Something terrible has happened...

We woke this morning to find a ransom note pinned to door indicating demands of boerwors, biltong and other braai supplies for the safe return of Lupita. We were also sent this disturbing video via the internet:

With such demands, we strongly suspect that our South African house mate has gone rogue. We found a suspicious photograph on our camera this morning.

Have you seen this man?

It has been a very relaxing last week in Cumbuco so far, with activities like making Pizza, having friends over for barbecues, downwinding to to the Lagoon, going for runs on the beach, lazing around in the pool, doing the odd kite repair and hanging out with Lupita.

Having a  swimming pool nearby during kite repairs is very handy! Even Lupi wants to help out!

True love

Mmm mini pizzas

Lupi has a very expensive bed!

They are trying very hard tot be friends...

On to couch surfing:

Couchsurfing is apparently a great way to get to know some of the locals and see some of the non-touristy things in a city. It is an interesting idea whereby you open up your couch to host travellers and show them your city in exchange for meeting new and interesting people - and yes it is free. You get to say how great your host or guest is, so that you can get a sense of who the people are, but is also largely based on trust. We have had a few friends take part, and all highly recommend it as the way to travel. Perhaps something you want to try with your couch or spare room? Check it out at http://couchsurfing.org/

After several attempts, we have unsuccessfully managed to find a place to couch surf in Rio de Janiero. As it is a very popular city, most couch space seems to be already taken up. We are hoping to do more of this in New Zealand, and have already lined up a place to stay in Wellington through an equally awesome service: Warm Showers, which is tailored to cyclists.

We have booked instead into a hostel that is fairly close to Ipanema Beach. I plan to have my camera ready to photograph some of the latest fashions in  beachwear that Brazil is so famous for.

Monica has also been slaving away over a map of New Zealand, while I have have been dream planning our next leg in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. I spend several hours a day dreaming what it might be like there, and where we should go, which is quite different to Monica's pencil, map and guidebook method with carefully measured out mileage and annotations. We will be sure to document the success of each method as we go along.

Having so much time on our hands has also given us a bit of time to reflect: stay tuned for a "Best of Brazil" post, and thanks for all the great comments... keep them coming!