There seems to be some misperception of what some of Rio's favelas are like. There is no question that they are potentially dangerous, but not all of the residents are living in destitute poverty. Where do you suppose your hotel maid lives? Or your apartment's doorman? Or the guy re-working the sidewalk outside your hotel? Or the greeter at your favorite restaurant? There are 250,000 people living in Rocinha....estimates suggest that 1/6 of the total population of Rio live in it's favelas.

I've decided to post some pics from three different times in Rocinha. The first are from a guided tour in July '05.

This first pic shows the tour group, all europeans except myself. The guy in the white baseball cap is the tour operator, Marcelo Armstrong. The reason I took the picture is to show the infrastructure problems...check out the power pole.



Then a few shots from near the top.






I like these pics, particularly the first of the stairs.



Again with the phone/cable/internet/power lines.










I'll see how these upload, and maybe do some more.

Okay, it worked.

Here are some from a few days later.....again July '05...from a rooftop near the top of Rocinha....nearly centered side-to-side.

I start looking up and sweep around to my right.

And the high-rise condos in Sao Conrado lose a little bit of value every day......

A few more looking down from the roof.




Check out the poodle.


Notice the kids playing soccer in the church courtyard. Also the bricks and sand on the rooftop below.


Here's a shot of the progress on that same rooftop Jan. '06



And a few more from Jan '06

"Infrastructure Problems"?

I believe those tangles of connectors are called "gatos" and are the physical evidence of the residents stealing power direct from the line -- no meters involved.

Obviously the socio-economic problems which promoted the favelization and sustain their existence are complex and long standing.

Recognizing the maldistribution of wealth in Brazil, part of me feels great compassion for people who have to live in the favelas. Yet I also wish I could build a house on land free to me (often land stolen from public and theoretically protected lands) and get electricity at the expense of those residents of Brazil who do have to pay for it. And favelas are the fortresses of drug traffickers who live off the misery of others.

At least we all agree the favelas produce some beautiful women!

No wonder electric bills are so high in Rio when 1/6th of the country steals it someone has to pay.

Nice photos

It's amazing and looks like one strong earthquake & the whole thing will come tumbling down.

(Message edited by scooby_1781 on February 10, 2007)

What is their sewage system like? Do most of the houses have indoor plumbing?

(Message edited by Thumper on February 10, 2007)

Thumper,

I did see some minor problem areas, but I didn't personally see the bad sewage problem areas, though I'm aware that they exist. There have been projects to get the sewage moving through piped systems, but they are not complete or adequate.

You can see the blue storage tubs on many roofs...I think those are their backup water systems....like personal water towers.

The rooftop I was on was not a typical house....it was still under construction, and is owned by a professional who also has a small vacation property in Cabo Frio. It is on one of the few roads off the main road, three stories for one residence with a small garage....the two daughter's bathroom already had an installed jetted jacuzzi tub. The parent's bedroom was unfinished, bath room not started yet, but had a large walk-in closet. I have did not met the owner, I was taken there by his son who has several internet/computer gaming cafes, including one in the bottom floor of this residence. I did meet the son's wife, child, sisters, and mother, who we surprised by showing up at the place in Cabo Frio unannounced. His mom makes a great lemon cake!

Scooby,

I have a relative by marriage, born and raised in Peru, who spend several years in Brazil, including a couple years in college there. Many years ago, long before I made my first trip down there, he told me a joke...goes something like this:

Gabriel is watching God create the earth....he looks at what will become Rio, and says to God...."Hey, what's with this place here?"
God: "What do you mean?"
Gabriel: "Well, you seem to not be making the earth all equal....this place has beautiful mountains...beautiful plants....plentiful water...warm climate."
God: "Yes, but there are many beautiful places on my earth."
Gabriel: "Okay, but other places have their problems...This place has no tornados, no hurricanes, no wild fires, no volcanos, no earthquakes....it's just not fair."
God: "Don't worry about it Gabriel...just wait 'til you see what kind of people I put here."

Anyway...

Those buildings you see are built right on the rock...you don't get a more solid footing than that. And the post and beam construction style is the same you'll find in many parts of the world. At this point, Rio has set up a system for the favelas whereby people can get their structural plans approved by engineers....free of charge. On the other hand, with most building predating that policy, if there ever was an earthquake, it would be ugly.

S F Hombre,

As it has been explained to me, there IS alot of utility theft going on, but with a place that size it, it can't all be stolen. What often happens, is that somone lower on the hill gets legal power, and then runs lines to the buildings uphill from them...the legal guy pays the utility bill, and the people uphill pay the guy at the bottom, presumably with some serious profit for him.

Denny,

Thanks.

For anyone that's interested, a quick search came up with this address:

http://www.favelatour.com.br/

Ejack1,

Excellent post. This favela is halfway between Barra and Copa, right? I believe it's touted as the biggest in Latin America.
What country was that blonde from? Or I should say "blondeS".
Please post more of these hotties.

It sticks in my mind that she and her friend were from Sweden, but I don't remember for certain. I think the couple was from Belgium...I don't have any recollection on the other woman.

I had thoughts of trying to find out more on this blond...Waving her over to get in the picture was part of this temporary brain seizure...But I quickly dismissed this idea as being too much effort for too little potential reward. (And I didn't have a wingman for her friend anyway.) It was like "Hell, I'm in Rio, what am I thinking???"

What struck me when looking at the picture later was that this rich european girl and the little favela girl were wearing almost identicle outfits.

Cool photos. Thanks for sharing them.

did u take these wit a regular digi...i dare not take my cam to brazil, its an 800 alpha by sony

(Message edited by copperfieldkid on September 22, 2009)

There are favelas all around Rio, including up on the hills of Copa. Many have electricity and water. I dated a girl from a favela for my first two years in Rio and I was actually quite impressed about the place in which she lived with her parents. It had two stories, two TV's, a normal living and dining room furniture, Air Conditioning in a couple of the upstairs rooms, microwave, etc, all the normal living appliances. The house was SUPER clean - all furniture was covered by plastic and her mom was a neat freak. The furniture looked liked they were delivered the day before. It put my place in Ipanema to shame. Shoes were not worn inside.

Leaving the Favela for a better place and life is hard to almost impossible for the majority. You can work your way out of poverty in the US, but the chances are much much less in Brazil. There are many average people that live there - those that work the lower end jobs in the Shopping malls, the doormen, maids, etc... they barely survive on the salaries they make. There are many good people that live in the Favela, in very difficult living situations with little to no advancement opportunities. There is no doubt that there is alot of incentive for the young kids to get associated with drug dealers to make money - in some cases they simply do not have much choice if they want to make money. Life downhill is stacked up against a young black male. Sounds familiar? it should - but in Brazil there are so many other layers that make this even more difficult. At least in the US, a young poor man can - if the apply themselves, study, don't get sucked in with the wrong crowd, etc - leave poverty. In Brazil it is completely against the odds (It is possible - but VERY difficult)

I do agree with SF about those places producing some incredibly hot women! But once you get a girl out of the favela, it is very hard to get the favela out of her. Even harder to find anything in common.

I feel high level of respect for some of the people that live up on the hills and just try to make it by in a system that is basically always going to keep them down.