Members likeohmygod Posted May 5, 2018 Members Posted May 5, 2018 12 hours ago, Tomcal said: ..... the Taxi driver took me up into the Favela above Ipanema to cross over to get to centro. Once you are in the heart of the favela, you are moving slower then people can walk mostly on 1 car width roads jammed with pedestrians! this was around 5:00 pm. the taxi driver actually told me to sit low in the back seat so i wouldn’t be so noticeable! that was my first and last favela tour and i saw nothing that i would want to see then or now! imho What the hell? Did you ask him to do this shortcut or he dedided autonomously? This is quite crazy. Even if Cantagalo's favela is not the most dangerous in Rio. Quote
Members axiom2001 Posted May 5, 2018 Members Posted May 5, 2018 Back in the early 2000's-- I took two tours to some of Rio's famous favelas. If you are gung ho about touring in spite of the recent violence, contact Marcelo Armstrong, the man who began the tours to favelas a while back. ASK him or his assistant about the current atmosphere, and proceed from there. I truly enjoyed his tours which you can read about in some of the valid travel guides. ...don't have his contact information at this date in time! Also, I'd do the taxi thing from airport to my hotel if I were you. It's much easier. When I was doing Rio (11Xs to date)--I would pre-arrange at a kiosk in the airport, but on one or two occasions, I took a metered taxi and paid fare as well as tipped the drivers. [Go to those fab gardens as well as that popular forest that's within the city. Try to have a companion if possible; it's more pleasant and fun that way!] Lastly, in terms of money; check out the rate of exchange before going then you want feel too badly when folks ask for R$100 or upwards. This also goes for outside of the saunas. Please report back when you get the chance. If you do this and wish to wait upon your return to Australia, a lovely country which is seared in my memory, for I spent two years there as an educator in some of the state schools quite a few years back. Tomasian 1 Quote
Members SolaceSoul Posted May 5, 2018 Members Posted May 5, 2018 15 minutes ago, axiom2001 said: Back in the early 2000's-- I took two tours to some of Rio's famous favelas. If you are gung ho about touring in spite of the recent violence, contact Marcelo Armstrong, the man who began the tours to favelas a while back. ASK him or his assistant about the current atmosphere, and proceed from there. I truly enjoyed his tours which you can read about in some of the valid travel guides. ...don't have his contact information at this date in time! I believe you may be referring to Marcelo Vidal. He’s a Rio gay tour guide. Hos website is riogaytours.com. His email address is info@riogaytours.com. The last WhatsApp / phone number I have for him is + 55 (21) 8765-6592 . Quote
Tomcal Posted May 5, 2018 Posted May 5, 2018 8 hours ago, likeohmygod said: What the hell? Did you ask him to do this shortcut or he dedided autonomously? This is quite crazy. Even if Cantagalo's favela is not the most dangerous in Rio. he said there is only one way to get to Centro from here unless you want to wait until after 9:00pm! it was 5:00pm when i got in the cab. I didn't pay attention until we were in the favela Quote
