In the beginning Silver fever Parana Iguazu Buenos Aries Andes 4,200 Metres Humahuaca Rio De Janeiro Samba Uruguay Montevideo Chile Valpraso Santiago Different views Curanipe Curanipe village Chile beachs Trupane Volcano Antuco Los Angeles Belgrano

Monday, off to Rio De Janeiro. We were picked up at the airport and taken to our hotel in Copacabana. We had to get some local money as we only had 100 real (That’s the name of their money) but the diabolical Amex card would not work in their machines. So it was for a walk along the beach where the beautiful people strut their stuff. This was a quieter time so there was only a few playing beach volleyball, sun bathing and all those other things they do at the beach. One thing about South America is that they are a passionate people and keenly demonstrate their love and very publicly. For people who come from a place that is conservative in demonstrations of passion its interesting to see a young couple in a passionate embrace ravishing each other while an old geezer sitting right next to them puffs on his smoke and shows no interest in them at all.

So this is Rio.

Tuesday, it was the city tour of Rio and what a city with its magic beaches and hills that rise steeply out of the sea. While Buenos Aires is a beautiful man made city Rio has natural beauty. The people are also striking in their appearance. The local drink caiprinhas is a diabolical brew of firewater and we were fortunate to have been introduced to it while in Argentina. That night it was a stroll along the beach of Copacabana.

Breath taking from any view and even on a dull day.

These shots were taken after travelling up the sugar loaf mountain on the cable car. Rio has a beauty that is pretty hard to beat anywhere with these mountains that pop out of the sea and golden sands of the beaches. This coupled with the climate and the people make for a sensational place to be.

Well these shots sort of say it for themselves. The beach in the background is Copacabana but as the beach has a undertow it is not to flash for swimming. On the other side of the point beyond Copacabana is Ipanema.

We did the City tour and went to a Samba school at the location of the Rio Carnival. We were shocked to find that the carnival is not held in the main streets of Rio. But in a specially created area that has grand stands on each side of this road. The Samba schools all compete to be in the yearly show in this area and people have to pay to see the show.

In this picture on the left side is the end of the grand stand and below the actual street used. This is not a public road but a specially fenced off area that we were in.

The statue of Christ was covered in a mist that gave a very eerie feeling and was spectacular. 

The following day we did the shopping thing and checked out the banks ATM machines but none took the AMEX card.