During our week-long visit to Rio de Janeiro, we were keen to visit one of its notorious favelas. We considered going on our own. In the past, I’d entered similar neighborhoods solo, like the townships of Cape Town or slums in Nairobi, and never encountered any safety issues. However, on those occasions, I carried nothing but clothes and a bit of spare change. I understood that … [Read more...]

During the one month we lived in Arraial do Cabo, the Caribbean of Brazil, we had grown tired of fending off boat tour touts who swarmed us every morning as soon as we approached the beach. Their presence, combined with the town’s impressive tour boat fleet occupying most of the wide bay, convinced us that this boat tour must really be something else; the demand was huge. With … [Read more...]