Jesus Christ...

(The title is for you Sacha - an excuse to sing another of your favourite songs...)

So yesterday (Wednesday) after breakfast, and an interesting struggle finding the right bus, we were adopted by a nice old dear ( who spoke no English but gestured rather well) who made sure we go to the tram for Corcovado. Once at the top, we stared at the big stone statue of Christ the redeemer. To be perfectly honest I was more interested in the vast range of butterflies I saw on the way up, and the views from the top were spectacular!

In the afternoon we headed back down to the hostel for a brief rest and then went to a restaurant recommended in the "On a Shoestring" guide as splashing out. It was a nice evening stroll from Copacabana down to Leme to find the place and we were pretty close to giving up when we found it. Foolishly we didn´t look at a menu, just went in, ordered a couple of caiprihinas and got stuck in to the seafood buffet. There was a vast selection and the food was great! They even bring fresh stuff from the griddle around for you to choose from - the snapper was yum!

Unfortunately when the bill came, we realised that we didn´t have enough cash and the Visa card was in the locker back in the hostel... oops. Fortunately we had enough to cover the food and drink, just not the tip, so we went back this morning to settle up the last of it. What a way to spend two days budget though - would recommend it! When we got back to the hostel, the inhabitants were enjoying watching a rousing game of Brasilian Football. Now there´s a surprise!

Today we got up and headed for the beach again... Started in Leme, then at 12:30 having paid our tip tot eh restaurant, we walked the length of the beach (Leme and Copacabana) down to Ipanema where we spent a couple of additional hours in the sun before heading to the Supermarket and back to the hostel to Shower.

Now before anyone starts to worry, yes we have seen the news and we´re keeping a close eye on the situation in Bolivia. If needs be we´ll change our flights from Argentina and avoid it like the plague!

Hope all is well with you lot!

Keep cool...

Jo and Sarah XX