Rio de Janeiro really, really surprised me. I knew the city would be interesting, but I wasn’t expecting to be this blown ...

The tourist area – known as Zona Sul (the South Zone) – is generally safe, although exercise caution when walking around at night, especially downtown (Centro), Santa Teresa and Lapa.

The "Botafogo Samba Clube" samba school parades through the Sambodrome on the first day of the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. In Rio de Janeiro, the world-famous parades in the Sambodrome have begun ...