Flamengo district Rio de Janeiro

It was nice just to be able to wake up when we wanted with no organised plans for the day. We went for breakfast and filled right up again. They had really nice fruit. Today we would hire bikes and ride around exploring. Rio has good bike paths separated from the road. I asked the desk where to get good bike and we headed there after getting ready …

I took the bus from Belo Horizonte to Rio de Janeiro. I think it must have been around 8 hours ride. By now I had got used to the long bus rides. I must have done half of South America by bus! I must say that buses in South America, at least at the countries I have been , have been very good, the service, no baggage lost or anything. Unlike in Peru …

... have been a lot worse. Most of Wednesday was spent at the British Consulate, an imposing building in the Flamengo district of Rio.  We had assumed that there would be a straightforward, tried and tested procedure for obtaining replacement ...