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Plenty of legal businesses too, e.g. Bank of Brazil in Rocinha: https://goo.gl/maps/pK3K1Lc24fgh7wzv6 https://goo.gl/maps/pK3K1Lc24fgh7wzv6 When I lived in an
by divbyzer0 7y ago
Plenty of legal businesses too, e.g. Bank of Brazil in Rocinha:
https://goo.gl/maps/pK3K1Lc24fgh7wzv6 https://goo.gl/maps/pK3K1Lc24fgh7wzv6
When I lived in an affluent part of Rio, I often got my haircut, bought fruit, veg and groceries in the local slum.
Many locals believed the slums were strictly no-go. While some certainly were, many were fine. Rather than build a mental barrier around these places, I find its better to interact.
Common sense, courtesy, some humility are all that are required - that goes for the high brow malls as well as the favelas.
- namenotrequired 7y agoI’d love to do this. I live in SP. How do I know which ones are safe even for someone with a noticeable gringo look and accent? Whose word to trust?
- divbyzer0 7y agoI tend to look at the risk as being relative. For me, downtown Rio around 'Central do Brasil' bus and train station were far higher risk than many slums. Various areas around Rio (and SP) have 'Cracklands' (Cracolândia) with many crack cocaine users who are frighteningly unstable. Reports describing hold-ups, with victims cooperating and getting shot - usually in a better parts of town put things in perspective for me. Some slums are trying to open to tourism, as a starting point you could look up well-reviewed bars\restaurants in slums to get an introduction. As the article suggests, there are many legit businesses in slums, so going to the ones with a lot of business activity is usually a good bet. The economy of a slum can only develop if there is a reasonable level of security. I can only trust my judgement. I have not encountered any problems so far. YMMV.