Beyond The Maple Tree

One of the first attractions we visited was Christ the Redeemer - a 30m art deco statue of Jesus erected on the tallest mountain in Rio, overlooking the city.  

In 2007, Christ the Redeemer was voted in as one of the new 7 wonder of the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New7Wonders_of_the_World).  Do we agree with this or not? ... that is another debate… 

But, we can definitely say that there is a stunning view of the city from the top...  and there are a LOT of tourist there (we were both starting to feel agoraphobic, especially after coming from rural Bolivia). 

Lastly and most importantly (for all the Movember fans out there), we noticed that Chris the Redeemer has a moustache ;)

Rocinha Favela Tour 

On our second day, we decided to take a tour of the biggest favela in Rio: Rocinha.  Favelas, know to us foreigners as the ghettos where crime and drugs rule and you definitely need to avoid these areas or you will be killed if you enter…  Thanks to this tour, we learned that the reality of favelas is actually quite different!!  The name, favelas, actually comes from a reference to a type of flower (favela) that grew in one the first of these communities.  These communities are simply urban invasions of government land that were started by people who couldn't afford the high prices in the city and needed a place to stay.  Since Brazil doesn't have any types of low-cost living, they simply tolerated (turned a blind eye) to people erecting homes on government property without any urbanization plans.  Over the years, the favelas have grown enormously and have become communities where they have stores, internet cafes, bars and other services - they are essentially small cities within the big City of Rio De Janeiro.  There are still some dangers associated with favelas, but it's not as exaggerated as what's often depicted on the news or movies such as the City of God. 

Here are some interesting facts that we learned from our guide:

• Minimum wage in Rio is around 550 reals/month ($275usd / month), and a very large part of the population in Rio is only paid minimum wage (ie. construction workers, teachers, cooks, cleaners, etc.)
• There are about 950 favelas in Rio De Janeiro, ranging from 2,000 to 300,000 people.  Most of the people who live in the favelas, work outside of the favela ("in the City").
• Since many people who live in the favelas are from construction/trade type jobs, all of the favelas are built by the people of the favela and are quite well constructed.
  • Most favelas have electricity, underground sewage, and running water (however, a lot of people "borrow" their electricity… see the picture)
  • Most of the people living in the favelas are a tight-knit community - in order to get into a favela, you have to know someone.
• The Rocinha Favela was built around a road that used to be part of an old F1 race track
  • Rocinha  means “little farm” - people used to grow vegetables here and sell them in the city
  • It's estimated that around 300,000 people live here
  • In only has one main street (the race track), 3 smaller streets, and 3 entrances.  To get from one house to the next, there are narrow alleyways and stairs.
  • The city only provides bus and garbage services to the main street, so everyone has to bring their garbage to a corner on the main street where it is picked-up 3 times a day. 
  • Since there are no streets, people in the favelas do not have addresses.  This means they can't have bank accounts or (easily) receive mail.
• There are 3 main drug gangs that fight for the favelas territories, and there is usually a gun altercation between gangs every week.
  • Around 1% of the population in the favelas are gang members (according to our guide).

  • Gangs need and seek the support of the favela communities (ie. so the drug problems are tolerated), so they often throw huge parties and give back to the community.  In fact, according to our guide the Carnaval started because of the parties in the favelas and without the favelas there would never have been a Carnaval.
  • Due to the upcoming World Cup and Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, the government is gradually putting police patrols into the favelas that are near any tourist areas.  
    • So far, 19 favelas are now being actively patrolled by police.
    • This is part of a 7 year contract for the Olympics and World Cup - what will happen after the 7 years?  No one knows.
    • To prevent wars between the gangs and police, the favela locations where the police will be moving into are announced on TV and within the favela several months in advance.  The drug lords are currently just re-locating to other favelas (not being controlled by the police) with the plans to return after the 7 years are up.
    • According to our guide, the people living in the favelas are not happy about the gangs being forced out of the favelas because now they don't have the constant parties and loud music.

Note: Even with police patrolling some of the favelas, it is not recommended to venture into them unless you know someone, or speak really good Portuguese.