Final Destination ~ Rio

The final stop before Rio was the little cobbled stoned village of Paraty, home to a number of beaches. I took a boat trip along the coast, visiting more tropical looking beaches and diving into the crystal blue water. It sounds idyllic and under normal circumstances would be. Paraty were preparing for their own carnival but not only that but as Paraty is just a stones throw away from Rio all the other overland trucks who were going to Rio for Carnival arrived here on the same day. Thats 23 trucks all with around 25 people on them crammed into a couple of tiny campsites. The place was heaving, everyone was in a party spirit and sleep was simply impossible! So on Thursday 15th Feb (at half 5 am - to try and get a head start on the other trucks) will left Paraty for the final 5 hour stretch to Rio.

Rio is a huge city, home to 12 million people. Our hotel (air conditioned - bliss) is located in the Lapa district - not too far from the Sambadrome (that may be handy later). Obviously you cannot come to Rio without visiting the Big Man, so transport was arranged and I paid a visit to Cristo Redentor and was rewarded with amazing views over the city. J.C was not as big as I was expecting, given that you can see him all over the city - he is about the same size as the Angel of the North. I then went out to the other famous attraction Sugar Loaf mountain. There is no other way to reach the summit than to take 2 seperate cable cars. (Mum you would never have got up). Again the views were spectacular and I was so lucky that there were no clouds in the sky to detract from either view. Normally the top of both Christ and SugarLoaf are hidden in cloud. As well as seeing the sights I have also taken in the local culture. I have been drinking copious amouts of Caphrihini´s and Caprioska´s (the national drink made with sugar cane rum, limes and sugar), I have also embraced the national passtime of football. Brazilians can certainly play football so I went to watch a local match at the Maracana stadium (once the biggest stadium in the world seating over 200,000 people). The crowds were very passionate and as for the game itself - I have never sen as many goals being scored. The final score was 4-4 and the Vasco supporters whose stand I was sitting in were very happy with that!

My truck tour is now officially over - although we are all staying on in Rio for a while yet - apparently there is a party happening in the next couple of days. Decided to celebrate in style - managed to find an activity I haven´t yet experienced. I ran off a very high cliff face. It was extremely nerve racking but the tandem hang glider I was attached to didn´t crash to the ground but floated silently over the city landscape and the beach. A relaxing and serene experience ~not going to get any more of those in the next few days!