On arrival in Rio, I was careful to be diligent with my belongings, since I had read in my guidebook, and heard from a woman on the bus with me, to watch out in Rio for the crime we hear so much about. However, during my time in Rio, I never felt unsafe. There was always a good police presence along the Copacabana beach front to deter the would-be criminals. I also exercised common-sense, as should be done in any major city, by keeping check of my things and not wandering into the slum areas (favellas) by myself.

My first couple of days was spent exploring Rio with some other people I met in the hostel, Rio Backpackers. The owners, Adriana and Tina, were friendly and I liked the place, so I decided to return there after my stay in the hotel with Dave.

Dave and I were in contact my text message, so when we decided to meet, we wandered along the Copacabana beach front to meet. It was great to see him and didn´t feel strange that we were meeting in Rio, as we´d agreed long ago, back in the UK.

Dave had arranged for him and I, and the remaining members of his tour group to see a football game that evening, the local team being Vasco. I collected my things and we headed over to Dave´s hotel, where I met the rest of his group he´d been with for the past two weeks. There was a mix of Aussies, Americans and English, as is always the case with GAP Adventure groups, so after the introductions, we set off in the minibus for the ground. The game itself started off at a quick pace and I was impressed by the neat touches and passing and movement. As the game reached half-time, it deteriorated into a stale-mate, with the score at 0-0. The second half saw four goals to Vasco, and a man sent off for the opposition. The crowd were always buoyant, including the excited group of girls in front of us, who became boisterous at the sight of the ball in the opposition half. We came out of the ground having seen a decent game and enjoyed a good experience.

Each evening, it was tradition to go out for a meal with the rest of the group, which was usually followed by drinks at a bar or going to a club. One night, we went to a club, purported to be the best club in town. It was expensive to get in, but Dave and one of the American guys, Tim, saw that the table was paid for. On entering, one of the bouncers cleared a table of people already sitting down, which would be ours for the night. The barmen became our waiters as they brought out bottles of vodka and other drinks which were ours to drink as we pleased. I can´t say I´ve ever been served like that in a club before, and probably won´t be again, at least for some time, so it was cool while it lasted.

It became apparent we were getting some attention, I suppose from the copious amounts of alcohol on our table, free for consumption by us. It was deemed necessary to have a couple of bouncers stand by our table, once they brought over the bottle of Dom Perignon, costing an amount I wouldn´t like to guess at. So, nicely tanked up and with our own security, we proceeded to dance the night away with the rest of the in-crowd.

For some of the other time, we spent sun bathing on the famous Copacabana beach. Since it´s winter here at the moment, the sun wasn´t always out, and the beaches weren´t packed but it didn´t detract from having a great time. One afternoon, Dave, an Aussie guy Glenn, and I, went to one of the bars on the beach front. There was a Brazilian guy outside, probably in his 50s, playing keepy-up with a football. I kid younot, that football didn´t touch the ground for an hour while he volleyed it up, caught it behind his neck and did other tricks. Every now and then, he would burst into song about something or other while doing it, including using a whistle for other tunes.

After some time relaxing over some beers and having some food, Glenn left and it was soon evening. Dave and I remained, talking and taking in the evening air, when it became apparent that the bar we were sitting outside was beginning to fill with ladies of ill-repute. There were some good looking ones, some not so, and it was obvious to tell who was on-the-game, as it was an female already without a bloke.

At the time we were in Rio, the Pan-American games were on. A couple of days earlier, I arrived too late to the stadium on the beach where they were holding the women´s volleyball final between Mexico and Brazil. I was gutted I missed it. Although, I did get to see a footie game at the Maracana, the site of John Barnes´ famous goal for England against Brazil in the 80s. It was played out by Jamaica and Mexico, and since both teams fielded youth players, it was one of the worst games of football I´ve ever seen. It ended 0-0 and everyone was glad when it went straight to penalties. That part was exciting, with Jamaica emerging victorious.

Copacabana beach is generally safe, although it´s sensible not to go walking along there at night, even though there is a police presence. Along the pavement directly alongside the beach, there are food huts every 50 metres or so, including a TGI Friday´s and a McDonalds! These huts are no bigger than 5 metres diameter, and at first you wonder where the food is made. There are actually kitchens underground, so the view isn´t really spolied by such commercialism.

While I was sitting at one of these huts eating some lunch, I saw a guy playing the role of Charlie Chaplin walking along the pavement. He was walking directly in the path of a kid, so when the kid tried to avoid him, Chaplin went the same way. This happened several times, much to my amusement, and eventually he let the kid get past. He saw me laughing and came over to where I was sitting. "Great, what have I let myself in for...", I thought. It was actually quite funny, for example, while he held a stethoscope under my arm, the hearing device part was used as some kind of smelloscope, to which he wafted his hand in front of his nose. This too was amusing to those around me. After a couple of jokes such as this, he offered his hat for money, and like the guy playing keepy-up with the football, I was amused so gave some change. You become so accustomed to refusing to give money, since so many people ask for it, you don´t mind giving it when some does something worth your loose change.

Another thing about the beach activity, there are loads of people playing football. They either play a proper game, or play volley-football. They´re really good too. Also, the goals on the beach all have ´Liverpool FC´ written across the crossbar. I don´t know why this is but I was amused to see it.

After spending a few days with Dave, it was time for him to return to the UK, so after some time at the beach, we said goodbye to each other and I left for my hostel. There, I saw some of the guys I´d known from before, as well as meeting some new faces, including Heather, Carlos, Tim and a little later, a couple of Hungarian girls, Orshi and Zsofi, and a couple of Portugese girls, Ana and Catarina. I had already met one Hungarian guy in the hostel, Aron, who was the first of his nation I´ve met on my travels.

One Sunday night, we went to a Favella party, which is basically a big club out in the slum areas. You buy a ´VIP´ ticket for well over the odds, but it does provide transport there and back, and allows you access to the upper area of the club. We found that a bit boring so went down to mingle with the crowd below anyway. It was a fun night, and the beer was really cheap, so we were all pretty drunk by the time we left.

Another day, I went with Tim (an Aussie), Aart (Dutch) and Ram (American) to Sugar Loaf mountain. When we were queueing up to get in, a load of kids came over to the people in front of us, asking two of the girls for photos with them. Apparently, they were in the Brazilian Syncronised Swimming team, and with the recent press of the Pan American games, they would be recognised. They were identical blonde twins, who naturally were gaining attention anyway, since they were a couple of hotties! So, onwards we went up to Sugar Loaf via the cable car to see some fantastic views of the bat area around Rio. It was a lovely sunny day and made it look all the nicer. We could see Copacabana beach, strecthing and curving round to the far side, so had to get a couple of photos with it in the background.

I decided I wanted some more time in Brazil, so changed the date of my flight home. I also bought a flight to the north coast of Brazil, to Fortaleza. My plan would then be to travel south, back to Rio, seeing the beaches along the way.