Tours in Rio

Whilst in Rio, we did a couple of tours - thanks to Milka's organisation - both on the same day, and although a very full day, we wouldn't have been able to do them otherwise.  There were just toooo many people and too many street parties which made moving around the city a little difficult at times.

We did a 'Favela Tour' - an absolute eye-opener!! Favelas are like shanty towns, but they occupy some of the most prestigious hillside locations in Rio.  Amazingly there are about 1000 favelas in Rio.  We visited Rocinha, the largest favela, with somewhere between 70,000 and 300,000 inhabitants.

Our tour included a motor bike ride to the top of the favela.  Holy sh******

A motor bike ride .... Me?  Really???

Eyes shut at this point...

Relief!!!

The narrow road zig-zagged up the steep hillside, and our bikes dodged between buses, trucks and other motor bikes.  Apparently the ride lasted about 3 minutes, but it seemed more like 20!!!!   OMG  Can't believe my first ever motor bike ride was here in Rio!!  [BTW - I had read that our tour was to include a motor bike ride, and I expressed my concerns to Zac, who responded "Really, no I don't think so."  Really Zac!!!]

The wallk back down through the favela was down No 1 street - hardly a street, more like a narrow passageway that threaded down the hillside between small multi-story dwellings.

Difficult to describe what it was like - I wouldn't want to live there - although the view from the rooftops is quite spectacular.  We went into a day-care centre, past rooms with small children and up to the roof top.  Great view from there.

Our guide explained that people here tap into the electricity - so don't pay for it.

 

People we say along the way were very friendly especially the kids, who were very keen for us to take their photos.

Our second tour of the day was a city tour visiting some of the city's attractions - Christ, the Redeemer statue, Sugar Loaf mountain, Santa Teresa (party just getting underway), Selaron staircase

There were massive crowds in all these areas, and since Friday was also the first day of Carnival, crowds were also gathering for the street parties.  Most people were in some sort of costume and many groups were well co-ordinated. Great spectacle.