Ipanema Beach
Topic: Brazil
Ipanema beach is fabulous. We walked along the boardwalk on our first day in light trousers and t-shirts feeling totally overdressed. I kitted myself out in more appropriate attire in a bargain shop called Marisa before hitting the beach ourselves the following day. In most cities, wearing shorts makes you stand out as a tourist, in Rio if you don't wear shorts you stand out! Plastic flip flops are also the thing to wear. I treated myself to a bright pink pair.

The beach was less crowded than I thought it would be and people do not sit still. There's volleyball, surfing, jogging, power walking all going on in addition to the favourite pastime: posing. The thing to do is stand up, stretch, rub oil on, check out the talent, do some testicular jiggling (if you are a bloke), and move in slow circles (presumably to get an all over tan). If you're a girl, this is all done wearing the skimpiest bikini imaginable (regardless of your size). Blokes display a mind boggling selection of togs - all 1950s style - in colours like lime green and orange. White is also popular. A posing guy near us had bundies to match his deckchair - what ever possessed him to buy them?

We spent a pleasant few hours on the beach one day covered in Factor 30 and sitting under an umbrella hired from an exuberant character called Ana. We still managed to burn a bit but didn't realise until later. Ana or one of her friends kept us well supplied with ice cold water and cans of skol and even grilled shrimp!