OMG Iguazu Falls. You fall in love with it that’s what you do. We saw the falls from the Brazilian side on day 1 (who have 20% of the falls and the Argentinian side on day 2 (who have 80% of the falls). We stayed on the Argentine side in a great town Puerto Iguazu. It’s a lot bigger than it first seems when you drive in. It is here that we are bemused with the fact that we can pay for anything in no less than 4 currencies. The Argentinian Peso, The Brazilian Real, Euro’s and the all conquering USD. (Tip to anyone travelling, bring lots of cold hard…

Favela Santa Marta

There are a number of places in Rio that you have to see but there’s a few that I particularly liked. Selaron Steps These steps are in the bohemian neighbourhood of Lapa (or Santa Theresa depends on who you talk to) and are now a major tourist attraction. Despite this, there is an interesting yet sad back story that is well worth a read. This is a stairway consisting of 250 steps stretching for 150m that Jorge Selaron, a Chilean artist who moved to Rio in 1983, started decorating with tiles that he created himself in 1990. At this time, the area was very run down, full of crime and certainly was not…

Rio is all about Samba. Nothing says ´Hello Rio´ like Samba, the national dance that is broadcast all over the world from the famous Samba Drome that is home to the amazing Carnival. This festival takes place in February and I would have loved to have been there, but just missed it. These guys can moooooove and they make it look so easy, so smooth and so darn sexy! So what better way to NOT make a fool of myself when I go out and try to emulate the locals? I need to learn how to do it. Some of you know that I did latin dance lessons a few…

There is so much to see in Rio! 4-6 days is not enough to see everything and I know I won’t get to all the fabulous places that are on the hit list (some which are ridiculously touristy) but worse, the places that are off the beaten track that I would love to discover. If anyone is thinking of coming here, you need at least a week. Minimum. I don’t care who you are and what you like. Just do it. Some observations Copacabana is very much a tourist trap – kinda like the Gold Coast on massive steroids, but thankfully not all of it is like this. Only a…