Her name is Rio la la la la, We arrived safe and sound and are gradually finding our feet at this travelling malarky. After having been bombarded with people trying to get us into taxis and onto tours from the moment we stepped into the airport, we managed to fend them off to find the information kiosk and find ourselves a hostel / guest house in Cococabana - just one block back from the beach - a relative bargain at about 16 pounds per night for both of us. It is fairly basic but we have our own shower just across the way. You were right about breakfasts Sal and Stu - bread, bread and more bread, with a whiff of cheese and a peculiar tasting juice. Still we filled our faces as we had already paid for it in the price of the room, pinching the remaining crackers for lunch ! We have quickly got into hoarding all the freebies and even managed to stock up on a couple of bottles of wine from the plane, to save for a later date. We are both currently enjoying a break from the drink after a rather boozy end to our time in the UK. Our first bizarre experience here happened not long after touch down. We were being led to the taxi which was taking us to the hostel when we asked about changing currency into Brazilian Realīs ? The taxi man stopped a porter having just said there was no commission on currency at the airport. All of a sudden this apparent porter was whipping out a calculator and doing the conversion for us. He then disappeared in doors before coming out with the relevant cash. All very bizarre, but Trev the human calculator did the maths and the sums added up so we hot footed it with what could have been hot cash. You will be relieved to hear we are getting more switched on as time goes on. After arriving at the hostel we dumped our bags and headed out onto the beach - which was glorious. Very clean and very hot. There are some magnificent back drops to Rio, if a little tarnished by the shere volume of high rise buildings along the coast. The surrounding mountains are magnificient as is the surf on the beach. We had a good wander along the length of the beach taking it all in - having a paddle in the sea. We took some time to get our bearings before heading off to the tourist info centre to work out how to get to sugar loaf and then the Cristo statue. We also asked about the local bus depo as we need to get there to catch the 22 hour bus to Iguazu !! Anyway, armed with numerous bus numbers we headed off back to the hostel to get out of the sun and to have a clean up before grabbing dinner. Today we rose early to get out and about to take in the sights. Sugar Loaf was spectacular, aided by the fact that there are two cable cars to take you up there, the views from which are breathtaking. We got a little caught up with a tour so taking views was at times frustrating, but meant that we knew when the cable cars were just about to depart. After this we had a stroll to find the bus to take us to the bus station. A hairy journey later having been thrown around the bus while trying to take in all the views and different areas we arrived. It is not in the most salubrious of areas so we are glad we headed here before going onto the other sights. A lot of hand gestures and pointing later we found where we needed to go to book our tickets. A similar affair at the ticket desk, but we are now booked on and ready to depart tomorrow. From here we had another adventure trying to find the right bus. Buses are two a penny over here and seem to rule the roads, swinging about all over the place. Anyway we eventually found and caught the correct bus taking us to the area where we ascend to see the Statue of Christ over the city. We were planning to take the cog train up, but for the same price managed to get a car which had the added benefit of stopping at various view points on the way up, including a helipad which we were standing on as a helicopter approached to land - all rather exciting ! The statue itself though is amazing - very tall and appears to be covered with mosaic. It was busy with people up there but some great views over the city. We travelled up with 3 Americans who were nice and chatty and it was nice to be able to understand people again. On returning to the bottom of the mountain we wanted to head over to the National Park of Tiguaca but it was getting late in the day for more buses etc. So we hired a driver to take us up there and drive us through the glorious national park, a rainforest on the edge of Rio. It was beautiful and the driver stopped and let us out at key points, allowing us to walk up a stretch of it. It was breathtaking at times and the different smells were overwhelming. It was odd to see busy lizzies just growing at the side of the road. He also took us back down and through other areas of Rio which was fascinating, driving us back along the coast so we could see the other beautiful beaches as well. We stopped to take a few snaps of the surf on Cococabana beach before heading up to find a place to let you all know we were safe and in the swing of things. For the next few days we will be on the move again, a bus ride consuming tomorrow and then a couple of days at the Iguazu falls before heading to Buenos Aires, where we hope to post another update...