Pushing 5 months...

So here is a brief synopsis of the past few days:

On our last day in Foz Iguassu we visited the Brazilian side of the falls.... we were in a rush but did get to see it all. This side is not as extensive but does give some good views on the falls that we saw up close earlier in the week. It also gives a different point of view of Devil´s Throat. It was good but just not nearly as amazing as the Argentine side.

After our brief trip we had to rush back to the hostel, pack and head to the bus station for our 12pm ride to Rio... another 24 hours and we would be in one of the most talked about cities in the world.

We arrived at our hostel to a melee of people checking in and out after the end of carnaval, it was a mess! When we were done we started to explore copacobana. The beach was packed and ridiculously hot, we couldn´t believe the huge waves crashing down and the sheer skimpiness of everyones bikini.... including the men! We wound down the evening catching up with some journaling and having a few beers.

Yesterday we woke earlier than we expected and once again ventured out into Copacobana for some shopping and some good food. We were booked on the favela tour for 3pm. The tour is run by a group that give families a safe place to leave their children for the day so that they can work, a great cause for the much forgotten community. The tour started with a ride on the back of a motorbike to the top of the favela.... it was a little hairy at points but we made it safely, if not thanking our lucky stars that we were in one piece!

We headed into the favelas and were immediately wandering through cramped, filthy streets. It was quite something just to see happy, laughing kids, playing as any others, in the streets, water pistols and all! We then got to see the inside one of the houses there that is now an artists workshop. This guy started off small and now has his pieces in galleries all over the world, spreading the message of the favelas. http://www.artfavela.com

We headed further down and the streets got narrower and narrower until they were barely alleyways. It was great to see the kids running around but depressing to see the filth that they lived in. We finished with seeing the project that we were supporting and the good work they were doing. From the roof we had an amazing view back up the hill over the entire encampment. We were fortunate enough not to run into any gangs, however they do support the tours. Overall it was an experience that was not easily forgotten.

Today we went to see Cristo Redentor, looking over the city. We arrived in the late afternoon but it was still way too hot. He is big! It was really something and our 4th of the 7 wonders of the world! He weighs 650 tons and took 9 years to complete. He looks over all parts of the city, rich and poor indifferently. The view from up there was amazing but it was difficult to fit all of him in one picture. Particularly without catching a few other tourists in the scene aswell.

This evening we are cooking dinner ready for tomorrow when we plan to hang out on the beach and maybe go to Sugarloaf for the quintessential view of Rio.
More soon, England in 2 days... surreal.

Love to all xx