On Tuesday morning we pack our bags and check out the Mellow Yellow. Bye bye.... and its a 20 minuto walk to the Hotel Bandeirantes down the road. We have all our gear, back packs on our backs and days sacks strapped to the front of our chests. We look a right pair waddling down the street, I wanted to catch the bus (20 minutes is a long way with 24kg worth of stuff) but James reckons I need toughening up and it will be good endurance training for what lies ahead (The Inca Trail in Peru).

This hotel is the starting point of the next part of our journey. We have joined a group trip lasting around 44 days that will take us from Rio to Lima in Peru. Billed as cross continent adventure through the heart of South America, we are hoping that this experience will have it all!

Having checked in early, we take ourselves off to Ipanema beach. We walk for almost an hour and find a lovely piece of beach to sprawl out on. Its very different to Copacabana. Much more intimate and less depth to the beach, but the short distance between the sea and the road does mean you are constantly approached by beach vendors selling food, drink, T shirts, jewellery, sarongs and hammocks. What would I do with a hammock? Clearly, the vendors think they know the market and who am I to stand in their way?

After a few hours of serious vitamin D absorption (and I seriously over did it) we collect our belongings and its back to the hotel via an internet cafe and the laundrette. We decide on where we are going to be for Christmas (Cartagena in Columbia) book the accommodation and its all sorted.

We meet up with the group - a good age range and mix of nationalities. We have Swiss, Australians, Dutch, Irish and Brits and the tour leader Ze is from Sao Paulo. We are taken to a local restaurant for an all you can eat buffet dinner at a local restaurant and I would normally be suspect of those things, (pile them high, sell them cheap) but this place is a little gem. The spread is beautiful and the meat gorgeous too. Does the tour start as it means to continue? Who knows, we might be lured into a false sense of security but one thing is for sure, if we continue like this, neither of us will lose any weight.

After dinner, its off to Lapa. We saw Lapa and her arches from the Bondinho when we went to Santa Teresa but just didnt get the time to stop off. Its an eclectic place, full of bars, clubs and love motels (use your imagination - you pay for its use by the hour). We have a great night loading up on Choppes (draught beer for the boys and Caprinhas for the girls). We have a lovely time getting to know the group and then is back to the hotel ready for the start of the tour.

Next stop, Ilha Grande!