people, minimal sleep and having an absolute blast! We did pause for thought though one day to visit the biggest favela in South America called Rocinah. We really enjoyed and had a great time, it's hard to explain what it's like- but it's kind of like a city within a city. It has its own law enforcement (the mafia) a real community spirit as everyone seems to help one another with moving their goods through the intricate twisting and turning maze of alleyways, people appear happy. But on the flip side the poverty is obvious. There is no sewage system, rubbish and animal poop everywhere. Whilst there we visited an art gallery showing some very impressive work, a bakery for a well earned snack and we were given a short street samba performance by some local children. People have asked us if it was safe and surprisingly it was really safe. In the favela there is an understanding with the mafia that no one is allowed to steal from tourists- do so on pain of death (literally) as we bring money into the area. There were a few moments where our guide told us to put our cameras away and not to take photos as we were passing through a 'hot spot'. This was where the mafia sold drugs on the street corners. They weren't bothered by us passing through in the slightest and had huge guns on show for all to see. If anything it was safer in the favela compared to Copacabana beach. We had heard about mugging and people having their things stolen, but at one beach party we saw it happen and we saw how Brazilian justice works! A mob managed to catch the man and they literally kicked lumps out of him and removed him from the area. I dread to think what happened to him! We were told on our tour that the government out here is extremely corrupt and their aim is to keep the poor, poor to line their own pockets. That said though the Brazilian people we have met, have been nothing but warm, welcoming and friendly. Very keen to show us the real Rio and keep us safe at the same time. We have met people from all over the world here and made some marvellous friends. Today we will finally visit the big JC, sugar loaf mountain and the steps at Santa Teresa. Just long enough to make sure we don't dip below the recommended alcohol levels for the day! We thought we might be in trouble but we topped up with a caipirinha on top of sugar loaf mountain watching the sun go down just tonnes sure!
We're off out for a quiet night now as we need to re charge before the madness of carnival begins.
We love Rio so much we may not leave!
Love Lauren and Jo

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