Take a famous song, add a long stretch of powdery white sand, endless rolling blue surf and sprinkle with taut, tanned bodies and you have one of the most desirable travel destinations on the planet. Beautiful Ipanema beach is the stuff of legends. It entered the rest-of-the-world’s imagination with the haunting ballad ‘The Girl From Ipanema’, written by Antonio Carlos Jobim, one of the pioneers of the bossa nova sound. Jobim used to hang out on Ipanema’s sidewalk cafes and bars along with other artists, intellectuals and liberals, forging Ipanema’s reputation as ‘leftist’ (albeit affluent) enclave until many of them were forced into exile in the coup d’ etat of 1964. Like all of the world’s great beaches, Ipanema has its own unique culture. The beach is subdivided into sections called postos (or ‘posts’) which give in turn have their own character, making Ipanema feel a times more like a series of community microcosms. Posto 9 is the most famous; a fascinating mixture of the young, tanned and beautiful and leather-skinned hippies. You’ll find volley ball and soccer players at Posto 10 whilst Posto 8 is distinctly more working class. The gay section is located in front of ...