Discover the other face of Rio, that of favelas, on a guided tour
Brazil, Rio de Janeiro , this is not just the World Cup of Football. It is also possible to discover behind the scenes of Rio , with its beauty and its poverty that is close to each other without ever mixing. The example of favelas is quite talking about himself. To discover them, just take a jeep and go through the colorful streets of Rio and discover areas both magical, moving, sad and cheerful at once.
Get out of the usual trails
Wikimedia – André Sampaio
Starting from the monument Christ Redeemer , you will be able leaving the beaten paths to explore the favelas and especially the favela Santa Marta . While this neighborhood was once in a state of rather advanced decay, it was transformed into a sublime living painting because the residents decided to take over the favela and painted the buildings with shimmering colors. Accompanied by a bilingual guide, you can get off the jeep and walk in the alleys and go to meet the inhabitants. Even if Rio de Janeiro shows a white sand paradise, an illuminated city, it is important that the other darker slope, than the favelas, also exists. Far from having this dangerous reputation, the favelas of Rio are the very heart of the city.
A unique experience
Wikimedia – www.favelapainting.com
Several companies and tour operator offer Favelas Tours in Rio de Janeiro . With your convertible jeep, you drive to the top of one of the hills that are jalunting Rio. While you’re amazing yourself in front of the beauty of the places and the extent that stands before you, you learn that the trees of the hills are called beans trees and that these hills were old coffee plantations. Unfortunately, the government closed all the plantations and forced the workers to leave. They left in the bean forests and founded their own communities, which grew up to give today the name "favelas". These slums, which we know in particular through Michael Jackson’s clip “They don’t care about us” are like the tentacles of Rio .
Do not hesitate to walk in the alleys, to meet the inhabitants, to listen to their stories, their struggles, their hopes. With their houses built with random materials, the favelas are a place to know, contrasted neighborhoods that will mark you at all times.
Life at every corner of the street
The alleys are waving in the middle of communities like labyrinths. Every corner of the street offers a novelty for our senses and we gradually guess that the favela is synonymous with life .
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