Rio De Janiero

Rio is a beautiful city and although we had heard a lot about the dangerous parts of Rio we really didn’t experience any of that. We stayed a couple of nights in a hostel in Ipaenma and experienced Cocacabana and Ipaenma beaches during the day. The caiprinhas and cold coconut drinks were fantastic but we managed to stay away from the McDonalds kiosk that is on the beach. We then stayed with Gabo and Alessandra in Flamengo, their beautiful apartment with stunning views and their hospitality to us while we were there made us really love Rio.

Gabo and Ale bought us both a handgliding flight over Rio for our wedding present. Although given Adriennes fear of heights (such as large buildings, bridges and any mountain over 3m tall) the concept of jumping off one was not for her. Gabo graciously accompanied Phil although Adrienne still was the most scarred of all as can be seen by the shaking video (not attached). It was an amazing experience and even Adrienne was slightly jealous that she didn’t go when they were safely on the ground.

We took a drive south of Rio to a town called Paraty which is set in a beautiful bay dotted with small islands some of which consist only of a bar and restaurant and a dock for the boat. On our way to a small beach we had an encounter with the local constabulary who were not too pleased with the lack of papers for the car. Lucky for us / unlucky for Gabo, it was able to be sorted out in true Brazalian style in the back room of the station with a little hard cash.

We spent a very pleasant day spear fishing with a friend of Gabos. Unfortunately Phil did not manage to catch anything but did manage to finally fire the gun 5 times (but the little b……. were too fast). Gabo and his friend did catch many and guaranteed our dinner that night. The next day we spent another great day with Alessandra’s dad and brother on their boat and stopped at a few of the island bars for caiprinhas and fresh seafood.

We very sadly boarded a flight and said farewell to South America.