Flying Down to (and passed) Rio.

Sarah and I love our travelling and so are normally very well prepared before we set off. With this being the first visit to South America for both of us and the Rio carnival being one of the World's great events, it is disappointing that our preparations have been completely overshadowed by arranging the move to Canada.I've read the Rio guide on the flight and here are some interesting facts I didn't know beforehand.

* Rio got its name when the Portuguese navigator, Coelho mistook the Guanabara Bay for the mouth of a river. He looked at his calendar and proclaimed the spot River of January,
* Rio was the Brazilian capital for 200 years until Kubitschek made the purpose built city of Brasilia the capital in 1960,
* Carnival originates from a Portuguese tradition of water fights and practical jokes until 1855 when a group of young men donned colourful costumes and marched to music,
* Rio is one of only two cities in the World that contains tropical rainforest. We'll leave it to you to figure out the other one, but a hint is that Sarah and I have been there,
* And lastly, the famous statue of Christ over looking Rio is not atop Sugar Loaf mountain. It is actually across the bay from Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf), on top of Corcovado (Hunchback Mountain).

Rio is such a party city that the carnival started during the flight. Three couples and a ring leader had had six hours of beer drinking and decided they couldn't wait for the plane to land to start singing. Very loudly. And a bit of dancing too. All the other passengers were looking at them disapprovingly...and Sarah and I just happened to have the seats right in the middle of the revellers!