Lima

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After a swift five hour flight from Rio we landed in the much cooler capital of Peru, Lima. The temperature was a welcome 27 degrees, unlike the boiling temperatures of Rio.

Lima is a nice little city on the coast of Peru, most used as a stop off to Cusco, the epicentre of Machu Picchu and is by far the most developed city in Peru. Our hostel was the Dragonfly Hostel, in the Milaflores area of the city. A lovely area of the city and by far the nicest place to stay, just two blocks from our hostel was a lovely park and 4 blocks the other direction was the sea front.

La Rochina

Ten percent of the population of Rio live in a favela. La Rochina the biggest and most urbanised favela in Rio with near to 100,000 inhabitants. It was the first of over 300 favelas in the city to be pacified, this process has been sped up by the government due to the imminent UEFA World Cup and later the 2016 Olympics.

We went with an organised tour (although it is pacified you still cannot enter by yourself). Luckily our tour was more of a guided walk, there is a lot of controversy about visiting the favelas, but having been there it is good to see that places are developing and also that stigmas and stereotypes can be cast away. Obviously you need to remember that not all the favelas are as developed as La Rochina, and some are still under control of drug gangs.

The place is crazy with too many houses for street names or numbers, therefore the community is sectioned into numbers and you collect your post at your local post office normally a barber or a little shop. The streets are full of markets selling everything you could need and the skyline is full of satellite dishes (because the government gives 30% off to those in favelas).

      Although you don't pay taxes by living in the favelas you still have to pay for electricity. However, some people choose not to and pirate the street wires to their houses which often results to house fires, one of which we saw the aftermath of.

We were taken to one of the houses at the top of the hill in La Rochina, and from the roof we could see all across the hillside, jam packed little houses of all different colours. As we walked through the streets we saw normal life just like the other streets of Rio and across South America.

Rio De Janerio

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After a long journey of being sat next to a snoring Brazilian women we arrived in Rio. We got a bus into the city and passed thousands upon thousands of Favelas, we both knew there were a lot but this took us both by surprise. On the main motorway into the city there are what seems to be Perspex walls in front of the Favelas, with many satellite dishes scattered across the distance and a few chickens too. 

We stayed in Botafogo and around were the homes and workplaces of locals so although there weren't lots of bars to go out in right by your doorstep, it was nice to see Rio from a non touristy angle. We ate at a restaurant on our road that all day is always full locals and the food was lovely and loads of it, with a portion of rice and chips so was carbelicous! 

The next day we went to Copacabana beach because Steff couldn't wait to get into those Speedos! The beach is 4km long and baking it's been about 36 degrees average all day and hitting about 30 at 9am. The beach was basically also a walking market every 30 seconds you had the choice to purchase the normal selection of beers, fresh coconuts or even cupcakes or a rug if you wished.

The next day we ticked off one of our touristy check boxes and went to Corcavado Mountain which is where Christ the Redeemer Statue lives. This tour was very insightful and free as it was kindly booked as a present before we left for our trip. However, we were not aware that we would be joining 45 other elderly people on this visit to one of the seven wonders of the worlds. It was like being on coach trip.