Christ, we’re in Rio. We’ve anticipated this one for a long time now. Nearly two years. The final stop on our year round the globe. From Cape Town to Rio. We’ve made it. All in one piece. Amazed at what we’ve done and where we’ve. BUT: we’re absolutely cream crackered having done Peru at quite a pace. And we can’t wait to get home. Five nights in Rio is great, but  two would be better- enough to see the sights and get off Scotland bound. Never happy hey!

After much research, we’ve managed to get an “ok” apartment on the main drag in Ipanema, 5 minutes from the beach and ten minutes from Copacabana Beach. The weather is unfortunately not great and Rio seems to be very off season. The beaches have a few bronzed and tanned bodies on them, and there’s plenty of joggers about, but much like Australia the body shape of the average person is not what you see on the telly. Baywatch it ain’t.

The biggest shock is the language. Having had 10 weeks absorbing Spanish elsewhere on the South American Continent, the Brazilian Portuguese we are now hearing is pretty much intelligible to our ears. It could be Japanese for all we know. Good job we are just here for a short while. And just like in Japan we don’t even have a guide book. Thank goodness for internet access in the flat. And Brahma Beer

We take a trip to the Maracana stadium- a place of legend for the football world. Today it is somewhat ramshackle and needs extensive renovation if it is to rival the stunning new stadia of the 21st century (as we experienced in the Beijing Bird’s Nest for example), but it’s not everyday you get to walk in the footsteps of Pele, Kaka and John Barnes.

But the sights of Rio are terrific. The beaches yes, the mountains of course, but no doubt about it, the highlight is Christ the Redeemer. Not so much for the statue itself, as gigantic and iconic as it is. But actually for the view. We saved this for our final morning- bookends of the trip- our first morning 50 weeks ago was on Table Mountain in Cape Town. Now we are on Corcavado looking down on Rio and Sugarloaf. A stunning stunning sight.

And that is that. Done and dusted. Our 113th place to stay is our last. Our 38th and 39th flights await to take us back to a home and friends we truly value and have missed. After that who knows, but for now we can just be humble and grateful for all that we’ve experienced.

“Tall and tan and young and lovely

The girl from Ipanema goes walking

And when she passes, each one she passes goes- ah”

“Girl from Ipanema” by Frank Sinatra (and many others)