hewoooo everyone! we are sorry to have been lying low for a wee while- but finally, here it is, our first post in South America!! We've been here a week now which is bizarre, and you"ll be happy to know that we're still alive and kicking and, contrary to popular expectations, we still have all our limbs attached and Rosie hasn't been married off to a native quite yet. After nearly not making it through security, running into a fat bloke, nearly leaving my boarding card on our first flight; Ros-bean and I got stuck into our movie marathon on the plane, and eventually touched down after irritating the majority of the passengers by my insistence that Rosie took a whiff of my feet. HELLO RIO!!!! Despite no sleep and smelling faintly of cat nip, Rosie and I were bundled into a car and whisked off into the heart of the Brazilian jungle by a family friend who lives out here and is very kindly having us to stay.
After a two hour drive into the mountains and a leisurely Brazilian pasty stop, we eventually arrived at our final destination. Absolute paradise. Judi's country retreat was a buzzing jungle of purple lent flowers, 'old mans beard' and a gorgeous river. Ocs and I were welcomed by seven dogs yapping at our feet, an extremely strong Caiparihna made by Judi and a much appreciated dip in the pool. We definitely succeeded in filling our stomachs up with excesses of curry and peanut butter sandwhiches throughout our stay in the mountains as well as lazing in the hammocks and idolising the 40 year old lawyer Darcy from New York; Judi's guest and a very cool person to know.
Our first few days of Rio were no less jam-packed. Rosie and I officially took our first steps out into the independant world, sweating, shuffling suspiciously and looking like total morons in bum bags and socially inacceptable sneakers. Spot the Brits. Off we set to the beach in all our finary, Rio's famous and excpetionnally glamourous Ipanema, where men strutt with nature-defyingly enormous abs and girls whose bodies make us want to hurl ourselves off a building. To console ourselves, Rosie and I did what we do best in times of body insecurity: we ate. And I'm telling you, the gateau price out here is dangerously low. Rom nom. We then waddled across the city to visit Pao de Acucar at sunset, which was breathtakingly beutiful, especially as we found ourselves in the middle of a storm- the cable car ride down was a barrel of nervous laughter. We then took touristing to the next extreme level and woke up at 7 in the morning to jolly along thorugh the jungle in a unnervingly ancient tram to the outstretched arms of Christ the Redeemer, which was again stunning once we had poked all the other tourists in the eye and out the way. We then hit the botanical gardens, emerging quite at peace with nautre, to discover that we hadn't been in the botanical gardens at all, but a small private park. Good one. We arose the next day after a sushie feast that night, and had a rather unfortunate run in with the washing machine; an event which proved quite plainly, that we need help. We proceeded to walk around lost, ate some more, sat on the beach sipping on giant coconuts, came back, snacked and then went out for a meat feast. Best. day. of. our. lives.
ILHA GRANDE. Renowned as the mini Ibeza of Brazil. Please. Setting off at the crack of dawn was tough, Occy and I emerged from the apartment still stuffed with beef and still wanting food. First catastrophe of the day- our cards refused to work which meant no cash for Oc-dough and myself. Putting this initial fear aside we managed to make it to Angra Dos Reis and when our cards STILL didn't work, we freaked out, sat down, and ate a packet of crisps. Finally we managed to man up and get some cash that would hopefully last us for the next few days. Whilst waiting for the ferry boat across to Ilha Grande we stumbled across some suspicious looking cretins from Argentina. Assuming they didn't understand English, Occy piped up "that guy in the white vest has got STI written all over his forehead." He heard. We ended up having to spend the next 2 hours on the boat with them, sharing our ipods, talking about Harry Potter and general small talk such as "do you play a musical instrument?" It was starting to get dull. Arriving on the island was exceptionally cool, it appeared to be a very bohemian place, plenty of dudes with dreadlocks- clearly Bob Marley fans. Our hostel Studio Beach had a great atmosphere although very different to staying with Judi. Ocs and I had to quickly fall into the routine of sharing a ten dorm and one measly bathroom the size of a cupboard. Oh so hygienic. Our dorm had lockers for valuables and being the keenos that we are Ocs and I immediately put away our belongings, securing them tightly with our coded padlocks. Ten minutes go by, Occy decides to she wants her camera out of her bag, goes over to the locker, tries to open her padlock. Nothing happens. Occy trys again, with a bit more force, to no avail. We find the padlock is jammed with all of Occy's valuables inside, what a way to finish a fantastic day. The end result was our hostel owner having to saw off Octavia's padlock into pieces and nearly chopping his fingers off in the process. Well done us.
The night is still young. Rosie and I decide to make ourselves look more presentable and slightly less resembling a pair of unkempt meerkats. This seems to have worked, as we are soon acosted by a swarm of Brazillians. More on that story later....