Mention Rio to anyone and immediately the name evokes images of sultry street parades, the Sugarloaf Mountain, Corcovado Christ statue, and the 'itsy-bitsy teeny weeny' bikinis on the beach at Ipanema. The exuberant cultural capital of Brazil is tucked between the mountains and the sea and is endowed with a natural beauty that ranges from the beaches to the mountain peaks. It also contains the biggest urban forest in the world, the Tijuca Forest, that was completely replanted during the second half of the 19th century. The city throbs to the infectious beat of Brazilian music, the choro, the samba and the bossa nova, and is the main source of Brazil’s national culture. Its annual carnival, known simply as Carnaval, draws together the population of the city (known as the 'Cariocas') ranging from rich to very poor who take to the streets