Pousada Angra Bella Angra Dos Reis

After touring around the cultural sights of Rio it is time to chill out on a nice tropical Island. Ilah Grande does the job. No cars and only one village. Took 3 houts to walk to the beach today (although it was lovley both the walk and the beach) Took a boat back though!

Having a good time having Katharine (my traveling companion for 2 weeks) Nice not to be solo boy all the time.

... a half full stadium. I visited one of the meccas of football that night - where the 2014 world cup final will be staged. If only i could be there on that night.

23 July 2009 - jeepin´

An early start for a keep tour of Rio. The tour is excellent in every way. I´m joined by two french guys - one of whom Haiz is fluent in about 5 different languages and ends up being translator for most of the group - there is also an Australian ...

... the big l*st night. Needed not, the now very very depleted number he*ded to * nice rest*ur*nt for * nice dinner before *ll f*ding str*ight *fter, such *n *nti clim*x. Went b*ck to hotel where I m*de * show of myself h*nding over the tour tip, scunndered.

Next d*y *nd the umbilic*l w*s kind of cut. Some of us he*ded up the c*ble c*rs to sug*r lo*f mount*in for spect*cul*r views over the city, we could see where we would be he*ding next, n*mely ip*nem* be*ch. We he ...

... young boy rifling through the outside pocket of my handbag (nothing in there of course silly boy!) and Luke had a woman searching through the back pockets of his jeans (nothing in there silly woman!) - we laughed at how obvious they were - didnt even try to be subtle when attempting to rob you! but it was still quite scary having someone try to rob you like that! lucky we were on to them!

It was 7am by the time we got to bed, due to ...

... and robberies. We were constantly warned and conditioned to not bring any valuables with us, which was a big problem for me as I love to take photos of everything. The first couple of visits to Ipanema Beach we left our valuables (except for change for a drink or snack) back at the hostel. Thankfully (knock on wood), we never once had an incident, nor did we ever feel unsafe or threatened at the beach or in the neighborhood.

Quite ...

... Lola, she was a showgirl With yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there She would merengue and do the cha-cha And while she tried to be a star, Tony always tended bar Across a crowded floor, they worked from 8 till 4 They were young and they had each other Who could ask for more? At the Copa (CO!), Copacabana (Copacabana) The hottest spot north of Havana (here) At the Copa (CO!), Copacabana Music and passion were always ...

... the articles and then we were set! The only problem with where we were staying is it took an hour to get into the city, so once you got in you did not want to get out again. We had a great time, the only sad part was that Gavin and Littles were leaving to go back to New Zealand. Bill and I also went to the movies a few times, it was a great cool air-conditioned space and we managed to work out when the movies had ...

... but a fairly quiet night. The next day we were up early and on a city tour where we went up the Sugar Loaf Mountain which had fantastic views over the city, also went up the mountain to see Christ the Redeemer (the big statue of jesus overlooking the city) unfortunatley we didnt have enough time there as we had to rush on to the Maracana football stadium. On the way, our mini-bus filled with smoke around us and we all jumped out, luckily just across the road from the stadium. We saw ...

... to Dois Rios is pretty urbanized, and we even met a couple of cars from the university driving there. It's some 7km long and it took us about 2 1/2 hours to cover it. The Dois Rios beach is very beautiful and in my opinion is more poetic than Lopes Mendes because of the 2 rivers that cross the beach all the way to the sea, zig-zagging through the sand. I loved it! We had something to eat there and then headed to Parnaioca. The trail to Parnaioca is very ...

... problem which sort of influenced our decision to head down the coast for our chill. Our night in Ipanema involved a non-alcoholic beer as we couldn't read the menu and then we had caparrinhas (not sure if that's how you spell it) but it's the local drink and due to jet lag we only had one but I think that we could be indulging to a greater extent before long!!! Yesterday we caught the bus to Angra ...