The Augustana basketball teams are heading to Brazil this week and will be blogging on the trip. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Kevin Schlitter is blogging for the men’s team.

So last night we went to Lapa which is similar to the District of Rock Island, but much bigger. Lapa is often a dangerous place because of all the nightlife, but we stayed safely with our guides, Joseph and his wife Roberta, and were able to sit casually around a table and experience the area.

Most people in Rio don’t go out until about midnight and stay out until 4 a.m. We were there from about 8-11, so most people weren’t out yet, but it was more about getting to see the nightlife and experience the true Brazilian social scene.

We’ve now settled back at the hotel after a long day on a boat. Today we took a tour of the islands off the coast of Brazil by boat. First we took about a two and a half hour bus ride to get to the dock where we got on the boat. Then our group and some others got onto the very large boat and headed across the water to the different islands.

We got to stop three times while on the boat. The first stop let us jump off the boat for some swimming while surrounded by lots of fish and the beautiful sun. The second stop was at a beach where we got to get off, take pictures, and see an old cathedral that was located on the island. The final stop was the longest and included our traditional fisherman’s lunch.

The food different than anything we had eaten, but judging by how much everyone ate it seemed to be pretty delicious food. After a long day in the sun, we finally took the trip back to the dock and finally a bus ride home. Now we’ll hang out by the pool, possibly order some pizza and prepare for a free day of shopping and the beach tomorrow!