Big Island and Rio De Janeiro

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We left Trindade, headed back to Paraty then Angra dos Reis to catch a boat, hoping to chase the sun to the rainforest covered Ilha Grande (imaginatively called Big Island) Choosing a hostel was a Lonely Planet job and for once they came up trumps. We stayed at the Aquario Hostel which is right in between two beaches, has a natural pool and is a bit hippie complete with a purple dog who, by the smell of our room was probably sleeping there before us. Once again, the perks of being in Brazil off season, we had a dorm to ourselves but it was a bit el skanko so for a few reais more we splashed out and got one of the quirky privates for the second night. The owner is a cool guy, he also owns the Che Legarto hostel next door and has a boat for transfers to Rio that comes right to your doorstep so you don't even have to bother going to the pier.


Ilha Grande is a beautiful island but we had really rubbish weather so we couldn't enjoy the beaches but did some trekking instead. There are a couple of ruins to visit, an old prison on the other side of the island and the ruins of some kind of quarantine. We then tried to trek to Parrot's Peak, the highest point of the island but a fallen tree was completely blocking the path and it was impossible to get round so our trekking experience was mainly sliding about in the mud and not really getting anywhere. We met some fellow gringos from London and made caipirinhas, although when you run out of lime, Sprite does not make a good alternative! Then headed into town chasing a rumour about a samba night as the other guys had been the night before. It never happened (will I ever get any Samba?) but we ended up in the middle of someone's birthday party and were presented with a massive slab of coconuty chocolate cake, like a bounty cake it was delicioso.


So, not wanting to waste another day in the rain we jumped on the transfer to Rio with everyone else. We headed to Ipanema and a little lane of hostels off Rua Barao da Tore. It's like a mini Khoasan Road with benches outside where everyone sits at night and a man under a tree selling 3 beers for 5 reais. Samba time! One of the London gringos had been in Rio before and knew of a good samba club. Casa Rosa, you pay 15 reais and this gives you entry and a meal then you have to buy drinks tokens through a hole in the wall just big enough for half your face. Elaine I think you will appreciate this - the person at the other side told David "you have very beautiful eyes senior" It's an open air venue but has a few rooms with other stuff going on, live music, djs playing electro stuff, hot guys doing capoeira. It kinda reminded me of Sunday Circus but on a much larger scale. Oh and the meal is Feijoada, which is a typical meal in Brazil of rice, black beans, farofa (looks like sawdust, is actually some kind of manioc floury, salty root thing) meat stew and salad, sounds really basic but it is yum, especially when you mix in the farofa with the beans and stuff. I think they only have it here on a Sunday but we've been eating it all the time.


On Monday we went on a tour in one of Rio's many favelas - Rocinha. We were picked up with about 6 other people, driven to the bottom of the favela then taken to the top on the back of motorbikes! The bikers are hilarious, they all want a gringo girlfriend so all the girls in the group are snatched up first and they want you to hold on to them rather than the back of the bike like the guys. It was really exciting weaving in and out the twisting streets to the top with all the locals blowing kisses! One guy zoomed by us with the biggest gun I have ever seen casually balanced on a couple of fingers. It was quite nervewracking entering into the favela as there are drug watchers with walkie talkies watching who is coming and going from the favela.


So how did the favelas start? - poor people from the countryside came to Rio to work and couldn't afford the housing so they went up to the hills and basically started to camp.  More and more people came but the government did not provide housing for these workers and the favelas grew and more were made throughout the area. There is something crazy like 1200 favelas in the Rio state and Rocinha is the largest, having 300,000 residents. Anyone can move to a favela, you just have to find a space and build your house! There's no space left to expand Rocinha so the houses are piled on top of one another leading to disaster when there is a mudslide or if the foundations collapse. Also, the sewage flows down the streets from the top residents, who also use most of the water and other utilities so if anyone is considering a move to a favela anytime soon, make sure you live at the top if you can!


We started off at the top of the favela looking down at all the haphazard houses and crooked alleyways then walked to the bottom over the course of 3 hours with various stops. There are many people who could live outside of the favela because they have enough money but they choose to stay because of the proximity to the city, the strong sense of community, and the fact that it’s cheap - none of the favela residents pay taxes, nor do they pay utilities.  People tap into the water supply and electricity cables and even manage to wrangle free cable tv and internet!


Walking through the favela is fascinating, it's probably pretty naive of me but I didn't expect to see shops and businesses within, especially up so high, but it's like proper mini streets if that makes sense. We visited a school and a place that gives school kids graffiti art lessons providing they get good grades and we bought a couple of pieces. We were also taken to a paderia and had pizza and cake, you could take a look at the kitchen if you wanted to make sure it was clean. David and I had already snarfed down some pizza and were working on some doughnuts by the time this information was given but I'm sure it was fine. There were lots of shouts of "gringo!" and "money!" but in a humorous way, everyone was friendly and the energy of the kids is unreal.


Living in a favela there are different rules to follow and different people to respect. The police rarely know about any incidents that happen as the drug lords who rule don't want the police to come into the favela so they carry out punishments of any wrong doers themselves. For example we learned that anyone who steals either have their hand shot or some fingers chopped off! Thus there is a very low incentive for people to steal/assault within the favela. Here’s a true story: a girl accuses a guy of raping here (both live in the favela) the gang beats the guy senseless, kills him, and scatters his body parts in different sections of the favela. Message: don’t rape.  But that’s not it. It comes out months later that the girl lied about the rape. So the gang in turn kills the girl. Message: don't lie about rape. The microwave technique - made famous by the murder of Brazilian reporter Tim Lopes who was undercover in Rocinha - douse the person in petrol, sandwich them in some rubber tyres and set alight. His body parts were found all over the favela. Message: don't be a snitch.


Drugs are brought into the favelas pure from Bolivia, Columbia and Peru through the Amazon and Pantanal then bulked up with whatever else so that 1 gram becomes 7, they then sell 1 gram for 20 reais. Drug sellers buy from the favelas then sell in Copacabana and Ipenema 70 reais for 1 gram, most people buy in the city as they don't want to go into favelas. The manager of this favela is only 24 years old and his gang killed 10 people for him to attain this status. Most of the favela residents work in the city earning on average 800 reais per month. Kids start out early in the drug business earning up to 2000 reais per week for sitting guarding with a walkie talkie.


The tour was fascinating, enlightening, and completely enjoyable.  For anyone coming to Rio - a stop here in Rocinha is well worth it. The primary purpose of these sustainable tours is to dispel the myth that Rocinha is simply a place of drug dealers and extreme poverty, they also accept donations of old clothing, books etc if anyone is interested. Also, don't wear flip flops! I realise that I have made no effort to really tell you what else we have done in Rio other than rambling about favelas, but I can confirm that Rio could be overtaking Buenos Aires as my new favourite place and we have had no time for any sunbathing (I know I'm such a disappointment Lisa) and this will all be in the next blog after we go to Christ today!

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Photos

The ADA gang rule the favela
Amigos dos Amigos "Friends for Friends"

The girl and boy from Ipanema
Rocinha is just behind the two mountains in the background

Rocinha
You can see the blue tanks on top of the houses which the residents pump the water supply into