If you're visiting Rio you might've heard of the Favelas. There are over 1,000 favelas in Rio and 1.5 million people living in them. They are also known as the slums here but I don't like to say that. On our tour we were told that a lot of Brazilians from the north part of the country come here in hopes for better jobs and better futures. The houses are built on top of each other and the entire family lives in them. They build new floors to the roof for each family member which is pretty crazy to me that they can just add on to the infrastructure like that. After some research I found a lot of the homes here are built illegally.
So now lets talk about my tour.. firstly I booked it with my Hostel I am working at Cabanacopa Hostel which I highly recommend. I'll post blogs about my working experience here but just now its been nothing short of amazing.
We met our tour guide by the beach and hopped on a local mini van that is used for Publix transportation. We defiantly stood out as gringos but it was really cool to experience this part. The bus took us about 20 minutes to The Rocinha Favela which is one of the most popular to tour.
We started our journey in a area that wasn't too busy. We passed some local artist and I ended up buying a colorful piece of artwork I can't wait to hang up at home. We then toured a bit and ended up for a stop at this local restaurant. They let us go up to the roof and see the most insane views of the favelas touching the city which touches the beach.
If you're looking for a sweet tour guide hit up my friend @favelalivestour , Pablo is an absolute sweetheart!
After about a 45 minute break from the heat we journeyed through the small roads where locals lives. We were able to meet this local who is a huge futboll fan and has it painted on the side of his house the years Brazil won the World Cup. I love seeing how locals live so visiting the favelas is a great opportunity.
One thing I wanted to highlight in this blog is that the Favelas are super safe. I saw a few cops patrolling the area but they don't really go in or do anything. The reason these areas are so safe is because they are ran or organized by the locals. If you are caught stealing here you will receive some pretty serious precautions. Lets just say, you won't steal again.. or see your family. Its very serious here but everyone understands what they can or can't do.
We did pass two areas where we couldn't take pictures because there was some illegal activity going on but nothing too bad. If you are caught filming they will take your phone which isn't fun. Here in Copacabana you always have to worry about getting your phone stolen its a huge issue in Rio.
If you decide to visit Brazil everyone will tell you how bad it is and all the crazy things that can happen. They can if you aren't aware and paying attention so its defiantly doable just dont be stupid.
There are so many fun tours to do here in Rio and this is one you won't want to miss!
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