Well, it´s been a while since my first entry so I´ve got a lot to talk about now. Rio is a fantastically crazy city and my 7 days there were something of a whirlwind.

After my first day sightseeing I got up early on the Wednesday morning to go on a tour of two Favelas, which took in Rosinha (the largest Favela in Brazil, 300,000 people packed into 1 square km) and another, much smaller Favela. We were informed by the guide that we´d be completely safe (as long as we didn´t take any photos) as the Favela is run by the drug lords who don´t tolerate any petty crime (presumably so as not to attract unnecessary attention). And it did seem pretty safe as we wandered down the main shopping street. It struck me as something of a refugee camp which I guess it is essentially, home to displaced people from across the country. The smaller Favela was quite nice actually and we visited the school that is 80% funded by the tours. The government is now recognising the issues of the Favelas and a lot now have addresses, electricity, phone lines, running water etc, so Martha, our tour guide, is optimistic for the future.

That evening I went out for a beer and a burger but, being security consious, took no cards and only limited cash. Anyway, I couldn´t pay the bill! They were really nice though and didn´t mind me nipping back to the hostel to get the remainder. I´ll not do that again, rather embarrassing.

Thursday and Friday were clear sunny days so I took the opportunity to go up to Cristo Redentor and the Sugar Loaf mountain, both of which were spectaular. The views from Cristo cover the whole of Rio and the view sunset from Sugar Loaf was sensational. The Sugar Loaf is in an old fishing village called Urca which has basically been swallowed up by Rio as the city expanded. It still very much retains a villagy feel though and is a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of Rio. Friday night a group of us from the hostel (myself, Giles, Dario, George and Velasca from Miami, Vanessa from Buenos Aires and Sofie from the states) went out in Lapa which is the live music and nightlife capital of Rio. It was just open air parties, food stalls, bars, live music, dancing etc. Great night and we eventually made it back to the hostel about 6am.

The wéather at the weekend wasn´t great (and I had a hangover) so Saturday I had a wandering day, taking in Ipanema, Copacobana and Leblon. In the evening we had another big one, this time joined by Jonas the German from San Diego. We went out for some food and drink and then to a couple of clubs in Copacabana and Ipanema. In the second club a man tried to chat me up, offering me cocaine and marijuana and saying ¨we go now, yes?¨ I politely declined. I´ve not lost it though!

Sunday was another slow day as it was daylight again by the time I made it back to the hostel so I had a wander around Ipanema and Leblon and then went to the football at the Maracana with Jez and Charlie, a couple from the hostel. We had no idea what we were doing so it was fortunate that we came across some girls in Fluminense shirts (the local team who we were going to watch) who helped us find the way and sort out tickets. The standard of football was pretty poor in all honesty but the experience was great.

Monday I was to travel to bid farewell to Rio and travel to Ilha Grande. I´ve had a manic 7 nights in Rio and loved every minute of it. I have to say that despite the scare stories, it seems a pretty safe place to be in general, as long as you´re sensible. Ipanema in particular seemed very safe, no problem wandering the streets alone after dark. However, Jez and Charlie were robbed at gunpoint in the middle of the day in Central Rio on Saturday so maybe I just got lucky!