Peru, Bolivia, Brazil Wed 17 - Sun 21 Sept 08

Peru, Bolivia, Brazil Wed 17 - Sun 21 Sept 08
Hello again, here I am reporting from Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro
Wed 17 evening still in La Paz, went out to meal and show. Thought I had ordered lamb kebab but it turned out to be llama on a stick, very tasty but a bit chewey maybe it was one of the llamas that carried our packs on the trek, maybe not, buffet excellent though. And the show, wow, started off with 2 guys on fiddles one big one tiny originally made out of armadillo shell beautiful sound very good musicians; next a bigger band adding drums, multiple bamboo things they blow down and a flute player, about 16, brilliant. Excellent show so far but next the dancers, wow, lots of colour and fast movement, 3 girls and I think there were some blokes too, lots of different flambouyant costumes, all very entertaining.
Thurs 18 up early, 3 flights, La Paz to Lima, bit of a rush in Lima to catch connection to Sao Paulo, collect bag, check in again, long wait and qs there for final flight to Rio, bag arrived OK, then taxi to hotel, no problems.
Fri 19 quiet day, got some clothes washed, walked along promenade of Copacabana beach, lots going on incl football, volleyball etc., what a great place. Very easy to walk around here, most of streets are one way, the traffic stops at red lights and pedestrians cross on green pelicans. Quite disciplined unlike Peru and Bolivia where adherence to rules of the road appear to be voluntary. Looked everywhere for guinea pigs, couldn´t find even one, missed out in Peru and Bolivia where they are a delicacy, they have them running around their houses, (mostly one room per family) and cook them for special occasions but none in Copacabana so probably won´t get to eat one now. Never mind maybe they´ll let me look after one from CPS in the summer hols.
Atlantica Copacabana hotel has tiny pool on roof so had a swim there, very pleasant in this hot weather. (the sea is very rough, slopes down steeply with awkward currents and is slightly polluted so decided to give it a miss dont want to drown or worse have tummy upset half way thru hol)
Sat 20 spent some time on beach today, very nice views all around I dont know how some of these girls cover so much with so little. Another swim in pool and booked all day trip tomorrow, morning to Corcovado (Christ the Redeemer monument) and Sugar Loaf in the afternoon.
All the Best to Rick and Lucinda, hope they had a great day.
Sun 21 Morning trip thru Rio, sharing bus with people from Columbia, Equador, US, London, India, China, Argentina, Sweden and Beirut; saw some sights incl iconic Maracana Stadium, built to hold 200,000 for 1958? world cup, now all seating for 90,000+. Next up steep switch-back hills thru favellas (poor residential areas) then Tijuca Forest (lots of trees). minibuses, lift, escalators and steps finally get us to base of monument. It´s huge and imposing giving a feeling of awe when standing right under it. Fantastic views of Rio all around. Met and chatted with Neil from India (now living in Oman), a world traveller on steel busines and Jo from Kent attending a therapists conference in Brazillia. Then to lunch, talked football with Neil and couple from Argentina. Loads of food, tried everything, no idea what some of it was but all very tasty, think there was some suchi, chefs came round with chunks of beef on skewers prizing bits off onto your plate if you wanted it, each skewer had number referencing cut of animal to diagram on place mat, brilliant stuff.
Time to confess, on way up to Corcovado saw Sugar Loaf cable car dangling in mid-air so exchanged Sugar Loaf afternoon trip for evening football match in Maracana Stadium. This proved a good move. Terrific atmosphere inside massive stadium, Flamengo vs Ipatinga, great build up to game, home fans eccstatic with 1 - 0 result. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being in this great home of football, host to world cup final in 2014.
A special day.
All the Best to everyone,
John