We spent 3 days in a hotel on Copacabana Beach, with a nice balcony overlooking the beach, and Barry Manilow's song ("At the Copa, Copacabana...") ringing in our ears!
Last month they had devastating floods here - the weather was still overcast with light showers for most of the time, so we decided to delay most of the tourist trips that involve going to the top of a mountain for spectacular views such as Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf) and Cristo Redentor (Corcovado) until we come back in 2 weeks time on the ship. We actually got to the Sugar Loaf but decided not to go up as the top was covered in clouds a lot of the time. Instead Charlotte played on the beach and playground (see Sugar Loaf and cable car to top below):
and we did a nice walk out to the point, seeing some monkeys on the way:
Other than that we did some general exploring around Copacabana Beach, including drinking coconuts!
What timing - Carnival is due to start today, Friday - the day we get on the cruise ship - Rio is renowned for the best carnival in the world!! but we will get to experience Carnival at some other Brazilian cities where the ship stops over the next few days.
People were arriving at the hotel with great costumes
We get on the cruise ship later today - it will be nice to settle in for 42 days on the boat, as the last 2 weeks we have been doing a lot of traveling.