We arrived at Petra Bonita (692m) & first things first signed our lives away on an insurance waiver! We drove up to the "launch pad" in 4x4s up some serious hills. Once there we got our brief & reliased exactly what we had gotten ourselves into! We had to be strapped side by side to the pilot & help him take off by running full speed down a 15ft wooden platform! We were well warned not to look down during take-off because we would must likey try and stop running hence pludging to our deaths!
I was up first, myself & the pilot took our place on the launch pad; my heart was thumbing out of my chest 1...2...3... and we´re off. Once we took off it was unreal, flying like a bird (only strapped to some guy called Paulo & attached to an old kite!)
It was like a photoshoot up there we had to pose for about 15 photos!
After a 20mins flight over the city & Rocinha favela we landed on Praia de Pepino beach. The lads & myself agreed we would never forget sprinting down that launch platform as long as we will live!
After lunch we signed up for the Rocinha favela tour. Like everyone else we all had a lot of mis-conceptions about the favelas before our visit. Most of those based on Ross Kepp on Gangs! How wrong we were!
Rocinha favela is the largest in Rio, over 200,000 residents in a mountain side 1.2km square! The favelas start in the 1930s when the poorest people from all over Brazil came to Rio in search of a living. The people started cutting down trees on government land & building houses with whatever they could find. Unlike what Mr Gavin my Junior Cert Geography teacher told us about the modern favelas of Rio they are actually just poor suberbs & not just "fecking shitholes!". The houses are now built with blocks & concrete with electricty & running water! Rocinha actually has barber shops, corner shops, bakerys, a small hospital, a post office & four schools.
We started the tour on the back of motorbikes up to the top of the favela, brilliant craic! When we reached the top we re-grouped & the guide lead us back to the bottom through the narrow streets. Along the way we were introduced to some of the local kids who just kept calling us "Gringos!"
Something we didn´t anything of was the drugs & gangs. But don´t be fooled it´s all there, this favela is run by the ADA - Rio´s biggest gang. The gang permit these tours because they benefit the locals but lay down conditions. You can not take any photos in most parts of the favelas & I´m sure only certain routes are allowed.
The gangs supply Rio with all of it´s drugs (heroine, cocaine & hash) so they are seriously powerful. The police storm the favelas on average once a month with armoured cars & helicopters but usually only locals are killed in the crossfire. The local kids warn gang members of police entering the favelas by setting off fireworks!
Disease & drug use is rife throughout the Rocinha, but still each family has 5 or 6 kids so the population is only rising.
The favela tour was eye opening & I´d recommend it to anyone coming to Rio.
We had our first night out on the town in Rio tonight, we went to a backpacker club called The House - tiny but good craic. I think the samba locals were disgusted by our drunken CPs style of dance!!
Joe
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