Rio de Janeiro

I went with Colin to the apartment to sort out car and then we all went to Flamengo Beach to meet the British Consul, Geoff Cowling, a friend of Roger Brown's.  He warned us of all possible dangers - crime, accidents, dodgy fuel etc, including the fact that his driver had been shot!! He said he might come and see us off on Saturday.

In the afternoon, we went up to see the statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado. Small train to top, which took about 20 minutes. Marvellous views, even better than Sugar Loaf. Weather perfect. Christ 38 metres from ground (plinth 10 metres high) with a 28 metre arm span. Difficult to fit into photo, especially as the sun was very bright and in the wrong place! Freshly-squeezed mandarin juice then down in the train.

We returned to the hotel and met up with Colin and Ed Hammond and then went and had dinner in Ipanema with Colin, Nicky and Steve.