09/02/2020 – Travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

We got up, have an eggy breakfast, make packed lunch, then leave for the pier, bags in tow. Josh is feeling better thanfully. Dom was looking very Ab Fab again dragging her suitcase across the beach. We bought our tickets, loaded onto the ferry with the locals (most people get smaller faster speedboats across to the mainland which are more expensive.) The ferry crossing is very pleasant, calm, and with some gorgeous views of tropical islands. We have some time to kill when we get to Angra dos Reis, so find a bar on the coast to pass the time in. We get some fresh juices, Dom a cocktail, and enjoy the air conditioning having absolutely boiled on the ferry. We get a taxi to the bus station, buy our tickets and eat our packed lunches. Our bus leaves at 15:00 and we are happy to have air conditioning again. We nap and podcast for the four hour drive to Rio. We pass some favelas and I see loads of kites being flown high in the sky by groups of kids. The city is immediately bright and colourful with bold graffiti. We pull into the huge bustling bus station and are thankful to find an official taxi booth. We load into a taxi and try not to exclaim too much at the crazy driving. Lots of traffic as I had imagined! We got dropped outside our block and the security man buzzed us in the gate and gave us our keys. We have our own flat on the 10th floor of the building. It feels nice to have our own space for a little while. We settle in and decide on a takeaway as we are pretty tired and don’t know the area at all. We have all been warned about safety in Rio, so it seems the sensible thing to do! We enjoy a rice and bean takeaway in the flat, shower and chill for the evening.