Day 4 - Today we went to the Maracana stadium to watch the semi-final between Flamengo and Vasco [basically a massive local derby]. It was insane.

We were supposed to have been picked up at our hostel at 1.45 but by 2.45 there was still no sign of our mate Marcio. We did think we had be had… Anyway he finally turned up and we rocked up 10 minutes before kick off. We were suppose to be in the middle of a tourist section of the stadium but I´m not sure how true that was. We were mixing it up in the middle of the flamengo fans. The stadium had 70,000 people in and the atmosphere was incredible, I have never experienced anything like it. It really did feel like it could erupt at anytime. To get in you had to lift up your t-shirt so show that you weren´t carrying a gun - nice!!!

We got some class photos and vidoes of the game and flamengo won 2-1, which was good for us. As we were leaving the Vasco fans on the floor above us were throwing stuff down including a massive banger which went off a few metres away from us - we possibly jumped Plenty of riot police were there for our protection…

We then waited 45mins for the tour guide who had left with out us. That wasn´t fun bearing in mind that the two teams are followed by two of the biggest favelas. Anyway we survived… and never paid for the trip - bonus!

Day 5 - After umming and arring we decided to do the favela tour. We weren´t sure whether it was morally right to basically go and look at where people poorer than you live. However the company we went with gives most of the money to help develop the favelas for the children so we went.

What a great decision it was too. It was unlike anything I could have imagined, like a completely different world.

Firstly to get to the top of the favela we had to do what the locals do and ride on the back of a motorbike. This was a little ropey seem as they don´t have sides to the roads, they just go where they think they will fit - not always the case. The ride was actually quite fun until my drive just stopped and gestured for me to get off, even though none of the rest of the touring group were there. I was definitely a little nervous. How about you just drop me off in the middle of the favelas on my own! Luckily a couple of minutes later the tour guide drove past and saw me.

A bit further up Jonny and I had to stop, get off and walk a little because there was a lorry turning in the road. Also there was around a dozen Polica with massive machine guns lining the street - nice. Those guns combined with the couple of hand guns seen on the way up made it all the more interesting.

At the top the guide explained a couple of things to us - such as if you see a guy with either a walkie talkie, firework, or gun then lower your cameras because they are the drug dealers and they will confiscate the camers. While he was explaining this stuff a woman - of the big ugly variety - came over and started stroking Adam´s arm and kissing it, his face was brilliant. Then she tried to kiss everyone and the guide told us to make sure she didn´t kiss you on the lips - nice!

On the way into the favelas a guy let off a firework metres from us. This is what they do when the see polica to warn the drug dealers to be ´ready´for an attack! It frightened us but the guide said we were really lucky because that doesn´t happen often. Not sure how lucky I felt.

The tour was a strange experience, it was like a completely alien world. Very difficult to describe. Plus I don´t have a clue how anyone can find their way around, it is like a giant maze. We also got to visit the day centres that the money was being put towards which was good. Plus we visited an artist who´s work was great, if I´d had room I would have got something.

That night we had a good last night in the hostel bar. Had a small pub quiz where we came 3rd - not sure about that, another team got them all right and was friends with the quizmaster - hmmmm.

Day 6 - Nice early start today. We travelled to Ilha Grande which is the biggest of 300 islands. Took a few hours on the bus through scenic countryside. I slept all the way though.

At Angra dos Reis we had to then get a boat to the island because there are no cars allowed on there. The boat trip took about 1 and a half hours - again I slept.

Just as we were pulling up in the dock it started to rain. It was ridiculous. Even the rain over here is better the English stuff Basically it took about 10sec to be completely soaked through. With nowhere to stay we just ran straight into the nearest hotel which turned out very nicely. They had a three man room for 40 Reais each with air con - bonus.

That night we had a nice little walk about town which was really quaint. We also found a tour guide that would take us around the island to 9 different beaches in a speedboat. It was pretty expensive but we decided it had to be done. We booked it for the next day at 9am.

Day 7 - Early start again. We got to the tour shop about 8.50 but the owner started saying big problem, big problem. We thought he was messing around because he thought he was a bit of a joker. Turns out that it was actually 9.50 and the boat had gone - oops!

Anyway we made the most of it, booked for the next day for a small fee to cover fuel costs which was kind of the guy and then went on another boat trip to a beach called Lopez Mendez. It is really protected so no boats are allowed there so we had to get a boat to another beach and then trek about 20 minutes to get there. It was magnificent. 4km of perfect beach. It was quiet, had jungle and no buildings behind it and then jungle covered mountains behind that. It was probably the best beach I have ever been to - and no burning. Picture soon I hope.

Day 8 - We made it on time today!!! The boat was loaded up and snorkelling gear sorted out and then we were off about 9.30. Fortunately there was the odd bit of cloud cover to minimise a day of burning hot sun.

The first stop was a small cove which was perfect for snorkelling. It was the first time I had snorkelled and it was a little weird at first - having the head in the water but breathing, strange. It was amazing how much you could actually see though. So many fish and other stuff I don´t have clue about. By this time the sun was out so you could see pretty deep down. The best thing we saw here was a strange long fish about a metre long which was no wider than 3cm. It was black with illuminous red and blue dots along it´s spine.

We then stopped at a couple of beautiful deserted beaches which were amazing but not quite as good as Lopez Mendez. We couldn´t really snorkel here.

The next place we stopped had areas to snorkel. Jonny followed the Captain - who has the best job ever, drives a speedboat and goes snorkelling everyday around the best beaches - and they found a stingray which would have been cool to see.

The next place we stopped was the best place we snorkelled. It had loads of different stuff and some nice coral. We again saw some fish with illuminous bits but this time it was a big shoal of them. Ellis and Jonny saw a sea turtle whereas I saw a sea snake!!! But to be fair I didn´t panick like I expected I would when I saw a snake. I just kept an eye on it while I floated back until I was far enough away to leg it without startling it… Gutted about not seeing the turtle though.

Next we stopped at a feeding area for turtles. So we snorkelled through the middle of this hoping to see some. Jonny saw one, and Ellis and I saw a couple which was amazing. I could have stayed there looking for more for ages but unfortunately we had to leave. I still loved!

The next few stops were more of the same but we spent less time here because it had been a long day and people were getting tired. Usually it was just Jonny and me that would get out of the boat. Of these last few stops the best was a place where there were hundreds of fish swimming around us and when Ellis threw some biscuits in they would all jump around eating then and occasionally nibbling us.

Great day and well worth the money (and the extra money).

Day 10 - This was supposed to be a chilled out day getting some laundry done and getting a tour booked to go tothe Pantanal for four days the following day…little did we know!! We started off in the morning heading round all the tour guides shops finding out prices and by abour 11.30 we had been to 3 and went to the final one! A guy called Gilberto ran the tour and immediately said he would beat everyone elses price! he explained the tour and in the middle of it started talking about football and we asked if he knew of a bar where the Brazilian Cup Final would be on as we had seen the semi final in Rio! He said we should go with him to his mates house for a BBQ, beers and watch the footy!! This was before we had even agreed to go on hs tour. Anyway we out down a deposit for a 3nights and4 days tour and off we went in his car to this party!! We kept checking this was ok with hs mate and he said it was fine! we bought loads of meet and beers on the way and then arrived at the place where after the favelas we saw how the other half of Brazil live! The frined was a hot shot lawyer and had a swimming pool, a custom built outdoor BBQ, pool table, masive drop down flat screen TV. His family wlecomed us in and statred offering us food and we had few beers and this was about 12.30. By 1.30, one of the other guests had produced a local Brazilian drink only known as ´firewater´! Then the fun began, that botttle wa gone and off he went to the supermarket to get 2 bottles of cacacha which is like rum! It was quite a do…lets put it that way! This was all before the match had even started! The match was great, Flamengo (the eam we like) won 2-1 and each time they scored, most of them all jumped in the pool in celebration, it was great fun! The drinks and food kept flowing and then al of a sudden, Gil said we were leaving so we thanked our hosts alot and off we went. Some of the guests came and we didn´t realise we were heading (very inebriated) to a street party to celebrate the win!! Everyone was dancing in the street, drinking, waving flags, beeping car horns! It was incredible and then Gil dropped us back at our hostel and we were in bed for 8pm…quite a day (and no laundry done)

Day 11 - Got a 5 hour bus in the morning to the Pantanal to head to the place where our tour was booked. Got picked up off te busa nd onto a pickup and then about an hour into the Pantanal to our lodge type place! very basic but a beautiful setting beacuse the Pantanal is the largest area of wetland in the world and it was all flooded as its wet season there. Our accomodation was all in stilts above the water. Quite a quite day as arried about dinner time, had food and a few drinks and went to bed!

Day 12 - Up early for breakfats to set off at 7.30 on our jeep safari! It was a full day guided tour on a jeep with a walk in te middle! It was a fantastic day. The aray of wildlife we saw was remarkable. In no particular order…we saw…toucans, howler monkeys, deers, stags, giant otters, paraketes, blue macaw parrots, eagles, other birds of prey, giant stalk birds, caymans (like crocodiles but smaller), kappiborroughs (indigenous to Brail and the largest rodent in the world) chakalakas (big brids of prey in Brazil) and some smaller memebers of the cat family. It was amazing and perhaps the best day so far. Took over 200 photos just on the tour. Did a three hour walk in the middle of the tour and saw loads when we were in the Panatnal rather than on the dirt road in the jeep.

Day 13 - A bit of a comedown after the safari as we did a kind of boat safari in the morning up the river but didnt see that much. Saw toucans, monkeys and tiger herons whichw as still quite cool. In the afternoon, we did three hours horse riding along the dirt track and sometimes in the rivers!! Had a few drinks and played cards in the evening.

Day 14 - Had a bit of a lie as it was the final day and then took a boat a few miles up the river and then jupmed out in the water and floated all the way back down in a rubber rig which was nice and relaxing. Had lunhc and then did some fishing in the afternoon. It was a very basic rod made froma  similar material to cane with string, a hook and some meat on the end. We waded out up to our knees to where the river bank would be in dry season and I caught a nice sized fish which was quite like catfish but it got away after we had taken the hook out and squirmed back into the water unfortuantely. In the afternnon, we got a minibus to out ext destination which was about 4 hours and called Bonito, which in Spanish literally means beautiful! We arrived in the evening an checked into a nice hostel with a swimming pool and had dinner.

Day 6 - Our first full day on Ilha Grande was meant to be a great day doing a full day boat tour round the iland on a speeboat…we had a bit of a nightmare. We had booked onto the tour the night before and knew we had to be there for 9! The clocks had changed in Brazil a few days before and between us we messed it up and turned up at 10 and the boat had left! had to pay extra dn do it the day after! anyway, not to be defeated we got a boat about an hour round the corner of the island and then trekked 20 minutes to an increible beach called lopés mendes…4km long of pure white sand and crystal clear turquoise waters. It´s inaccessible by boat, only on foot and there are no buildings to you just have the background of lush tropical greenery! It was stunning. We stayed the whole day swimming and sun avoiding as opposed to bathing!!! The shade was appreciated by my ankles which are now fine!! That eveing we had a cheap burger meal and an early night as this time we knew we had to be up for 9 as we had now paid extra to go on the same tour as we lost our places the day before

Day 7 - Got up…on time and headed toi the pier where our speedbaot was awatiing us which was very nice and there were only another 7 people on the tour. The tour included 9 stops and a 9 hour day!! Each stop was beautiful and was a snorkelling spot or just an idyllic deserted beach. The highlight of the tour for me was a snorkelling spot where just 30m or so out form the beach a giant sea turtle swam past me…I folowed it for a whilke until it got away from (They are suprisingly fast) It was fantastic.  Then saw another two later on!  Some of the beaches we stopped up were postcard idyllkic with no buildings in sight and jungle backdrops!! That eveing we moved hostels to one we had booked from when we were staying at Mellow yellow in Rio.  We were also meeting 3 lads from Birmingham Uni I know who we raandmoly met out here while in Rio. We checked in and had an all you can eat BBQ and then a few drinks (to say the least). It was a good night.

Day 8 - We awoke (with soar heads) at 8.15am  (an unearthly hour I might add) because we needed to get the 10am ferry to Angra Dos Reis which is the nearest port on the Brazillian mainland.We were intending on staying a little longer but were all running low on cash and there are no ATM´s on the island so it´s a case of leaving when the money runs out!! So we got the ferry and slept on it most of the way! Then we were going to head to Sao Paolo to then get a bus onto the pantanal. Strangely although we were halfway between Rio and Sao Paolo, it was two and a half hours to Rio and   six to Sao Paolo. We opted to head back to Rio and then we booked ouirselves onto the night bus leaving for Campo Grande on the dge of the Pantanal, it left at 7pm and was scheduled to take a mere 22 hours and that is to move a huge 2 and a half cm´s on a map!!!! Brazil is just huge! Watched a bit of Sopranos on the old dvd player and then went to sleep. Luckily the coaches are fairly luxurious with big comfy seats, loads of leg room and they fully recline with a foot rest. It really does put National Express to shame.

Day 9 - Woke up…still on the coach!! Boring!! Went back to sleep after a breakfast stop. eventually arrived in Campo Grande about 7pm. It had taken a mere 24 hours and there were periods of travel where for hours you would pass nothing but fields and cattle stretching for miles in each direction. Had the strange experience of changing time zones within the same country as well, we were all very confused when we stepped of the bus and all the clocks were an hour before ours but we had crossed so far to the west of Brazil that we changed time zones! Checked into the hostel whch is pretty nice and got some dinner and then an early night.

Day 3 was a slight improvement for my ankle although stil very swollen. We chilled out in the morning, had a sit in the jacuzzi before the cun came out and it was nice and cold for the burnt legs! Had some lunch and then set off for the Maracana, Brazils most famous football stadium which can hold around 100,000 people. It was a semi final between tow teams from Rio…Flamengo and Vasco de Gama. We went on an organised tour and arrived just in time for kick off. We were thrown straight into the cauldron with the Flamengo fans. The atmosphere was incrdibel, with people dancing, flares going off, banging on seats, it was incredible really! Flamengo won the game 2-1 and it was an awesome spectacle, very colourful and vibrant. We then waited outside the stadium for the tour guide to take us back to our hostel!! As we were waiting, some Vasco fans arived on the tier aboce and began throwing things, spitting down at the Flamengo fans and shouing abuse. The riot police were ready and waiting!! Then we saw a few people running towards us and a huge bang went off with smoke and someone had let off some sort of explosion or fire cracker and the noise almost blew our ear drums inside out! With the tension rising and our guide nowhere in sight we decided it was time to get a taxi back to the hostel. That night there was an awesome dispaly of a kind of mix of martial arts, dancing and music from some lo0cals who had come from the favela. They did one display with machetes and turned the lights off and all you could see were the sparks of the metal smashing against each other.

 Day 4 involced a chilled morning in the jacuzzi and then some pízza for lunch. The afternoon was far less relaxed. We hads booked ourselevs onto a tour of the biggest favella in Rio called Hosinha, housing almost 250,000 people! It was quite an experience, we arrived at the bottom and it just goes up and up. We then jumped on the back of motorbikes and travelled all the way up to the top. It was quite nerVE wracking as you pass drug dealers holding guns, police investigating shootings and there are no defined sides to the road. Cars just dodge each other…it was carnage and my mototbike driver was just flying through gaps that weren´t there!!! We then got off bikes at the top and as soon as nwe did the police were approaching and a drug dealer lit a big fuse and legged it into the favella and it made a massive bang as he dropped it…its a warning sign for the dealers that the police are coming. There are also dealers with walkie talkies on the edge of each street ready to let the dealers on the inside of any raid. An eleven year old girl had died last week in cross fire between drug gangs and police. Its terrible. Then walked all the way down the favella nd stopped on roof duildings to see the enormous expansion is each direction on the favella slums. From time to time a dealer wuld walk past us with a machine gun taking an order of cocaine somewhere stuffed under his jacket. It was an incredible experience but they are very repsectful of us and had the kind courtesy to poiint themachine guns at the grouind as they pass!! haha!! Then returned to the hostel and did a pub quiz (came 3rd) and had some drinks and a chicken curry cheap at the hostel!

 Day 5 saw us leave Rio and jump on a bus down the coast to Angra Dos Reis which was a couple of hours and quite a nice scenic jounrney! Then got a boat out to the biggest of 300 islands called Ilha Grande. Its a gorgeous tropical island. Had a nice meal when we arrived an found a cheap hotel and just explored a bit to find out about the best beaches and tours to do! Then had a sleep and watched a film on the dvd player and a crepe for dinner and an early night

Day 1 - Rio

Arrived in Rio at about 7.45 and it was already 29 C - brilliant. The size of Rio is ridiculous, we had to drive through the favelas for ages. Then we rocked up on the Copacabana which was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately we had our bags so had to find our hostel. The hostel wasn´t too far away but there was one hell of a hill to climb. That did not go too well.

After settling in we had a nice little walk and explore - very nice. Then it was time to do it, we hit the beach, stripped off and there it was, 3 bright white englishmen in the middle of all these super tanned brazilians. We possibly stood out a little bit! That night we were well up for a big one but after a couple jet lag just destroyed us so a quiet couple were had on the Copacabana.

Day 2 - Ipanema Beach day

We decided to hit Ipanema which was a great decision. It is really nice, there are a couple of islands not far out so it is very scenic. We bought some massive prawns on a stick from a street vender - 1 quid for 5 prawns!

Unfortunately a little sunburn hit. We all the walking round in flip flops mine and Ellis´s feet got a little burnt. Pretty sore to be honest. Jonny burnt his shoulders. To make ourselves feel better we went up Sugarloaf mountain to catch a sunset and have a few beers - nice! It was one of the best things I have ever seen.

We got back quite late from that and we everyone feeling rather tender from the sun burn we just had a nice dinner and a couple of drinks. My feet were very sore. Ellis´s knees were bad and Jonny´s shoulders were bad. Oh well…

Day 3 - Great day

We moved hostels today to Mellow Yellow which is class. Caters for more of a party atmosphere and has free internet - hence the post - it also has a nice spa on the balcony.

Went on a nice tour to Corcovado (The big statue) which was amazing. You could see the whole of Rio which is insanely big. Then on the way back we went to the street where they hold the carnival parades and got to try some costumes on. Rather amusing! We also got to see the Rio Cathedral which can hold upto 20,000 people.

In the evening we had an all you can eat BBQ at the hostels for 5 quid. The steaks were brilliant. The tipple of choice here is the capirinha which is so strong. Lime slices plus a tablespoon of sugar topped up with white rum. Had a couple of these. Again the big night was put off due to the sunburn. My feet are sore but Ellis´s have swollen up a ridiculous amount. After a couple of hours sitting in the bar he couldn´t walk properly. Therefore we are saving the big one for tomorrow night at the Favela Funk Party - that is if we survive the local derby and semi final taking place at the Maracana…

Hey everyone, first post from travels and in Rio and had three nights so fr and it is ridculously hot!!! had good flights here and then had a full first day because arrived early morning. Checked into the hostel and then headed straight down to the copacabana and chilled on the beach all afternoon, swam in the sea etc..very nice!! First night went out for a few drinks and had a nice meal but were all very jet lagged and ended up having a fairly early night. Second day we went to the ´girl from ipanema´beach where the famous song was written. Ipanema was really cool, nice beach but unfortunately we all fell asleep in the sun on our chairs and woke up with sunburn!!! Around sunset time, we headed up to Sugarloaf mountain, which is about 700m high and has fantastic panoramic views of rio, you have to get two cable cars up there. We were up there for sunset and then had a couple of beers while we watched all the lights come on in rio as night arrived! It was pretty cool!! Had a nice tapas dinner and a few drinks later on in the evening but big night out was halted again due to sunburn!! Yesterday we moved hostel to a place called Mellow Yellow which is good for the backpacker crowd, very lively, free internet, good breakfast, jacuzzi outside which is nice because its cold fr my sunburn!! Went on an afternoon tour to Corcovado, otherwise known as the Christ the Redeemer Statue which is now one on the seven wonders of the world. Again, great views of Rio. After that we drove through a favella slum but don´t worry, we didn´t get out!! Headed to the Rio Cathedral, which was able to hav 20,000 people in for a service! Then up the the road where carival is held each year and went into the shop and tried on ridiculous outfits and had pics taken, which was fun! Back to the hostel and in the jacuzzi then an all you can eat barbeque, which was very nice. Still trying to get the first big night out going, we had a few drinks in the hostel bar until midnight (you don´t go out until after midnight really here) then I tried to stand up to go and get a taxi and realised I actually could not walk because my ankle and foot had swelled up so badly from the sunburn! So the big night out was missed again and I was in bed with an ice pack round my leg taking anti inflammatory nurofen! Luckily the girl on the bunk above me in the dorm is a dermatologist from London and she was very helpful and got us ice (Col has bad sunburn too) Woken up this morning though and it has improved and I can walk again at least! Going to watch Vasco de Gama versus Flamengo this afternoon in the Maracana stadium which is huge and its a cup match and a local Rio derby! Should be quite an experience so looking forward to that!

This is the first post, basically a trial run, of our travel blog. We intend to write when we can so that you can all read about our progress, and more importantly check that yes we are ok and yes we are having an amazing time.

Hopefully we will also be able to put a few snaps up to allow you all to experience a little of what we will, all from the comfort of your work desk…

Keep checking back!!!!