Wednesday 16th December:

Botanical Gardens, a stroll along Ipanema beach, and Rio by Night are the days treats. The gardens are somewhat jaded, there's not too much colour, and the Rose Garden contains a single rose, maybe the wrong time of the year, but it's all pleasant enough. A good lunch before we leave makes up for it and we cab it back to the hotel.

The management team at the hotel are on the case of the cancelled rooms and they seem to be taking it quite seriously. Sue & Dennis hear a little more, and find yet another booking agent seems to have been involved in the chain, which makes you wonder how much of a cut each of these agents take.

I take a stroll along the beach, take a few snaps and watch some beach "keepie-uppie", played like volley ball, three touches allowed to return the ball over the net. Not surprising that the Brazilians have such ball skills if they learn them on the beach like this.

We are collected late for our evening's entertainment, and endure a meal at the same restaurant where we had lunch yesterday. The place is very rowdy with a birthday party next to us making an awful din, definitely not impressed. The show is brilliant however, the costumes, the drummers, the acrobats, and the guy "with all the moves", much better than expected, oh and I forgot the girls were pretty hot as well.

The lovely Isabel finds us waiting to go out and confirms that we can have a late check out which is great, time for a shower and a change of clothes before we leave for the airport.