Greetings from Rio!

Weve had such a busy few days but Rio is absolutely fantastic! We arrived on Tuesday night to a crazy driver who picked us up from the airport and took us to our delightful (!) hostel. Sharing a room with 21 other people definitely proved a good way to make friends...

Wednesday we spent at the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema which were beautiful but so hot we felt like we were melting- all of the Brazilians were pointing and laughing at our pasty skin! Charming!

Thursday we went on a tour of a favela on the back of a motorbike and then trekked down through the favela from the top. We then went on a boat party organised by the hostel- but the heavens opened and soaked everyone but to be honest it just added to the fun and was a great way to see all of Rio harbour. At night we sampled the Rio nightlife at a club that we went to for an Aussie girl from the hostels birthday.

Yesterday we did the touristy things- Christ the Redeemer, Tijuana Forest, Cathedral, Maracana stadium etc. It was too cloudy to go up Sugar Loaf mountain unfortunately but we got a good view of the city from a viewing platform. At night we went to a massive street party in Lapa with people from the hostel- absolutely amazing atmosphere and so much fun!

Today we decided to extend our Rio stay so we can go to a Carnaval samba rehearsal tonight and then will be making our way to Paraty and Ilha Grande tomorrow morning.

The internet is sooooooooo slow so sorry for the lack of detail but I will write more when we hit somewhere with quicker internet.

Much love x