I have to admit - I was a tiny bit nervous upon our trip to Rio. We had heard so many good, but also some negative things about the city that I didn't know anymore what to think. Although half of me was expecting that we will get robbed or mugged or at least cheated by someone, all went well. The Brazilians don't seem to share the scepticism and cynicism that is known to some other nationalities. People turned out to be so lovely and helpful that already as we left the airport a local couple shared a cab with us and drove us to our hostel on Copacabana.
The first thing after dropping off the luggage at the hostel was of course to go to the beach and have a Brahma beer. This is how you imagine Copacabana, one of the most known beaches in the world: a lady walking in bikini on Copacabana beach. 
In awe on Copacabana. I just fell in love with it!
Lukas taking his first dip in the Atlantic. 
Happy tourists on the beach.
Footsteps in sand, heading to the Sugarloaf.
Sugarloaf or Pão de Açúcar in Portuguese. 
For some hundreds of Real you could fly over the city with the helicopter. 
In the James Bond film Moonraket Jaws tries to kill Roger Moore by biting the steelwire of the cable car. Would not have wanted to be there, when the cable car is hanging by a thread!
The breath taking vista over the city and Copacabana as seen from the Sugar Loaf. 
Corcovado, the hill where Christ the Redeemer, Cristo Redentor, could be seen in the far distance over the bay.
A pose.
We had audience as we were enjoying our afternoon beer in the sun.
A beautiful sunset at the station Morro da Urca before Sugarloaf.The next day we decided to save time (but certainly not money!) by taking an organised tour to Christ statue. Usually it is possible to mount the hill with a train but due to the heavy rains a couple of weeks back the train was disabled which left a car as the best option.
We were glad that we had seen the view over the city already because when we got up to the Christ it was so foggy that it felt like we took the elevator to heaven. 
Passing the lagoon.
After the Christ and Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas our energetic tour guide took us to see the stadium where many of the world's most successful players come from, Maracanã Stadium.
We also got to see the street used during the famous Rio carnival.
A reflection of a famous church whose name I don't remember... 
After the tour was over we continued by ourselves. Yet we had to check Ipanema and Leblon via Copacabana. 
The fruits stamming from the tropical region are so delicious! 
We stopped to watch some beach volleyball.
Can you guess why?? ;) 
Ipanema beach. Each local has chosen their favourite beach, and the competition is tight between Copacabana and Ipanema/Leblon. 
A family also enjoying the waves. 
The beach boulevard in sunset.
The beach in sunset.
And a little art. 
Cataratas del Iguazú / Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
Our stay in Rio was finally too short and there are many things and places we didn't have time to visit. A reason to go again... On Friday we flew to Foz do Iguazu where we took a taxi to the Argentine side, Puerto Iguazu in the province of Misiones. Yguazu means large waters in the native language of Guaranis, and that it was!
Half an hour after the arrival to the hostel we were already continuing to the national park.
Garganta del Diablo means devil's throat. Can you feel the force of water?
Devil's Throat from another perspective.
The Brasilian side can be seen over the falls in the back.
The roar of the running water was loud. 
And apparently it wasn't enough for us, because Mother Nature decided to arrange a little surprise and poured rain over us! 
Lukas by the falls.
And me trying to escape the situation... or just implementing humour. :D
On our walk in the nature we saw some coatis. To my grief no other animal known to the park appeared during our visit. Tucans, cougars, parrots - all we missed!
Coati is a part of the racoon family.
An old lighthouse in the park. 
The next day we did a Gran Adventure Tour. After the safari ride through the rain forest we took a boat to the water falls. 
Excited!
The goal can almost be seen...
The falls seen from the boat. We drove between the Brazilian and Argentinean border, passing the rapids.
Do you see the boat under the falls? That's where we were headed, too! And we got soaked! There was not a dry spot on our bodies.
After the boat took us back to land we walked to another bridge that showed us the power of yet another waterfall.
You could hardly catch your breath, so powerful was the wind and drops caused by the water. Luckily we took dry clothes with us, otherwise we would have frozen after the adventure.
Children's choir on the way out. The little boy on the right did not want to be there!
Aripuca. This house is made using the same building principle as making a trap for animals.
Lukas tries the hunting gear used to catch birds and other small animals.
I chose a bigger weapon. 
In Aripuca you can get to know a little bit of the local culture of the aboriginals. The holiday was busy concidering the number of places we saw but we were still able to relax and enjoy a great Argentinean steak and red wine. Rio de Janeiro and Iguazu Falls are definitely worth seeing, but you should reserve enough time and a nice pile of money for the trip! Tudo bem means everything is alright, and that's the favourite saying of the Brazilians. And it's true - everything is alright.
