'At the Copa... Copacabana...'

'... the hottest place south of Havana!'

I can't get that old Barry Manilow classic out of my head at the moment, unless it's to replace it with other songs like 'The Girl from Ipanema' or 'Her name is Rio and she dances in the sand...'. Yes, we have arrived at our final destination: Rio de Janeiro!

We've spent the past 5 days a little way down the coast, in the small town of Paraty, by way of relaxation before the big Rio fiesta. After a few disappointingly cloudy days the sun finally decided to put on a good show, allowing us to make the most of the beautiful beach in nearby Trinidad and embark on a schooner trip around the local islands. I for one certainly enjoyed snorkling with the vivid yellow and black striped 'Sargeant Fish' in the warm and clear turquoise waters off the side of tbe boat - one lady wasn't so sure however as a huge school of them swam all around her! The evenings saw us doing our best to dance on the large and uneven 'cobbles' (better described as boulders set in concrete really) at the open-air jazz festival and marvelling at the human-like qualities of the characters in the locally-renowned puppet show (http://www.ecparaty.org.br/).

Now though we're in Rio, centrally located just a few minutes walk from the people-watcher's paradise of Copacabana Beach. One week hardly seems long enough to see all of the famous sites here (Christ the Redeemer statue, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Ipanema Beach etc) as wel as soaking up the spectacle promised by the Rio Carnival, but that is what we have. So let the party (and the final countdown) commence!