I went on the bucket-list Intrepid tour with world-famous beaches, legendary football and 80p cocktails
Milandra wasn't taking no for an answer, though, and forced me to my feet.
8
8
Before I knew what was happening, she and I were locked in a tight embrace, spinning around the dance floor.
I usually avoid dancing in public, but in Buenos Aires, the tango is so culturally important, I felt it would be rude not to try.
So I'd paid a visit to one of the city's milongas — ramshackle dance clubs found throughout the Argentine capital — where dance enthusiasts assemble every night to cut a rug with one another.
I just hoped the locals wouldn't be too offended by what was essentially an act of desecration on my part, as I clumsily stumbled around the room, trying my best to stay on my feet while not crushing Milandra's.
They say it takes two to tango, but really, she was the only one contributing to our performance.
I was merely there — a practice dummy, as useful and as graceful as a big sack of sugar, but still, somehow, absolutely thrilled to be a part of it.
That's the overriding emotion of South America — sheer and simple joy.
I walked around in persistant child-like wonder, gawping idiotically at everything I found myself immersed in.
Nowhere else was that more prevalent than Iguazu Falls, the centrepiece of Intrepid's seven-day Best of Argentina and Brazil tour that starts in Buenos Aires and ends in Rio de Janeiro, via a two-day trip to the most breath-taking natural park I have ever visited.
In places like this, guides will lower expectations by explaining that they 'can't promise anything' when it comes to which wildlife will make an appearance.
Outside of New York City I found vineyards, breweries and a race track
They needn't be so cagey in Iguazu, with the sprawling stretch of jungle that saddles the border between the two countries packed with a gloriously diverse wealth of creatures.
Toucans and parrots flew overhead, capybaras relaxed in the cooling waters of the Iguazu River and mischievous coati, a relative of the raccoon, flocked to picnic areas to fight over tourists ' dropped scraps.
All of this, and so much more, plays out in front of the most awe-inspiring backdrop, the falls, which were officially declared one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature in 2011.
'Thrilling ambience'
Rickety walkways offer vantage points to view most of the landmark's astounding angles, although guests can also take helicopter rides overhead, as well as a boat ride that is slightly more extreme than its name suggests.
My fellow sailors and I were tossed about in our seats as our high-powered vessel first took on a barrage of rapids, before the skilled driver zipped in and out of some of the falls' more powerful sections, completely drenching each of us to the bone.
I can't remember ever being quite so soaked, but the cool waters of the aggressive power shower were very refreshing in the 38C heat.
It also enabled me to gain a truer appreciation of the force of nature I had been lucky enough to spend two exhilarating days exploring.
Luckily, the opportunity to relax was provided at my final stop, Rio, where the locals on the famous Copacabana beach go out of their way to prevent you from having to do anything at all.
After renting a chair for the day for just £2, I was approached by a steady stream of men with barbecues offering to cook enormous prawns, grilled cheeses or various meats without me ever needing to move from my spot.
8
8
Even more pleasing was the constant flow of vendors serving refreshing caipirinhas, the Brazilian's cocktail of choice — a dangerously drinkable mix of sugar, limes and cachaca, a local spirit made from fermented sugar cane that has the strength of a Long Island iced tea masked by the sweetness of a can of Lilt.
They're not just found by the beach, either. In fact, they're sold from stalls throughout the city and range in price from 80p to around £3, according to the extensive research that I selflessly conducted.
They're even sold at the city's tourist spots, with bars found on top of Sugarloaf Mountain, which offers stunning views over the city's beaches and coruscating favelas, as well as the Selaron Steps — 215 stairs colourfully decorated with tiles by Chilean artist Jorge Selaron that connect the city centre with the flamboyantly graffitied Santa Teresa neighbourhood.
Perilous perch
The main sight to see is the Christ The Redeemer statue, which has stood atop Mount Corcovado since 1931.
It's an impressive monument to behold, particularly up close, where the craftsmanship that went into carving Jesus' face almost 100 years ago can be truly admired.
From its perilous perch, tourists can pick out other famous sights, including the stage where most of Rio's carnival celebrations take place, and the Maracana stadium, where the Brazilian national football team and Flamengo play.
South American fans are considered to be among the more rambunctious, so, keen to see what all the fuss was about, I got myself a ticket, with Intrepid's tours including matches as an optional extra.
The streets surrounding the 78,000-seat arena were bursting with life from as much as two hours before kick-off, with barbecues, beer and, of course, caipirinhas all on offer, as Flamengo fans in their Dennis The Menace-esque black and red home shirts made their way to the ground.
Once inside the legendary stadium, the noise and atmosphere only intensified, with samba beats being beaten loudly from drums, while pyrotechnics and giant flags enhanced the thrilling ambience.
I did my best to sing along with the home fans, despite not knowing any Portuguese, and by the end I felt like an honorary member of their troop as we roared on Flamengo to a hard-fought 1-0 win.
Then, as the fans filtered out afterwards, singing and dancing into the night, I ordered a final caipirinha and already began to feel a profound sense of longing for this truly magnificent part of the world before I'd even started packing for my flight home the next morning.
Luckily, with trips like Intrepid's highlights tour, it's easy enough to plan another visit for the not-too-distant future.
I just need to make sure I take a few tango lessons beforehand, so I can sweep Milandra off her feet next time, instead of almost standing all over them.
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Scotsman
an hour ago
- Scotsman
Nile Rodgers talks kilts, Kazakhstan and why CHIC belong to Glasgow
After a triumphant Glastonbury set the legendary band return to Scotland for more Good Times Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Nile Rodgers is buzzing to be playing Barrowland in Glasgow next month with his band CHIC as the Glasgow venue has a special place in the heart of the 72-year-old musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Fresh from a triumphant Glastonbury performance and gigs elsewhere in the UK, the Netherlands, Ireland and Italy, Rodgers will be strapping on his signature hit-maker Fender Stratocaster with Chic as they lead the audience through a dance-fuelled set of hits such as Dance, Dance, Dance, Everybody Dance, Le Freak, I Want Your Love and Good Times. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Over Zoom from the US Rodgers is his usual smiling self, complete with hat and long locks, straight away telling me how much Chic love playing Barrowland, having played there multiple times. So what is it about Glasgow's legendary venue that gets the icon into the groove every time? Nile Rodgers and Chic perform at Glastonbury festival last month. | Getty Images 'It's the vibe of the Barrowland. It's all about the people. The reason I love coming back is because of the sense of appreciation and fulfillment we get. You can't really compare that to anything else. It's like when we finish a show we're basically done, we're exhausted at the end of our shows, but the crowd there, they're ready to go again, they wish we could do another one. It's insane.' 'We're spent but they're revved up and ready to go and that energy is incredible. I said last time we played there, 'man, you guys are louder than Concorde taking off!' The decibel level was just insane,' Like Barrowland Rodgers' has legendary status, his life and musical trajectory forged through his tough upbringing on New York's Lower East Side. His parents, an interracial couple, were hippies, high-functioning heroin addicts and music lovers and the extraordinarily musically talented young Rodgers became the family bread winner early, landing his first professional jobs as a guitarist in the Sesame Street band when he was 17 or 18 as well as playing in the house band at the famous Harlem Apollo. Having learned to play flute and clarinet in school, among other instruments, he loved jazz, classical music, rock and fully embraced the DJ and club culture of New York in the 1970s. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Chic was born in 1972, co-founded by Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards and their disco hits featuring the former's distinctive chop chord chucking style filled the world's dance floors. He also created songs for Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Madonna, Daft Punk, Beyonce and many more with Chic's Good Times hit illustrating his musical reach by influencing The Sugarhill Gang's breakthrough hip hop single Rapper's Delight, Queen, Blondie, Captain Sensible and Daft Punk and beyond. Nile Rodgers performing with Chic during TRNSMT Festival at Glasgow Green, July 2022 . | Getty Images Given how many times Chic have played in Scotland does Rodgers have any tartan in his wardrobe. 'I do, obviously because I've been there too many times to not. But what was really interesting is that I'm doing a private party and they want me kilted up in their family garb, so I said 'well, whatever, I'm down, you know?'. Will he be donning a kilt? 'That's what they want me to do, so I said OK. Not at the Barrowland but yeah, we're doing a couple of private gigs.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Unfortunately Rodgers and Chic won't have any time to hang about in Scotland this time round as it's straight on to the next gig. 'This tour, almost every show is in a different city the next day. Typically, because of my charity work, I don't like to travel by private aircraft because that same money I could be spending on the kids in my programme, but it's the only way to do this tour because we're in one city and the next day in another country and the following day another. It's crazy. This is going to be the most cities that we've hit in one summer in my entire career,' he says. It's a schedule which is remarkable given that Rogers is now 72 years old. 'Yes, thank you for bringing that up,' he says and laughs, then I tell him he's in great company as Herbie Hancock, now 85, was in Scotland tearing up the Edinburgh Festival in 2022. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Yeah, he's a great friend of mine. I just saw him a couple of weeks ago,' says Rodgers. Both men have achieved legendary status that sees them revered across the whole music industry with their influence felt far and wide and down the generations. How does that feel? 'It's amazing but I don't think of it like that,' says Rodgers. 'I'm just doing my job. 'But as a composer, as a creator, as a producer, an orchestrator and arranger, whatever you want to call me, guitar player, to be able to create and have that creation become meaningful to other people's lives, that's an extraordinary feeling.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I don't know how to explain it. Well… near the end of the first leg of this tour, at the last show, I said 'I want to do this for the rest of my life until I can't do it any more'. You know, that's just how I feel. I love the feeling that we're giving back because the crowd seems to be SO appreciative. My god, the last few shows we just did in South America were over the top!' Having been on the road for decades Rodgers has played 'every country in the world', some of them multiple times, but last year's visit to Kazakhstan made an impression. Nile Rodgers at the 2025 Songwriters Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony in New York. Rodgers was inducted in 2016. | Getty Images for Songwriters Hal 'Before we went I kept thinking to myself the only thing I know about Kazakhstan is the character Sascha Baron Cohen plays in Borat and that horrible song he sings all the time, and I get to Kazakhstan and people were awesome. We had so much fun. I couldn't believe the way that the vibe felt walking down the street. I didn't seem to look peculiar to people, even though I know that I don't typically dress like your average Kazakhstani but man, we had so much fun. 'And we were making a joke, me and the girls in my band, and I said you know, for the last couple of years of Prince's life he always played Le Freak, stuck it in the middle of a song, and I said we're going to stick in Jungle Love, and we started doing the dance and the client who brought us in jumped right in with us and started doing the Jungle Love dance. It was incredible. We were in Kazakhstan and he knew exactly where we were coming from culturally, and I thought to myself, that's the beauty of music and that's really what the world is. People are beautiful. Government's pretty much stink,' he laughs, 'but people are awesome.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Rodgers agrees that the beauty of music is that it transcends politics. 'When I go to a country that's supposed to be awful, the promoters say 'oh you don't want to go for a walk out there' and I hear 'Nile, ha ha, take off', because I love meeting people. I love other cultures and I'm fascinated.' He traces his love of travel right back to his early years when he had no money but explored anyway. 'When I was a kid it was very common for people like myself who were very poor to do what we call hostelling, and you go to these very, very inexpensive little, you can't even call them hotels, they were just little rooms, rooming houses set up for basically teenagers to go around and explore the world. I don't even know what's happened to that,' he says. No, hostels are still very much a thing, I tell him. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Oh, OK. I guess I'm not a teenager anymore! I'm 72 years old and I can actually stay in a real hotel. But that was like the thing. So meeting new people and going to different countries was a normal thing. I remember my girlfriend turned me on to this and there was no such thing as stranger danger. I never heard a bad story, like now it seems that's all we hear. And I know mathematically that there are no more bad people now than there were then, so I just take it as mostly people are good, and every now and then you meet jerks, but most of the time people are really cool.' With the extensive touring, producing, writing and charity work that Rodgers is involved in, is he ever able to go and watch other musicians play? 'Rarely. I love to, but it's rare. I saw Esperanza Spalding and Adam Lambert at the Polar awards [The 2025 Polar Music Prize ceremony in Stockholm last month], and that was great, that was cool and fun, but that's not my normal life. 'My normal life is I'm going from one place to the next. I rarely have leisure time because I'm working on other projects. Doing live gigs is not my life, that's just one small part of it.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad With Barrowland ready and waiting does Rodgers have the playlist ready for the gig, and is it a set or does it change? 'It changes all the time because we have an idea of the amount of time that we have on stage. As a person, I'm very cognisant of other artists and I never go over time. Chic is incredibly prompt. We're like a machine. And what's really interesting is that we're not a machine, we're a completely live band. Almost every band you see has click tracks and secret backing tracks and stuff like that, and believe me I know, because I know almost every band out there, but we're completely live. 'But we're very prompt. I have my stage manager saying 'OK, you've got five minutes, three minutes, two minutes, you've got to be on stage'. We're very, very, very cognisant of the other acts, and because we're live, we're not locked to a clock, so we have to be aware of how much time we're on stage because sometimes I'll talk and just go off the rails and start telling stories and that's not really what we're there for. We're there to play music. But sometimes you can't help it. The vibe is so great. And because I've been to all these countries so many times I have nothing but great memories that sometimes I want to share, so I tell them.' And will he be playing his trademark white Fender Stratocaster with the maple fingerboard? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Of course. It's the only guitar I play. If I break a string the audience has to wait for me to change the string.' Does he not have a spare, or other guitars? 'I have tons of them, but I only play that one.' Nile Rodgers performing with Chic at TRNSMT Festival, Glasgow, 2022. | Getty Images Looking back over his lengthy career, of what is Rodgers most proud, some of the hits, his influence on other musicians, his longevity, his success, his charity work? 'That's really high on my list,' he says, referring to his We Are Family Foundation, set up in 2008 and which has funded schools in Malawi, Mali, Nepal and Nicaragua, created a diversity and tolerance curriculum that was sent to every elementary school in the US and is dedicated to create programmes that 'promote cultural diversity while nurturing and mentoring the vision, talents and ideas of young people who are positively changing the world'. 'What we're doing now, it's beyond anything I ever thought we could accomplish and now I know we gotta be doing SO much more because the people in my life now, and just what's going on in America now, it drives me to work in other situations and it opens my mind to developing programmes in other countries because now I really see that… God, you know, there's so much going on in the world that really governments don't address, and we really deal with young people who are addressing those problems and actually making a change. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'And when I was a kid, that's what my life was like. It was not only discovering the problem or becoming aware of the problem but it was actually working on the problem, helping to mend the problem, trying to fix it. On a previous occasion Rodgers told me how when he was a child he had fallen behind a sofa pushed against a wall in the family home and was stuck there for hours, unnoticed. What would he say to that child now, a scared little boy who has no idea how his life will unfold? 'It's going to be amazing.' He pauses and thinks back. 'I thought I was dying. I couldn't breathe. I had asthma. I can't believe that you know that story. Yeah, I fell behind the sofa, and I was a skinny, skinny, skinny little kid and had really bad asthma, and who'd ever have thought that I'd go on to make music for a living? 'Actually I thought that then, believe it or not, but I never would have imagined that it would get to this level, that I'd do songs and video games and theatre and pop records and classical records and jazz records, I mean just anything that artistically comes my way that I'm interested in. It's amazing.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Which just leaves time to wish him all the best for the Barrowland gig and the rest of the tour. 'Thank you. I hope I'll see you all at the show.'
Scottish Sun
4 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
I went on the bucket-list Intrepid tour with world-famous beaches, legendary football and 80p cocktails
At Iguazu Falls, Toucans and parrots flew overhead while capybaras relax in the cooling waters PLACE TO TAN-GO I went on the bucket-list Intrepid tour with world-famous beaches, legendary football and 80p cocktails 'I CAN'T dance . . . I'm English,' I insisted in my woeful Spanish. Milandra wasn't taking no for an answer, though, and forced me to my feet. Advertisement 8 I went on a bucket list South America Tour, pictured Rio de Janeiro in Brazil Credit: Getty 8 Relax on world famous Copacabana beach Credit: Getty Before I knew what was happening, she and I were locked in a tight embrace, spinning around the dance floor. I usually avoid dancing in public, but in Buenos Aires, the tango is so culturally important, I felt it would be rude not to try. So I'd paid a visit to one of the city's milongas — ramshackle dance clubs found throughout the Argentine capital — where dance enthusiasts assemble every night to cut a rug with one another. I just hoped the locals wouldn't be too offended by what was essentially an act of desecration on my part, as I clumsily stumbled around the room, trying my best to stay on my feet while not crushing Milandra's. Advertisement They say it takes two to tango, but really, she was the only one contributing to our performance. I was merely there — a practice dummy, as useful and as graceful as a big sack of sugar, but still, somehow, absolutely thrilled to be a part of it. That's the overriding emotion of South America — sheer and simple joy. I walked around in persistant child-like wonder, gawping idiotically at everything I found myself immersed in. Advertisement Nowhere else was that more prevalent than Iguazu Falls, the centrepiece of Intrepid's seven-day Best of Argentina and Brazil tour that starts in Buenos Aires and ends in Rio de Janeiro, via a two-day trip to the most breath-taking natural park I have ever visited. In places like this, guides will lower expectations by explaining that they 'can't promise anything' when it comes to which wildlife will make an appearance. Outside of New York City I found vineyards, breweries and a race track They needn't be so cagey in Iguazu, with the sprawling stretch of jungle that saddles the border between the two countries packed with a gloriously diverse wealth of creatures. Toucans and parrots flew overhead, capybaras relaxed in the cooling waters of the Iguazu River and mischievous coati, a relative of the raccoon, flocked to picnic areas to fight over tourists' dropped scraps. Advertisement All of this, and so much more, plays out in front of the most awe-inspiring backdrop, the falls, which were officially declared one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature in 2011. 'Thrilling ambience' Rickety walkways offer vantage points to view most of the landmark's astounding angles, although guests can also take helicopter rides overhead, as well as a boat ride that is slightly more extreme than its name suggests. My fellow sailors and I were tossed about in our seats as our high-powered vessel first took on a barrage of rapids, before the skilled driver zipped in and out of some of the falls' more powerful sections, completely drenching each of us to the bone. I can't remember ever being quite so soaked, but the cool waters of the aggressive power shower were very refreshing in the 38C heat. Advertisement It also enabled me to gain a truer appreciation of the force of nature I had been lucky enough to spend two exhilarating days exploring. Luckily, the opportunity to relax was provided at my final stop, Rio, where the locals on the famous Copacabana beach go out of their way to prevent you from having to do anything at all. After renting a chair for the day for just £2, I was approached by a steady stream of men with barbecues offering to cook enormous prawns, grilled cheeses or various meats without me ever needing to move from my spot. 8 Iguazu Falls is the centrepiece of Intrepid's seven-day Best of Argentina and Brazil tour Credit: Getty Advertisement 8 Toucans fill the jungle Credit: Getty Even more pleasing was the constant flow of vendors serving refreshing caipirinhas, the Brazilian's cocktail of choice — a dangerously drinkable mix of sugar, limes and cachaca, a local spirit made from fermented sugar cane that has the strength of a Long Island iced tea masked by the sweetness of a can of Lilt. They're not just found by the beach, either. In fact, they're sold from stalls throughout the city and range in price from 80p to around £3, according to the extensive research that I selflessly conducted. They're even sold at the city's tourist spots, with bars found on top of Sugarloaf Mountain, which offers stunning views over the city's beaches and coruscating favelas, as well as the Selaron Steps — 215 stairs colourfully decorated with tiles by Chilean artist Jorge Selaron that connect the city centre with the flamboyantly graffitied Santa Teresa neighbourhood. Advertisement Perilous perch The main sight to see is the Christ The Redeemer statue, which has stood atop Mount Corcovado since 1931. It's an impressive monument to behold, particularly up close, where the craftsmanship that went into carving Jesus' face almost 100 years ago can be truly admired. From its perilous perch, tourists can pick out other famous sights, including the stage where most of Rio's carnival celebrations take place, and the Maracana stadium, where the Brazilian national football team and Flamengo play. South American fans are considered to be among the more rambunctious, so, keen to see what all the fuss was about, I got myself a ticket, with Intrepid's tours including matches as an optional extra. Advertisement The streets surrounding the 78,000-seat arena were bursting with life from as much as two hours before kick-off, with barbecues, beer and, of course, caipirinhas all on offer, as Flamengo fans in their Dennis The Menace-esque black and red home shirts made their way to the ground. Once inside the legendary stadium, the noise and atmosphere only intensified, with samba beats being beaten loudly from drums, while pyrotechnics and giant flags enhanced the thrilling ambience. I did my best to sing along with the home fans, despite not knowing any Portuguese, and by the end I felt like an honorary member of their troop as we roared on Flamengo to a hard-fought 1-0 win. Then, as the fans filtered out afterwards, singing and dancing into the night, I ordered a final caipirinha and already began to feel a profound sense of longing for this truly magnificent part of the world before I'd even started packing for my flight home the next morning. Advertisement Luckily, with trips like Intrepid's highlights tour, it's easy enough to plan another visit for the not-too-distant future. I just need to make sure I take a few tango lessons beforehand, so I can sweep Milandra off her feet next time, instead of almost standing all over them. 8 The tango is so culturally important to Argentina Credit: Getty 8 Enjoy a kickabout at the Maracanã, Brazil Credit: Getty Advertisement 8 There is a constant flow of vendors serving refreshing caipirinhas Credit: Getty 8 A macaw at Iguazu falls Credit: Getty
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
I went on the bucket-list Intrepid tour with world-famous beaches, legendary football and 80p cocktails
'I CAN'T dance . . . I'm English,' I insisted in my woeful Spanish. Milandra wasn't taking no for an answer, though, and forced me to my feet. 8 8 Before I knew what was happening, she and I were locked in a tight embrace, spinning around the dance floor. I usually avoid dancing in public, but in Buenos Aires, the tango is so culturally important, I felt it would be rude not to try. So I'd paid a visit to one of the city's milongas — ramshackle dance clubs found throughout the Argentine capital — where dance enthusiasts assemble every night to cut a rug with one another. I just hoped the locals wouldn't be too offended by what was essentially an act of desecration on my part, as I clumsily stumbled around the room, trying my best to stay on my feet while not crushing Milandra's. They say it takes two to tango, but really, she was the only one contributing to our performance. I was merely there — a practice dummy, as useful and as graceful as a big sack of sugar, but still, somehow, absolutely thrilled to be a part of it. That's the overriding emotion of South America — sheer and simple joy. I walked around in persistant child-like wonder, gawping idiotically at everything I found myself immersed in. Nowhere else was that more prevalent than Iguazu Falls, the centrepiece of Intrepid's seven-day Best of Argentina and Brazil tour that starts in Buenos Aires and ends in Rio de Janeiro, via a two-day trip to the most breath-taking natural park I have ever visited. In places like this, guides will lower expectations by explaining that they 'can't promise anything' when it comes to which wildlife will make an appearance. Outside of New York City I found vineyards, breweries and a race track They needn't be so cagey in Iguazu, with the sprawling stretch of jungle that saddles the border between the two countries packed with a gloriously diverse wealth of creatures. Toucans and parrots flew overhead, capybaras relaxed in the cooling waters of the Iguazu River and mischievous coati, a relative of the raccoon, flocked to picnic areas to fight over tourists ' dropped scraps. All of this, and so much more, plays out in front of the most awe-inspiring backdrop, the falls, which were officially declared one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature in 2011. 'Thrilling ambience' Rickety walkways offer vantage points to view most of the landmark's astounding angles, although guests can also take helicopter rides overhead, as well as a boat ride that is slightly more extreme than its name suggests. My fellow sailors and I were tossed about in our seats as our high-powered vessel first took on a barrage of rapids, before the skilled driver zipped in and out of some of the falls' more powerful sections, completely drenching each of us to the bone. I can't remember ever being quite so soaked, but the cool waters of the aggressive power shower were very refreshing in the 38C heat. It also enabled me to gain a truer appreciation of the force of nature I had been lucky enough to spend two exhilarating days exploring. Luckily, the opportunity to relax was provided at my final stop, Rio, where the locals on the famous Copacabana beach go out of their way to prevent you from having to do anything at all. After renting a chair for the day for just £2, I was approached by a steady stream of men with barbecues offering to cook enormous prawns, grilled cheeses or various meats without me ever needing to move from my spot. 8 8 Even more pleasing was the constant flow of vendors serving refreshing caipirinhas, the Brazilian's cocktail of choice — a dangerously drinkable mix of sugar, limes and cachaca, a local spirit made from fermented sugar cane that has the strength of a Long Island iced tea masked by the sweetness of a can of Lilt. They're not just found by the beach, either. In fact, they're sold from stalls throughout the city and range in price from 80p to around £3, according to the extensive research that I selflessly conducted. They're even sold at the city's tourist spots, with bars found on top of Sugarloaf Mountain, which offers stunning views over the city's beaches and coruscating favelas, as well as the Selaron Steps — 215 stairs colourfully decorated with tiles by Chilean artist Jorge Selaron that connect the city centre with the flamboyantly graffitied Santa Teresa neighbourhood. Perilous perch The main sight to see is the Christ The Redeemer statue, which has stood atop Mount Corcovado since 1931. It's an impressive monument to behold, particularly up close, where the craftsmanship that went into carving Jesus' face almost 100 years ago can be truly admired. From its perilous perch, tourists can pick out other famous sights, including the stage where most of Rio's carnival celebrations take place, and the Maracana stadium, where the Brazilian national football team and Flamengo play. South American fans are considered to be among the more rambunctious, so, keen to see what all the fuss was about, I got myself a ticket, with Intrepid's tours including matches as an optional extra. The streets surrounding the 78,000-seat arena were bursting with life from as much as two hours before kick-off, with barbecues, beer and, of course, caipirinhas all on offer, as Flamengo fans in their Dennis The Menace-esque black and red home shirts made their way to the ground. Once inside the legendary stadium, the noise and atmosphere only intensified, with samba beats being beaten loudly from drums, while pyrotechnics and giant flags enhanced the thrilling ambience. I did my best to sing along with the home fans, despite not knowing any Portuguese, and by the end I felt like an honorary member of their troop as we roared on Flamengo to a hard-fought 1-0 win. Then, as the fans filtered out afterwards, singing and dancing into the night, I ordered a final caipirinha and already began to feel a profound sense of longing for this truly magnificent part of the world before I'd even started packing for my flight home the next morning. Luckily, with trips like Intrepid's highlights tour, it's easy enough to plan another visit for the not-too-distant future. I just need to make sure I take a few tango lessons beforehand, so I can sweep Milandra off her feet next time, instead of almost standing all over them. 8 8 8 8
