Long time since I have updated this because internet access at the hostels we have been are ridiculously busy.

Anyway, the last 4 days in Rio De Janeiro were awesome, so here is a collection of stuff we did:

1) Favela Tour with "bealocal.com" about 20 pounds: This was a day tour of one of the largest Favela´s in South America and obviously the largest in Rio De Janeiro, it is called Rocinha and is absolutely huge. You need to see the pictures (which I will upload when I get back) to get any idea of the scale of the place. It is also surprisingly right next to a rather up-market area with fancy condos by beautiful Rocinha beach.

The day started with us getting transferred from our Hostel to the base of the Favela. We were then told we would not be driven through the favelas but taken to the top on the back of a motorbike and walk right within it, no problem on the face of it. But when we got to the bike departure area we were ushered onto the back of a local Favela bike driver, given no helmet and raced upto the top of the Favela through windy roads and narrowingly dodging many-a lorry/car/person/animal parading the rather sketchy road. It was an awesome experience and had my heart pumping more than any other rollercoaster ride.

Having survived that we gathered as a group at the top...right next to a Favela drug dealer casually sporting a M16 machine gun across his neck. Some of the girls in the group freaked out a little bit...Frank and I were of course calm and collective like Spartans. Our guide promptly reassured us that we wouldn´t have any trouble..aka get shot..if we didn´t take a picture of him.

We spent the next couple of hours walking right down through, and to the bottom of, the Favela; meeting locals, local business people, artists, a school and many of the children. I have a lot of thoughts and reflections after this day-trip and will try my best to summarise them below.

I was shocked at how much better the standard of living was here than I had imagined from my Geography classes at schools. Most houses have access to electricity, although mostly illegaly connected to the pylons, clean (ish) running water and pretty clean and amicable houses with tv´s, music systems and kitchens. It seemed as if a lot of the places were nicer than the hostel we were staying at! There are also primary and secondary school services in the Favela where they enforce a ´pay-if-you-can´ system. We were also treated to a fantastic drum display from some of the local kids (utilising a pan and some empty paint tins). All the people were very friendly as well and some welcomed us into their homes. Despite the horrible generalisations you hear from some people, including ´Cariocas´ (local Rio de Janeiro peeps), we found them to be honest, hard-working individuals with the exception of the few involved in the drug trade. At the end of the day we were informed from our guide that the Rocinha drug gang decided to attack the Copacabana Favela that day...grenades were used and several shots fired and the following day the Copacabana crew attacked that same Favela we were in. It was quite shocking but this is everyday life in Rio De Janeiro, don´t worry though as the guide wouldn´t take us if we were in danger, the next day all tours were cancelled.

To summarise, it was a great day and I fully recommend anyone going to Rio De Janeiro to partake on it. The company we used were bealocal.com, our guide was fantastic and well known in the Favela.

2) Hang gliding with Brazilian Expedition about 70 pounds:

We were blessed with our first beautiful blue-skied and sunny day which was terrific luck, got taken up Tijuca National Park (very beautiful) and decended over Rio De Janeiro on a hang glide. Great experience, very relaxing and wel worth the money.

3) Day trip with Brazilian Expedition about 20 pounds:

This day trip involved touring many parts of the city - the Tijuca national park, Cristo Redento and Santa Teresa (a very funky part of the city..kinda like Camden to London). Was a great trip, not overly impressed by Cristo Redento up close, but you gotta do it. The highlight was meeting Jorge Selarón and posing on his tiled stairs creation, as seen on the "Beautiful" video by Snoop Dogg...see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escadaria_Selar%C3%B3n for more deets.