Rio de Janeiro

I´ve just had a fantastic week in Rio. Many thanks to Maria and her family for giving me a bed, feeding me and showing me all the sights all week.
I arrived on Friday 18 May, and crashed at Maria´s place at Recreio, which is about an hour bus trip down the coast. That night we headed in to Ipanema to experience the famous Rio nightlife. Unfortunately the club was mostly filled with young gays, but we still had a good night out.
Saturday was rainy so was spent mainly at home. Met up with Maria´s brother Pedro, so we jumped on the scooter with the surfboards and found some good waves for the afternoon. In the evening we headed with some of Maria´s friends to a local bar/restaurant where there was an entertaining MPB band playing.
Sunday we took the ferry across the harbour to Niterói. Maria´s friend´s sister put on a good BBQ for us and all the family. We checked out the beach before it got too dark, stayed the night in Niterói. In the morning we visited Oscar Neimeyer´s flying saucer building and spent the day on a little beach enjoying the sun. In the evening we headed to the good old Shenanigan´s Irish Pub in Ipanema to meet up with Ewa and friends (mates from Ilha Grande) before they headed back to Europe.
On Tuesday we drove further south along to coast to some nice isolated beaches, and then enjoyed the rest of the day at the local beach of Recreio. In the evening we headed for a little bar on the beach for some karaoke.
Wednesday we were treated to the Brazilian meal of Feshuada (?) which was a stew of meat with rice, beans and salad. I could certainly get used to eating meals like this every day! Afterwards I took a drive with Maria´s dad through the Tijuca forest and past Maracaná stadium. I then explored some sights in Centro as it was getting dark, including the Cathedral, Lapa arches and central markets.
Thursday I got up early and caught a combi van into town to go for a tour through Rocinha, the biggest favella (slum) in South America. We caught a mototaxi up to the top, and then wondered down through the little alleyways (or were they open sewers?). First we met the local drug dealers who were busy waving their machine guns around but were happy enough to let us through when we claimed to be Flamengo supporters (the local soccer team that had just won the game the previous night). Visited some art galleries, bakeries and childcare centres in the favella, and went onto the roof of some houses to get a good view of the city.
After the favella I headed up to Christ the Redeemer, which looks over the city from Corcovado. I caught the train to the top and despite the miserable weather or rain and strong winds, I still got an amazing view of the city. In the evening we headed out with Maria and Patricia to a local nightclub which had a good samba band performing and played brazilian funk music.
On Friday I was decided it was time to visit the last few must-see sights in Rio otherwise I would never leave. First thing was to catch the tram from Central up the hill to Santa Theresa. The tram was ancient and felt like it was about to fall apart each time it jerked around a corner. All the locals would run along beside the tram and hang on to the outside as it went up the hill. Up the top were some nice old café´s. I walked down and caught the metro to Botafogo which had a good view of Corcovado and Sugarloaf. Then walked up the first hill of Sugarloaf, then caught the cablecar to the highest peak of Sugarloaf. With the clouds cleared and the sun shining, the view of Rio and Niterói was truly spectacular. I hang around until night fall to see the lights come on then headed back to Recreio. Being a Friday night, and my last night in Rio, it was time to party, so we headed in to the centre. First stop was a club that wasn´t really happening, so we cruised over to Club 6 which was rockin. We picked a floor where the dancing was really happening and partied the night away.
On Saturday the weather was perfect and it was very tempting to head back to the beach for the day, but I jumped on the bus, and after a short stop in São Paulo again, arrived to Campo Grande early this morning. This is the gateway to the Pantanal, so I have organised to go on a 4 day trip to camp in the middle of the wetlands. We plan to find some anacondas, swim with the aligators and catch piranahs for dinner.