After an 11 hour flight we landed in Rio de Janeiro at 20h55 on Monday night (28/06).
It was pretty easy to get a taxi to our hostel, as the taxi operators shout out to you before you even get out of the airport with your bags. Hostel Jucati was pretty good, more like an apartment than a room, as it had its own kitchen and dining area. The only catch was the cold shower...which we later found out was because we had not switched a switch somewhere.
We spent the morning of the first day on Copacabana beach, only a ten minute walk from the hostel. It is a beautiful long white sandy beach, the only downside being the kikoy vendors that can spot a gringo from 2 blocks away and just wouldnt leave us alone - must work on the tan! In the afternoon we took a bus tour that started at the local football stadium (odd but there we go) and then went up to see Christ the Redeemer. Took lots of pics so hopefully got a good one. It was a little overcast so we were waiting for the clouds to clear to see his face. Then went on to take a cable car up to Sugar Loaf, well 2 cable cars actually and saw the sunset over Rio which was beautiful.
Steve here... taken over blogging... gotta get my 2 cents worth. So where we at. Right sugar loaf and Jesus super star out the way and one night in a hostel on our own steam. Next morning we were woken up at 6am with local Frut and Veg market in the square outside our window. Nice if you want Veg at 6am in the morning. I´ll let you guess on what my thoughts were at that time ;)
So after listening to as much Fruit and Veg banter that I could handle I headed for the 2nd cold shower of the trip. I tried to convince myself that it was like a cool swimming pool but other parts of my anatomy disagreed. Buy the looks of things it was friggen cold!
So showered... Wide Awake ... bags packed and off to next hostel to join tour group. We both reckoned we had packed light but by the looks on our faces when we reached the next hostel you would have thought we had just finished an Iron Man. Note to self... find hidden 20kilos in back pack and ditch.
Kirst now: 2nd Day we took a local taxi to Ipanema and drank out of Coconuts and sampled the local tipple called Caiprianha (its not very good but very strong, so quickly does the job). Spent the day on the beach and then got a local taxi back without too much fuss. The majority of people seem to speak a bit of English here, well more than we can speak Portuguese anyway. Headed back to the hostel to meet the Gap tour group for the briefing and headed out for dinner. Nice group of people.
Next morning we got brekky at the corner cafe, steve was convinced he had ordered 2 toasted cheese and tomato sarnies, and the waittress made nodding movements like she understood, only to deliver 2 ham rolls - close enough. Have learned that Laranje means Orange so managed to get some juice though. Then got a bus and a catamaran transfer to Isla Grande, where we are now. Beautiful island. Will update more later.
Kirsty and Steve xx
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