Walking Tour - Babilonia
Ascent of about 200m - nature, favela, beautiful view
The Tour:
We will go uphill till the top of the mountain. First we will pass the neighborhood. We can have a rest in a local bar. After this, we cross the protected area, a kind of forest. We continue up through lush vegetation. Arriving on the top of the hill, there will be an outstanding view over the bay of Botafogo, of the Sugarloaf and Cristo.
Where do we go?
We pass the communidade Babilonia (favela), enter the nature reserve area and got to thp of the hill.
It is possible to make the Pciknick onthe top and spend some time there. Please agree with us in advance.
You can book your private tour guide for Individual activities in your free time. This is particularly useful for special interests or if you believe that your Portuguese language is not enough to go around on your own. Booking your tour guide can be a good idea for example for special activities (eg rafting or paragliding) as well as a driver or sports partner.
My wife & I are from Singapore & we booked Joerg from OiRio to drive us around for a 2 day tour on the 21st & 22nd May, 2013. Joerg's communication was really fast, & even though we booked him without much notice, he did his best to fit us in. He took us to all the interesting sites & some really 'unique' places that we never saw in any guide books. He also took us into the favela's & even the cable car that crosses a huge favela of over 200,000 inhabitants that the Government built to make the lives of the people living there more comfortable. He's German, but also speaks fluent Portugese, English, Spanish & probably some more languages, & as he's married to a Brazilian he knows & understands Rio de Janeiro & the culture very well. He's a very nice guy & has such an interesting story to tell about his home & life in Rio, but we won't tell you here - book him & hear it from him yourself. His car is also very special - the side mirrors & other parts of the car have been vandalized, so it's no point in fixing them - they just get duck taped back on! This also added to the fun & 'flavor' of our tour. We would really like to thank Joerg for going out of his way to show us not just the famous tourist sites, but also the 'multi-faceted' other sides of Rio de Janeiro that are also wonderful & I think if you want to see this side of Rio, you need to book a guide like Joerg, who doesn't mind going out of his way, taking the time to take you to the 'exotic' places.
I am happy to know that you like Rio. I hope you will come back soon.
