Favela Tour

Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

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On Friday, I did another organized tour through my hostel, but this time it was of a Favela called Rocinha.  It was probably one of the coolest tours I’ve done in my entire trip.  It was only three hours long, but really sparked my interest and curiosity. 

I did the tour with around 15 other people from different hostels.  We were picked up by the guide, and driven to the entrance of the Rocinha favela, which was literally maybe a 7 minute drive from our hostel.  Many of the favelas in Rio are located very much inside the city.  One reason for this is because when you work as an employee for small company in Rio as a cook, cleaner, driver, whatever, your employer has to pay your way to and from work.  Therefore, if your employee lives close to you, you don’t have to pay as much for their transportation.  Anyway, before we started our tour we warned that we were only allowed to take pictures in certain designated areas, and that are guide would let us know when the time was right.  This is because the favelas in Rio are run by drug dealers.  There is no police control on the inside.  The police patrol the outside, but the society inside a favela is run by drug lords.  The drug lords obviously don’t like it when people take pictures of them or of their environment, because these pictures may tip off the cops as to who they are and how their operation works. 

When we arrived at the entrance, there were police standing and patrolling outside.  We each took a motorcycle taxi up to the top of the favela through the main road, a ride that took maybe 10 minutes.  The motorcycle ride was pretty cool, my first time on a motorcycle in South America.  The moto-taxi dropped us off in front of one of the two free medical clinics in Rocinha.  The favela itself has everything in it a human being could ever need: drugstores, grocery stores, restaurants, schools, banks, en even a McDonalds: people wouldn’t even need to leave if they didn’t want to.  Everything can be bought inside the favela.  In this way they act as their own separate communities. 

We started our walk at the entrance of this long alleyway which serves as a street.  I happened to notice a man with a huge machine gun at the entrance, and young guys with walkie-talkies as well (all part of the drug-dealing ring; anyone whose seen the movie “city of god,” can imagine the visual). They were basically keeping track of where we were and what we were doing.  We weren’t followed or anything, but they did know where we were at all times, they had lookouts at different spots within the favela.  Don’t get me wrong, I did not feel threatened at all during any of the tour.  The guide and the company we went with were well respected within the favela, and people like that tourists tour it because it brings money to their community.  The guys at the entrance of the alley were the only ones that I saw carrying guns throughout the whole tour.

Our first stop on the walking tour was a lookout point at a school, where we could get a view of the favela (check out the pics).  We then went to an artist’s studio, where I bought a really cool piece of art.  W then started walking our way back down to the entrance through the favela.  We came upon a pair of young men who offered to play us some Samba music, using a plastic bucket and a metal bucket as drums.  They were super talented.  We then continued walking and came to a small bakery where we bought freshly backed treats, and continued our walk to a local daycare. 

The favela has some social organizations that are contributing to the improvement of the community.  The daycare is provided to working parents, but they have to be interviewed beforehand so as to make sure the parents are actually working and not just taking advantage of a social service.  Like I said above, the medical clinics are for anyone, free of charge.  The favela also has a community sports and recreation center with a pool, football field and other activites for children, but the requirement to use the facilities is that the kids attend school.  There is also a volunteer organization within the favela in which people can volunteer to work with children.

However, despite these programs, the extreme poverty, unsanitary conditions, and the corruption that plagues these places are ever present and striking.  I had seen/known about other favelas in other countries in South America: Ciudad Bolivar in Bogota, the metro-cable ride I took over the favela in Medellin, my drive through the favela in Lima, but this was my very fist time actually in one, walking around.  The up-close sights, smells, and overall feeling the place gives you were perplexing.  I felt really inspired hearing about some of the positive movements and programs that have been created, but when contrasted with the actual state of people’s homes and the environment that these people live in, it was crazy.  Without proper water, garbage, and infrastructure, the place is literally brick, and garbage…I couldn’t help but wonder intensely about the state of people’s health.  The guide later told us that, not surprisingly, Rocinha has some of the highest rates of TB, dengue fever, and skin diseases, among many others. 

But, despite the poor state of living, and what looked to me like a poor quality of life, we came across several groups of kids who seemed happy, and alive with life.  While most of the adults we crossed were quiet and solemn, the children and young adults, seemed happy.  As we were ending our tour, the guide stopped to talk to a group of kids that he knew.  As the conversation ended and the kids went along their way, passing through the group, one boy locked eyes with me, grabbed my arm tightly, and said “I love you.”  He was about 8 years old…and already charming the pants off of people.  As cute as this gesture was, I could only think about how this kid might use his charm: will he use it for evil, or for good when he grows up?  Living in a favela is literally “living la vida loca,” being exposed to so many different things on a daily basis, you would certainly have to have an incredibly steady head on your shoulders to make your way out of there one day.  I certainly hope that he does.

Interesting fact: The word "favela," comes from the word for fava bean tree, which is the main type of tree that grew in favelas when they were first established.

View from the top of the favela.  The skyscrapers in the background mark a wealthier neighborhood

the blue bins hold water for the household

Samba beats being played on a plastic bucket and a tin can

Gang tag

Notice all the wires - stealing electricity

An estimated quarter of a million people live in Rocinha

The main avenue has all the colorful buildings 

Bullet holes in the brick

Blame it on Rio

Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

I arrived to Rio full of excitement and was welcomed by 35°C heat (=95°F)…I guess my prayers for warm weather were answered.  I stayed in Ipanema, a really nice, upper-class neighborhood with lots of boutique shops, with arguably the best beach in the city of Rio de Janeiro.  Firt thing I did, of course, when I arrived, was walk the three blocks to the beach…my jaw dropped when I got there.  People had told me it was really pretty, but in the back of my mind, I was preparing myself for the fact that it might be dirty and that the water may not be that nice.  I was wrong.  Clean, bright, beautiful water, and a perfect backdrop…everything you see in the movies about Rio.

Of course, as I’m in Brazil, I didn’t waste anytime and immediately drank my first coconut water straight from the coconut on the Ipanema boardwalk of the beach.  I later headed to a fruit smoothie shop and got my first açai smoothie with granola.  It was uh-mazing!  They blended the granola in with the fruit, not like they do at café Brasil in Santa Cruz, and served it to me in a big paper cup with a spoon for 8 reais (approx. 4 bucks).

My second day, I did an organized tour through my hostel where we visited all the top tourist sites in one afternoon: Christ the redeemer, the Santa Teresa neighborhood, the Lapa steps, and the Pão de Azucar (Sugar loaf mountain). 

Our guide drove a brand new VW white bus.  Apparently they make them brand new here: everything stays the same on the inside, but there’s a new engine, and it’s a brand new car.  Our first stop was Christ the redeemer.  The guide drove us to the bas of the statue, and then a small tourist bus took us the rest of the way up.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and so there were a ton of people up there, but despite the crowd it was totally worth it.  The views were amazing, a little smoggy, but still very pretty, and the statue itself is incredible: huge, and imposing, made of a really pretty smoothly carved rock.

Next we drove through the Santa Teresa neighborhood, the oldest neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro with some of the oldest buildings and houses (check out the pics).  When Rio was first settled, Santa Teresa was the richest neighborhood in Rio.  As the city started to expand, and the wealthy started to seek out other neighborhoods, it became a haven for artists, as it currently is.  Santa Teresa is on a small tree-filled hill, with winding streets, and colonial architecture.  It was very pretty in the afternoon light.

After that, we headed to the Lapa steps.  For those who don’t know, this is stairway covered in tiles from all around the world made by an artist called Selarón.  Selarón, who has a reputation of being a bit of a crazy artist, is constantly remodeling and changing the steps: changing out plain tiles for ones being sent to him from around the world, and changing the words inscribed.  The steps have been featured in a U2 video, and the Pharell Williams and Snoop Dogg video for “Beautiful.”  If you look at the U2 video and then at the Snoop Dogg video, you’ll notice that the steps look different: an example of how he constantly changes them.  The artist, Selarón, actually lives on the stairway in one of the houses, and has a studio in which he displays some of his other art.  Our guide took us to the studio, and I bought a piece of his art.  The guide regretfully told us that the artist was taking his daily afternoon nap, so we wouldn’t be able to meet him.  So I went and walked up the rest of the steps.  On my way back down the guide called my name and brought my attention to a man dressed all in red sitting on the steps; it was Selarón, who had woken up from his nap.  I was ecstatic.  I sat down with him, and he signed the piece of artwork I had bought, and some of the post-cards as well.  Needless to say, it was an awesome experience.

Next, we headed to the sugar loaf mountain for sunset.  It was really windy up there, and my camera started running out of batteries.  I managed to take a few really nice pictures, but I feel like they don’t do it justice.  Overall, my first impressions of Rio de Janeiro were great ones.  It was a city that fully lived up to my expectations: Beautiful, warm, beachy, happy, good-looking, tan people.  Love it!

Interesting fact I learned on my tour: the origin of the name Rio de Janeiro.  When the Portuguese arrived in this area, they approached the opening of the Guanabara Bay.  The opening was so narrow, that they thought they had found a river, hence the word “Rio.”  They arrived here on the 20^th of January 1565, hence “de Janeiro.”

Ipanema beach at sunset, what is not to like?

Ipanema looking in the direction of Copacabana

Coco Gelado, hit the spot

"La Garota de Ipanema" cafe = the girl from Ipanema cafe

Acai!

Orchids grow naturally from the tree trunks in Rio

Christ the Redeemer, "Cristo Redentor"

He sits atop a mountain called Corcovado in the Tijuca Forrest.  This is his view

Botafogo beach and Pao de Azucar (sugar loaf mountain) in the distance

It was so crowded that day - I was lucky to get a clear picture of me without anyone walking in front.  Forgot to put my arms up though, like everyone else does to imitate the Christ!

On our way to Santa Teresa

Driving through Santa Teresa

Cobble stone street in Santa Teresa with the famous cathedral in the back ground (Catedral Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro).  Apparently it lights up at night and changes colors

The Lapa Steps

Repping Canada...

....and SF!

Selaron working on a painting

signing my purchased art

Norma?! How did you get all the way to Brazil?!

Pao de Azucar (Sugar loaf mountain)

View from the top of the Pao de Azucar, Christ the redeemer is on the very top of the mountain to your left. Beautiful. No wonder Snoop and Pharrell filmed that video here.

Botafogo beach lit up with lights.

This is when my camera started to lose battery, but the picture is actually kind cool, even though its blurry.  Christ the redeemer all lit up with the moon above.

Las Cataratas del Iguazu

Puerto Iguazu, Argentina

In order to wrap up my mom’s trip to Argentina, we decided to visit the Iguazu Falls, which are located on the border between Argentina and Brazil.  It being a tropical area, the warm weather was a welcome change from the cold we had been experiencing in BA.

My mom and I stayed at the Sheraton hotel, which is literally inside the national park in which the falls are located, so we could basically just walk out in front of the hotel, and the falls were right there.  The park itself is really well organized and maintained.  There are walkways that line all of the walking routes around the falls, and they give you awesome close-up views of them.  There’s also a little train that you can take through the park from the entrance to other trails within the park.

The falls were truly amazing.  I had never before seen or been so close to that much moving water.  It was scary, but exhilarating to just stand next to such a powerful force of nature.  I’ll really let the pictures and videos speak for themselves.

To sum up, it was a really nice relaxing weekend filled with beautiful views, good food, and good company.

View of the falls from our hotel - they're right where that vapor is

the pool at the sheraton - awesome

walkway around the falls in the park

Observation deck below - where the second video above was taken

Un Arco Iris - right in the middle of everything

Dinner at the hotel, it was delicious!

Monkeys on the grounds of our hotel

Snaking around...mom was terrified

There were coatis ALL OVER the park, everywhere you went

pathway to la garganta del diablo, where the falls drop off.  Normally you can walk right up to edge of it, but the bridge was broken so this was as close as we could get

View of the sunset from our hotel room

The conditions were much clearer on the 3rd day