Today was my second day relaxing at the beach, and it was probably the best yet, with perfect weather for the occasion. I headed there with two English guys and two Australian girls from the hostel who I met the night before, and we found a great spot on Copacabana. The beach appeared to be even busier than yesterday, and the main carriageway on the beach front was closed to cars. This was a nice touch, since it meant the hundreds of cyclists, skateboarders, joggers and skaters had a lot more room to manoeuvre around in.

The weather was bright sunshine at a near-perfect 29 degrees, with a light breeze meaning I never felt too hot. The only issue was that I didn’t bring any swimming shorts or a beach towel with me from home. Until now it hadn’t been an issue, but clearly today something had to be done about it. As a result I opted to barter a Brazilian flag beach cloth from one of the sellers who walk up and down the beach. He wanted R$25, I offered 17, he tried to call my bluff and pack up and go, before realising I wasn’t having any of it and giving it to me for my requested price – a good result! Sunbathing on Copacabana beach on a Brazilian flag was definitely a nice thing to do, and something I won’t be forgetting for a while. However, there were no swimming shorts on sale so I didn’t get to go in the ocean, though it was quite cold anyway.

This evening was my last in Rio, and I made another great batch of extortionate pesto pasta before heading down to the beach with a group from the hostel. We relaxed drinking beer by the water for a good few hours, and it was a nice way to end this part of the trip. Tomorrow I’ll be spending most of the day on a bus to Sao Paulo where my mini road trip will be starting on Tuesday.

Photo of the day: sadly no photos of me lying on the beach, though maybe that’s a good thing!