Day 7

Monday 8^th November 2010

We survived the tour of the Favelas! To be honest it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as the people of Rio would have you believe. They all have fresh water (well, the government pumps 1000 litres per house into a water tank on the roof once a week) they have electricity (well as you can see from the picture one of these gives them electricity)

they even have broadband!

The Favelas sprung up around Rio, built by the poor for the poor to live in. Ironically in any other country they would occupy the prime real estate locations as they sprawl up the mountainsides with fantastic views. However, building above a certain altitude is banned in Rio so that all the inhabitants can get access to green spaces. The Favelas sprang up on these mountainsides so the wealthy look out of their windows at the slums and the people in the slums look out across the city.

The Favelas are run by drug lords and there are quite a few around Rio, some are run by the same gangs some are not. The inhabitants can move between different Favelas but only if the one you’re going to is run by the same gangs. The drug lords pay the police to stay out and they do. However, there is no crime within the Favelas as the drug lords don’t allow it, for example anyone who gets caught stealing gets shot in the hand - so bizarrely we were completely safe!

The one we visited is called “Rochina” (pronounced Hoy-see-na) and has 300000 people living there, literally a city within a city.

Our guide Zezhino was born in the Favela to a Brazilian father and an American mother. Due to his Mum being American he and his three brothers had the ticket they needed to enter the USA and leave the slums behind.

Zezhino’s two brothers went to America and remain there to this day, Zezhino himself could never really settle into the American way of life. He tried living in Canada and San Francisco and became a massage therapist but always felt the draw of the Favelas as it feels like home to him. So, two years ago he packed in his life in the US and returned to his home in the slums of Rio de Janerio. He says he just wanted an easier life.

Zezhino now spends his days showing people around his Favela and trying to erase the stigma attached to his people that they are no good thieves. The truth is that most people work, some don’t, all the kids go to school, they have a hospital, a community centre, a very well respected and recognised samba school and a community sprit that we witnessed first hand to be very warm and caring. We didn’t feel threatened at all and everyone we met greeted us with a smile and a handshake and more than anything just wanted to practice their English with us.

We started at the top of Rochina. It’s hard to explain the size of the community. We sat on a rooftop trying to take it all in – slum dwellings for as far as the eye could see. There is one central road that winds up through the Favela and a maze of tiny alleyways and steps weaving inbetween.

The inhabitants of the Favela can get their hands on absolutely anything they need from within the Favela. We saw shops, restaurants, barbers stores, an estate agent, a bank, a travel agent, a dentist, a medical clinic, hardware stores, bed and furniture stores and even a builders merchants all crammed into 64 thousand square metres!!!

Finally the government have stepped in and are investing lots of money in the Favelas. Zezhino told us that this is due to the World Cup being held here in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. He thinks it’s sad that it takes these global events for the government to take action and try to at least make the Favelas safe (some of the uppermost shacks fall down from the hillside during torrential rain) when for so long they have refused to recognise their existence, I just think its good they are taking action.

Zezhino took us for lunch in a “kilo” restaurant where they lay a buffet out and you fill your plate, the people on the till weigh your plate and you pay by the kilo (funnily enough). The food was good and cost us less than £3 for a plate full of, chicken, beef, lamb, chips, some weird dry meat and rice combo, salad, a coke and a water. BARGAIN!!

We headed back to base on the Favela bus (which is run by the Rochina people, it’s basically a mini bus that you hop on and off of for about a quid). Having already left our ‘Cozy Corner’ apartment this morning, we said our goodbyes to John and Nina and waited for the cab to arrive to take us to the airport.

We flew to the ‘mega falls of Iguazu’ where we will be spending the next few days. We arrived at the Brazilian side of the falls and were met by Lillian who will be our guide for the next couple of days. We jumped in her car and left Brazil via roadside passport control, crossed a bridge, entered Argentina – and promptly gained an hour (so we are now 3 hours ahead of you guys! Just checked into our hotel and got free wifi in the Lobby so we should be able to keep you all informed of our antics. We’re heading our now for steak and red wine… when in Argentina it seems rude not to!