They are on pretty much every street corner, they are everywhere, the Juice bars of Rio, a bit like Starbucks in that sense but the comparison ends there. Generally independently run they offer hatever type of smoothie you want they have it, if only you speak Portuguese. We have had some fantastic concotions, and pretty good value too. You can also buy a selction of what look like cornish pasties but they hold everything from hotdog and onions, to bacon and eggs, to cheese and gherkin (oh yes!). The weather has been so full on these past few days at 30+ the smoothies present great refreshments.

During the day as you walk around you do see a lof of kids about and yesterday as we hopped on a bus waiting for it to set off to head back to Copacabana we felt the back of the bus rock and through an open window a grey blanket was tossed in. This was followed by several brand new sun cream lotions. There were only a few tourists on the bus and we all looked at one another. The bus rocked again and suddenly this boy of about 8 flung himself through the window, gathered up his belongings and sat himself in a seat at the rear. He appeared to have just stolen the sun lotions as he was busy ripping off the security tags. he spoke a bit of English and looked at us and said "Hey my friend, Copacabana?", yes this bus is for Copacabana. You see a lot of people selling all sorts on the beaches, so not a surprise where he was heading. Though he did, as the bus moved around the city, begin shouting to people on the streets to drum up some trade. Later he then made a huge commotion to get off the bus, clearly the driver is used to kids getting on his buses for free, he casually pulled over and let him alight. The child had awful scabs and scars on his legs but a giant smile that seemed as if he was was looking forward to a good day.

You see a lot more of the Favela children at night. The Favella, Brazilian for Shanty Town, spreads out around the more affluent centre of the city and the beach areas for a long way, particularly to the North. The kids come into town to make a few bucks one way or another. The teenagers are the onws generally doing more serious crimes of mugging and robbery, so we are told. Indeed a fair few travellers have told of their experiences with them, a few had been mugged, all in the evening. While I can see that Rio might be dangerous in parts, particularly at night, it seemed that people that had problems had usually just ended up on the wrong street, usually after a few caprinhas.