Savoy Othon Travel Hotel Rio de Janeiro

... to head back to Ipanema in Rio the rain stopped and we woke up to blue skies! Still, it was only an hour on the bus so we've been on the beach most of today, and probably will be tomorrow too! <br><br>Hopefully heading to the Maracana tomorrow evening to watch Flamengo vs. Santos and then we still have a few days left before our tour across South America starts.<br><br>Will try and add some photos with the blog in the next few days too.<br><br>Over and out!<br><br>

... in an old Ballroom-turned-teahouse, that was very decadent.  I booked a flight from Rio, to Porto Alegre, with a return to Manaus, so I have 10 days in the south. Rio's was pretty good, though I'm not sure it was my cup of tea. Still, I'm glad I've visited, and think it was worth the time I spent there. Amazingly, I managed not to go up to the top of both Corcavado, and Sugar-loaf,  2 of the must-dos of Rio. Ah well, I still had fun.<br><br><br>

... carnival.<br><br>Arriving on the Saturday, night - we took the opportunity for a Sunday lie-in and some chilling, before catching a live football match at the famous, apparently largest-in-the-world Maracana stadium, which houses three of Rio's football teams. We watched the home team, Fluminese playing against Santos - in a packed home crowd chanting all manner of songs in Portugese, beating to samba bands, waving flags and banners. Even though Fluminese (Young Flu) got off to a good ...

... one, being shown to others as the way to go. The minibus going there refused to cross the "border" with the favela, so we jumped on the local way of transportation, the moto-taxi, to go up the side of the hill before walking back down. Without helmet, riding like crazies in the only street in the middle of the favela, we reached the top in record time! We were all a bit white getting there, but the adrenaline made us want to go back down and up all the way again... :)<br><br>The favela ...

... rainy days Patrick played happily with Lego for hours - we really need to get him lots of that stuff when we get home - but a full day of inactivity had its consequences at bedtime. He was in the pool every day though, and his swimming came along in strides, initially inside an inflatable ring and rapidly progressing to swimming back and forth across the pool without help. Those goggles I bought in Salta were a good investment. On New Year's ...

... a little hole in the wall called "The Twins". Great food, lots of beans, rice, fries and salad and your choice of meat for next to nothing, all served by a crazy Brazilian woman. Wandering back, we stopped at a place on the water to check out prices and found a triple room with private (clean!) bathroom was two-thirds of what we were paying at the hostel, but they didn't have availability through New Year's. We walked further along and went to the pizzeria from the ...

... We turned up to our hostel (the best in Argentina and for a whole £6 per night!), met some nice people, played table tennis and relaxed for the night. Next day we headed to the Argentine side of the falls. We had heard so many people say that this side is best but I wasnt´t convinced until we got to an area known as devils mouth.... We were on a walkway over the mouth and the sound and view was insane. We were also lucky enough to see the ...

... I'm probably saying "what, we're landing THERE?!"<br><br> <br><br>I was really surprised how far out to sea we went before turning back in a smooth turn. I wonder how far out to sea you could go on one of these things...<br><br>We headed down to earth with some gentle corkscrew turns ...

... would be great anyway). The walk was fantastic, and a piece of cake compared to the Inca Trail (yes...I still feel invinsible after that weekend)!!! Much of it was uphill, but it was good as it gave us some time to take in our surroundings. The flora here is really varied, ranging from bamboo to elm-like trees. Unfortinately it started to sprinkle half way there...which turned into proper rain...which later turned into a full-on down pour! So we only ...

... to be travelling with guys at that point. We took the bus from the airport to the hostel and were able to see the centre and other parts of the city along our ride. Some of the architechture here is amazing...leftovers from colonial times of the Portugese. There are some beautiful government buildings and even residential areas. But unfortunately all of the loveliness was masked by my terror of the city ...