Cariocas and their Coconuts Sipping Agua de Coco on Ipanema Beach

Drinking coconut juice on Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Cariocas and their Coconuts. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

The coconut is to a Carioca* what the baguette is to a Parisian. Okay, well, not quite. Rio de Janeiro’s locals don’t cycle along Ipanema beach with a coconut under their arm, nor will you see them munching into one (ouch!) as they walk home from work. But like the baguette in Paris the coconut … Read more

Ipanema, Where Life’s a Beach

Ipanema, Where Life's a Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

One of the first things we do when we arrive at a new destination is explore our neighbourhood. Despite having done the long haul down to Rio de Janeiro from Costa Rica via Miami, it didn’t take us long to get out the door and down to the famous Ipanema beach. Our Ipanema apartment is … Read more

Price Check: a Rio de Janeiro Shopping List

Price Check: a Rio de Janeiro Shopping List. Bohemia beer, Copacobana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

This is our Rio de Janeiro shopping list, the latest in our Price Check* series. Rio de Janeiro is on par with Europe when it comes to shopping and is no longer the budget destination it once was when I visited (cough) a long time ago – at a time when Brazil’s famously fashionable Havaiana flip … Read more

Our Rio de Janeiro Holiday Rental Apartment

Rio de Janeiro Holiday Rental Apartment. Ipanema holiday apartment rental, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Our Home Away from Home in Rio de Janeiro. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

When HomeAway Holiday-Rentals asked us to include Rio de Janeiro on our Grantourismo itinerary and stay at this cute Ipanema apartment, we jumped at the chance. Terence had never been to Rio and I was keen to return to show him ‘my’ Rio. Movies and music brought me to Brazil the first time I visited … Read more

The Art of Doing Nothing

The Art of Doing Nothing, Manuel Antonio, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Getting in the mood for romance. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

There’s no shortage of things to do in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. We’ve been wildlife-spotting on a walk through Manuel Antonio National Park, we’ve hiked in the forest for a spot of bird watching, we’ve strolled around a spice plantation, we’ve cruised through mangrove swamps, and Terence has dug his feet into the wax of … Read more