After leaving São Paulo and particularly Adriana’s apartment on a Monday morning was difficult enough as it is I hadn’t been made to feel so at home throughout my whole trip. I guess that’s the risk you take with AirBnB, you either love it or you hate it.

I made the flight with plenty of time to spare and it was only then that I realised and it sank in that this is going to be my last stop of my whole trip through Las Americas/South America. In little under a week I will be flying home back to Essex and I have to reluctantly wake up from what has been a beautiful dream the whole way through. The journey is almost over, but not quite yet…!

So finally on to Rio. The place I had been looking forward to going to my whole trip. The lifestyle, the favelas, the sites, the football, the beaches, the weather, the churrasco/coxinhas and of course the fresh coconut juice and who could forget the classic Brazilian cocktail, Caipirinhas! I hadn’t arrived during Carnival season sadly but this beautiful City is forever lively all year round.

Now after doing my research on the plane I knew my main objectives were to definitely see ‘Cristo’ as well as walk up those famous ‘Lapa’ stairs and of course the ‘Maracana’ stadium to watch a game. Anything else I come across here that I’m not aware of will also be a privilege. I am in Rio De Janeiro people!

Yes this is Brazil, yes there are issues in some areas of Rio just like there is anywhere else in the world so of course if the time has come for me to meet thy doom I know full well that I did it in style in one of the most spiritual countries on God’s green earth! Brazil does have it’s fair share of problems with the government issues leading up to the crime rate increasing slightly higher then usual, especially here in Rio but hey I’ve survived everything else so far in some pretty intimidating areas so let’s just hope being as I’m in Area Code 021 that my lucky number itself keeps on cropping up here also the same way it has been the whole way round! I seriously have lost count how much it’s appeared everywhere during this trip. Something or somebody is certainly looking after me, just a spiritual gut feeling I have and have had the whole way through this trip.

I was told I should certainly visit the ‘Pao de Acucar’ (SugarLoaf ) as well as ‘Parque Lage’ and ‘Jardim Botanico’ which will all be perfect venues for amazing photos. These all have terrific scenery. I also wanted to make sure that even after guidance that I shouldn’t but still went and did it anyway that I was going to be staying near all the favelas in the well known village of ‘Vidigal’. It is known for various druglord cartel activity who have all lived there over the years but me being me I wanted somewhere with an awesome view of ‘CopaCabana, LeBlon and Ipanema beach’, sea and an attractive venue. The cheapest I could find was infact within the favelas in Vidigal itself of all the places based in Rio. How bad can it really be!?

The hostel I went to stay at was called ‘Varandas do Vidigal’ and the views from the balcony looked incredible online. Yes it’s incredibly steep but I am sure there are ways around this! Opening my curtains up to that everyday and just seeing hopeful sun and certified sea and beach from a long distance, make no mistake about it, I am going to be staying at this place without any hesitation whatsoever. I wanted a view and hostel like nothing else I have had so far because I wanted this last stop to be that little bit extra special. Somewhere I can feel I had made it to the end of a journey, an achievement and somewhere I can finally say to myself that I had reached it over the finish line. Where I had achieved the unthinkable. This hostel had all that and so much more and here’s a couple of photos as to why it had to be here that I stay and finish up on.

Getting through at Rio Airport at customs was probably the easiest I have had so far. It was nice not having to cue for hours on end and after finally setting foot on the halo turf of Rio and kissing the floor of the holy ground beneath me for the very first time I jumped into nearest cab and gave them the address of the hostel and I got given a surprised look by the driver from him to take me there. To be fair his English was difficult to understand but I knew what he was getting at with regards to the safety for tourists in Vidigal. I knew in advance it was going to be high up and a notorious favela terrority but I don’t think I quite realised just how high up and steep it actually was until I had got there!

It must of been about 20:30 at night by time I had got to Vidigal. Arriving at the bottom of a favela can mean some taxis don’t fancy the trip up the hills and that is fair enough if I’m honest as it takes a good driver and one with a lot of patience in doing so as streets are narrow and there are bikers everywhere! To be fair I learnt pretty quickly that it’s easier to jump on one of the bikes as they spend all day escorting people up and down the hills at a cheap price, plus you get to look cool with wearing a helmet and hanging off the back of the bike itself! Most of the guys who drive these are pretty sound and will stop anywhere you like but be fair and tip them well as they probably all know one another and you don’t wanna set yourself up for a rough ride coming down or going up again next time! I jumped on one and the adrenaline rush was awesome. Hung on for dear life but this is what it’s all about!

I am finally at the hostel but because of the environment I’ve witnessed so far and obviously the height issue I was already starting to have my doubts before I had even walked through the door! I went with my gut instinct though and paid for three nights stay to see if it was for me or not. Maybe I will grow to love the place and extend my stay and it’s going to be hard to give up on that view like I have at the moment I will say. I doubt I will get it as good elsewhere. It’s so cheap and the hosts also seem so lovely at first impression, always a good sign. A Brazilian couple very much in love and just looking around the place you can see how much they have taken pride in their home. It is certainly something to be proud of and I felt honoured to be a part of it. A very special and spiritual place to stay I can look forward to relaxing it on my last week.

The hostel in itself was pretty much empty as it is out of travel season so that was always going to be the case I guess. I got given the exact room I had seen on the Hostelworld website which overlooked the sea and an incredible breathtaking view of LeBlon beach. I had finally arrived and made it here in style. That night I slept like a baby and woke up with the sun shining and the sea as blue as the sky. Let’s get this show on the road! Here’s one more photo at first thing in the morning from my room window.

Good thing about it all here is everything is in reach of each area so if you want to go sightseeing you can do roughly two sites a day and being as I was on a limited time schedule of one last week I had to get in everything I could for each day I was there. As you can probably tell I was itching to start site seeing and there seemed to be something sbout Rio that I already felt very much a part of.

Plan of action was to build up a special relationship with a loyal taxi driver who wasn’t going to be charging me through the roof for what I wanted to go and see and that’s when I got introduced to ‘Dino’. It was by pot luck really as the hostel were the ones who rang him directly and fortunately for me he took the phone call. The hostel had warned me in advance tourists can get ripped off quite badly here with taxis in general and end up paying more then what they should be. Common knowledge that and something I got used to a lot when back in the U.S. earlier on in this trip.

Dino I took an immediate liking to as not only did he come across as very sincere but he was also genuinely an all round nice bloke. The knowledge he had of the City was priceless and even though his English was pretty much non existent we depended heavily on his Google translator to communicate properly and know what each other was going on about, I think!? We both agreed to teach one another a few sayings in our native languages as we drove around the streets of Rio in his taxi. I got quoted $130 Real a day which would work out roughly around £30 for the duration of about six hours or so continuous with no meter! I was definitely agreeing to that as in the U.K. we all know six hours in any taxi would cost you a blinking fortune!

The first stop was the ‘Pao De Acucar'(Sugar Loaf) and once again the trademark metrocable carts. It was here where I got my current famous Facebook profile photo! This was going to get me that canvas print for my bedroom wall back home for as the views from up the top here are absolutely sensational. I even happened to get myself some fresh coconut juice at the midway point as there’s a restaurant and cafe there with wifi for all those that love to check in ;). Take a look for yourself below!

Wow, these views are truly something remarkable and give you the chance to see Rio for it’s true worth from up above. I spent best part of a couple of hours up there in and out of the different cable carts you can get right up to the very top and thought about after what could I go and see or do next. I practically have my own chauffeur who is happy to take me around everywhere and thought this gives me a great opportunity to go and see the famous ‘Lapa’ stairs!

It was going to be a slight change of scenery and surrounding as Lapa is known to be a bit dangerous and scary at night for tourists in general. Luckily for me though it was only 16:30 so plenty of time to see those famous stairs used in tons of music videos, films, magazines etc. Just ask the D.O. double G and Pharrell where better to shoot their classic collaboration of the song ‘Beautiful’. Your not wrong fellas! Not sure whether they were referring to the local talent or scenery lol! I took some great shots here and even helped out a few other tourists with photos of their own memories. I was getting hassled by a crazy Paraguayan guy who was trying his hardest to impress me with his singing and wanting some of my $Real cash in return, I was in a giving and good mood and applauded his efforts so I bung him a few.

What with it being a big tourist attraction it wasn’t long though before it was starting to get busy and people were wanting the stairs all to themselves and this clearly indicated to me that maybe it was time to move on and see something else. I got my photo though :). How bout I go on to see the copa, Copacabana beach next it is then. That’s right, I want to go the beach for some more photos and test out them breathtaking white sands. I asked Dino to drop me here as my final stop for the day and we arranged for the next day to go to ‘Jardim Parque Botanico’ and ‘Parque Lage’. These were both places I had seen photos of previously and wanted to go see them for myself for yet more awesome pics.

After being left to wander the beach on my lonesome I took this as an opportunity to get a few extra rays being as I had hardly seen regular sun for over a month or so now. Plus it was early evening and obviously the sun wasn’t at it’s warmest but the sand was lovely and cool on my feet. I ended up watching local Brazilian beach soccer, I mean foozball, should really be saying football. Guys here play with so much swagger and are incredibly skilful with tons of pace and energy. If this is what they are like on sand I honestly have no idea whatsoever how good they are on grass. I would imagine just as good, if not better!

I plucked up the courage and made out that I’d like to join in the fun and some way or another they got my jist and offered me to join in with them as long as I promised to be ball boy also when shots went wide! It was intense and 11 a side. Unusual for beach football as space is normally quite cramped but these guys had a big part of the beach to themselves and were attracting quite a bit of attention from people walking by, especially by the Gringo stuck in at right back pretending to try and be like Cafu or Danny Alves!

I realised not too long in that my fitness wasn’t up to scratch at all and was in need of my second wind almost instantly, the pace and skills these guys had was hard to keep up with! One of the guys looked like Roberto Carlos and was very much all left footed in the same way as the man himself. I was convinced it was him lol! I spent best part of about twenty minutes trying to keep up with him and he got better of me quite a few times until I had enough of the samba tricks and took him out with a sliding tackle Sunday league British style! There was a roar of laughter from the bulk of the team and all I got was “Bravo Jonny Bravo, Bravo”! It did make me laugh and the guy I had taken out actually smiled and applauded the fact I had stopped him in his tracks, there was no rolling around on the floor playacting. These guys just wanted to play football and what just happened there was classic dose of Brazil meets English! I had been accepted and the free kick after from what it all came from went miles wide and I got made to go chase after it to make up for my challenge. As I collected the ball a random Brazilian girl spoke to me in English saying to me “Are you their bitch?”, I stopped in my tracks and smiled and muttered something along the lines of “Hey, what’s a gringo gotta do round here to hang out with some locals?!”, she laughed and said “Well why don’t you just ask!?” It was there I invited her and her friends to come and watch the rest of the game to which they all agreed to. Some of the guys from that group also joined in and after a while we had quite an audience watching!

My team ended up winning on the day and even though it wasn’t my finest hour or performance the losing team all bought us some Brahma beers after. This is what it’s all about! We all headed out together down the strip where there are restaurants and bars galore for a few more drinks. It’s so easy making friends here and can see myself coming back here again soon at some point that’s for sure! Top night all round.

After the drinks were getting a tad slightly messy and I was in need of a wash anyways I decided to head back to my hostel in Vidigal and being as I was little tipsy and feeling quite courageous I chanced on riding up these remarkable hills with one of the bikers for a mere $3 Brazilian Real. On goes the helmet they make you wear before going anywhere (how thoughtful) and up we go! I held on tight and was back in the hostel in no time at all. I was tired, showered and crashed literally straight after. What an eventful day!

So the next day was going to be the day of the Parques. Both ‘Botanico and Lage’ have so much appeal about them and fact they are so cheap to go and see meant I could relax and spend a little bit less today and save up for other stuff later in the week. Dino got me from the bottom of the hills as the walk down is steep via walking but a nightmare for him to drive up! It doesn’t take too long walking down it to be fair. The people of Vidigal seem friendly and had even found out that Rihanna was only here a short while ago trying to shoot a new music video and that David Beckham has his own pad in Vidigal! I need to find out if that’s official though!

First up was Parque Lage. I was informed by Dino that it isn’t going to be as big as Botanico but still a spectacular place to go and check out. Looks like the ideal place to sit down for picnic if I’m honest. To be fair my ‘Cristo’ pose was becoming a regular thing in a lot of my photos and it was here I pulled off one of my photos of my whole entire trip. The view I had was stunning and what made it more memorable was that there was a wedding ceremony being held there at the time so I didn’t have long to get in the photos I wanted to take but got a couple in that I loved. With a bit of help from my chauffeur Dino of course!

After finishing up at Lage we then headed off and arrived at Jardim Botanico just a short drive away round the corner. What a parque this place is. Some tropical plants, fish and awesome scenery everywhere. Quite breathtaking if I’m honest in some parts. It’s the sort of thing you have to see for yourself to see it for it’s true worth. There is a particular bit where there is a long path and the trees each side of it are absolutely huge! It’s a great photo opportunity place as there colours here are endless and what with all the artistic filters we all have on Instagram these days you can really brighten out the colours to how they actually look in person. Here are a few of some my best at Botanico and see you all in Part 2 for my trip to the Maracana to catch a Fluminense game and of course see the big guy himself ‘Cristo Redentor’.