I landed yesterday evening in what I thought was the middle of the night, it was in fact only 6pm but as we're close to the equator it gets dark early. With the help of my Brazilian bff, who I met on the plane, I hopped on a bus and headed to the pousada. I checked in and dumped my bags before skyping the world and its wife to say I'd arrived safely and much to my amusement discovered everyone staying in the pousada spoke fluent English; two groups of British boys and some American students. We stayed up sharing stories of our travels and tips on the best place to pick up a good caipirinha in town before crawling to bed and falling asleep with the sound of waves crashing beneath.
The next morning I was up bright and early, after attempting to lie in and enjoy the sound of the waves and the view of the sea from bed and failing miserably as I was itching for adventure. After realising my Portuguese is absolutely diabolical so bus catching was out of the window, we ordered a taxi to Jardim Botânico, a 142 hectare gardens in the South zone of Rio which has been open to the public since 1822. The gardens are only around 40% cultivated, the rest is rainforest which grows up Corcavado (aka Jesus' hill) and features over 6,500 species of plant, some endangered, and 140 species birds who seem completely unphased by the visitors and their cameras.
The sun decided to hide behind clouds for most of the day, only sneaking out for a few quick moments throughout the day, but I was kind of grateful for this as my English rose skin would probably have peeled away if it had to deal with humidity and 32 degree heat within hours of arriving. It was the perfect chance to get to grips with my new camera and lens which Danny gave me as an early birthday present before I left, I feel I'm slowly getting my shooting style back..we'll see!
xox