Brazil, Rio De Janeiro

Trip Start Mar 11, 2008
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Trip End Mar 10, 2009


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Where I stayed
Chelagarto
(Sao Paulo hotels)

Flag of Brazil  ,
Saturday, March 22, 2008

Hi guys,i arrived in Rio De Janeiro 5days ago. I was lucky to miss the rain that was here four days before i arrived! The sun has been shining everyday! I'm in a really cool hostal & 2 guys from Canada run the reception & bar, they are friendly & helpful. English is still no existant here but somehow it seams easier than in Chile.
I took a tour to see Christ at the top of a very high hill, he looks down on Rio with open arms. I saw where the carnival is held every year & met the guy that has been running it from the beginning. We passed the football stadium & Santa Theresa,then we went to Sugar Loaf mountain. You have 2 go on 2 cable cars to get there. I also decided to visit a Favella to see the povery side of Rio. We went to the top of the Favella which is in the city of Rio surrounded by 2 national parks on motor bikes with guides & walked down through the Favella,the higest part is the newest so it is quite clean,the futher you go down the smaller,narrower,dirtier & more populated it gets Carnival
Carnival
 . At the bottom is over 80years old & building are falling down. This Favella is the biggest in Latin America with a population of over 200,000people. They get there electricity illegaly by connecting to the main in the city(see photo's)they get there waer from the national park but it dosen't get cleaned. They pay no taxes & are self sufficient with little bakery's,shop's,medical centre's & schools. There are 3 major drug gangs in the Favella & they give money to the Favella to repair,clean up& help improve the situation. The drug dealers are millionaires & they have machine guns that are smuggled across the borders because they don1t make them here. Some of the money we pay for the tour goes to help the schools in the Favella.
This evening is Good Friday & all the night markets are up & down the whole length of Copacabana beach, it took 3hours to walk around & it1s nice because Brazilians don1t hassle you to buy things like in Asia. I move tomorrow to Ipanema(another part of Rio)to relax in he sun & then stay on an island in Ilha Grande for a few nights.
In Chile there are stay dogs everywhere & it's really sad but here in Rio everyone has a dog,all on leads & all clean up after them. It feels relaxing & safe here but all the streets have apartment blocks with cages around them & security so you still have to be careful but police patrol the tourist areas.
After Rio i will stay at Prata,then San Paulo & then head to Iguazu Water falls,then Uruagy.
Take care guys,Happy Easter luv Jo.x
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