Brazil — Rio de Janeiro

Hugh Cree & I traveled to Rio in 2007. We spent a crazy, busy weekend there. Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil and the third largest in Latin America. From the world-famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema to the magnificent summits of the Corcovado (the Christ the Redeemer statue) and Sugarloaf, Rio combines natural attractions with a sprawling metropolis. It’s a party city and one that you really can’t miss if you love a good time. Most people spend their days on the beach and their nights dancing at the clubs. With last year’s 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, Rio is getting its act together and becoming much safer and easy to get around. The Favelas are famous for being areas infrequented by outsiders. We asked a taxi driver to take us to one but he said he would drop us 100 meters from one and let us tour it without him. But, any guidebook will tell you the inhabitants won’t harm foreigners because that would attract the federales and they don’t want them in their neighbourhoods. Heres some pix of Rio taken by Hugh & I.