Rio de Janeiro. We love to think we’re on intimate terms with it, calling it just Rio. But for such a small word, it packs a mighty punch, an explosion of sound, light and flavour. Rio is Carnival and samba; it’s the Statue of Christ the Redeemer, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World; it’s the world-famous Copacabana and Ipanema beaches; and so much more.
No wonder Rio is know as the Marvelous City! An aerial view of Corcovado Mountain and the Statue of Christ the Redeemer gives you just a little taste.
Not at all surprisingly, with all the international travellers flocking to Rio, Rio is also home to a wide range of tourism services. However, at a time when one of the most sough-after qualities of a tour operator is the degree to which it helps make a positive difference in a destination, there are surprisingly few who are genuinely doing the right thing.
Fortunately, we know one of the best. So if you wish to discover the true Rio, while also giving a little back to the city that welcomes you, turn to Blue Ocean Tour, your whl.travel local connection in Rio and the special kinds of packages they pull together that give you the fulfilment of having seen the highlights as well as helped the local community.
Responsible Rio
Blue Ocean Tour has contact with a variety of organisations that are involved with responsible tourism in a social, economic or environmental fashion. With regard to accommodation – one of the most important aspects of your visit – the Blue Ocean team works hand in hand with the hotel chain Hoteis Othon, known to be very active in social matters. The Othon’s Rio hotels – Olinda Othon, Lancaster Othon, Rio Othon Palace, Leme Othon Palace, Savoy Othon and California Othon – all support Uerê a non-governmental organisation that protects people’s family rights, in particular those of the poor.
Rocinha is the biggest favela in Latin America. During a tour, visitors can talk with locals and learn how rich and poor live in the same neighbourhoods.
If you are looking for tours that will make a difference, go on a Favela Tour. Favela is the word used to describe one of 750 residential areas built on the hillsides above the city. Home to approximately 20% of Rio’s population and reputed for their violence and poverty, the favelas are actually complex, diverse and welcoming communities. Marcelo Armstrong created this tour to allow visitors to discover Vila Canoas and Rocinha, the latter the biggest favela in Brazil, and make up their own minds about them. On a favela tour, you not only mingle with locals, you also contribute (through a portion of the tour price) to Para Ti, the community school attended by local kids to improve their computer skills and their abilities to make arts and crafts.
Eager hikers can do their part for responsible tourism by heading for a boot-clad trip in Rio’s Tijuca National Park, the biggest urban forest in the world. Certified guides have all been trained to make as little impact as possible, practicing themselves what they preach about environmentally sustainable appreciation of the surroundings. Don’t miss the incredible view of the city from Tijuca Peak.
Avid ethical golfing fans can also help by teeing up at the Japeri Golfe Clube for more than just an average game. From Tuesday to Friday, the club supports a social project that teaches local kids enrolled in public school to play the sport as a way to help them see new opportunities in life, not just those associated with social challenges common in the region, mainly related to drugs.
Reaching the top of Tijuca National Park (the biggest urban forest in the world) provides a rewarding 360-degree view of Rio de Janeiro
Do as They Say and Do
While there are many more sustainable projects in Rio, only a few of them are linked directly to tourism. Blue Ocean Tour, however, is one of a growing number of businesses trying to make a difference by supporting other organisations pursuing similar honourable goals, even if the sector is not the same. What matters is the thoughtful impact on the environment and the local community.
First and foremost, the team at Blue Ocean Tour focuses on setting a good example. None of the staff uses a private vehicle to commute to work; instead, everyone either walks or rides a bicycle. Once at work, they share one car, which runs on natural gas.
Through the PJMAIS program (an Oficina do Carbono project), Blue Ocean Tour also annually neutralises the carbon emissions from the operation of the office by planting native tree seedlings in a permanent preservation area. The PJMAIS program creates new revenue-generating opportunities for the young people of communities in forest areas. As part of a focus on sustainable coexistence with the environment, they monitor the seedlings for two years to ensure their survival.
For more information about responsible tourism in Rio de Janeiro and its surrounding region, including accommodations, tours, activities and lots of insider tips, contact your local whl.travel connection: the team from Blue Ocean Tour at www.riodejaneiro-hotels.travel.
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This one is really a great article! Slow... 
I guess you can rewrite the famous quote of the... 
We welcome the movement toward slow! And for those... 
What a great montage! It’s good to see the... 
I agree with Slavica, Teamworkz...
Yeah, Rio is one of major destination in South America and is a mandatory visit for those who like natural beauties and nightlife.
A truely unique experience with no doubts!
Rio de Janeiro is a wonderful and an amazing city!!! A city with passion and great energy.
The best place to be happy!!!
This is exactly what the Tourism needs, a global enterprise that cares about the destination, seeding offices in each city they will leave part of the investiment in that city, promoting the mutual growth and promoting the sustainable responsibility! Really cool.
I admire the work and the work ethic of Blue Ocean Tour. You have assembled an amazing array of travel products which not only give back in some way but which I believe will enrich and inspire travellers who avail of them.
Well done.
Rio de Janeiro is the marvelous city and don’t forgot to enjoy one of the world’s most exciting popular manifestations – the Rio Carnaval.
I love this city, one of the most beutiful cities I have ever been. Nice people, great scenery and fantastic nightlife.
Rio is simply the best place in the World. Blue Ocean Tour just helped me to discover new amazing things in Rio. A local connection really makes the difference! They’re great!
Rio is one of my favourite cities in the world – just beautiful and relaxing. Keep the good work going on!
Rio de Janeiro, with no doubts, is the most beautiful city of the world! The only city tha has all the natural beauty together! Blue Ocean Tour is simply THE BEST!
Great work Blue Ocean Tour. Will definitely be in touch in the coming weeks when I visit your city!
Great job! It could possibly seem complicate, but Blue Ocean shows how simple it is to be eco friendly…
Great tourist destination in Rio de Janeiro. You had a nice shot of Statue of Christ the Redeemer. thank you for the post
Favela tours may sound fun from a distance, but they really are dangerous areas. It’s best to stay in nice areas like Copacabana and Ipanema.
Thanks for mentioning our partnership with the great Uerê project! We are very honored to be part of it.
Rio de Janeiro is a wonderful city, and we believe that it’s also our duty to make it better everyday.
So naïve! What the reporters failed to tell you is that to be able to go into the favelas, the tour operators must first negotiate and get permission from the drug lords, who run and terrorize these areas. What a condescending attitude! And as far as walking or biking to work, all staff at Blue Ocean must be wealthy and fortunate to live/work in a pleasant area, which most people in Rio and in Brazil aren’t, so my guess is that they are not hiring anyone who lives in the outskirts of the city, in the poorer areas.
It’s all very nice on paper, but the reality is quite different.
Dear Paula,
First of all, the tour operator does not negotiate with drug dealers to go into the Favela. What Marcelo Armstrong does is really remarkable, helping the local school and trully allowing youngsters and kids to have access to good education and values. The point is: he doesn’t even need this kind of authorization, he pays back to the local community a considerable amount he gets from the tours both in cash and social support.
Regarding Blue Ocean Tour doing its part by avoiding cars and busses I have no comments but saying that we do everything we can to be sustainable. Also, Blue Ocean Tour is a family based organization that has been supporting local initiatives, local communities and service providers that really care about the destination.
The south zone of Rio, where Copacabana and Ipanema are and also Blue Ocean Tour’s office is set, is surrounded by Favelas where poor people live along with wealthy ones. Encouraging Favela Tour operations, Blue Ocean Tour helps tourist to understand how such contrast can co-exist in the same geographic area and actually explain that great talented people, full of life and dreams are the regular residents of the Favela, not drug dealers. Nobody needs to be poor or live in the suburbs to be responsible and understand what it takes to promote and develop our city through sustainable tourism. And this is what Blue Ocean Tour does!
Kind regards
Paula, based on your criticism that we needed negotiations for permission to get into the favelas. I have to say that indeed in many favelas as drug dealers are the rulers they want to be aware of who gets in and out of their domaines.. should I feel guilty for being condescendent (as you say) because I had to undergo a rule that is absolutely the same for me, for a visitor, for averyone living there or going into the favelas?
So, are the people living in the favelas also condescendent or victims? Are we condescendent or victims? And going further beyond: are the drug lords simple terrorizers as you corrctly says, or also victims of a system with far more complex that causes all these social inequalities seen in every corner in this vast country?
This could be a long discussion and I hope that Brazil soon does not need to be so much affected by these problems, although it takes time to change this situation.
However one thing is sure: massive investments on education is necessary to avoid in the future a situation where social injustice, crime, corruption and violence rules. And through the Favela Tour we make our best to make education more accesible for local children in the favelas.
I was very sceptical of the Favela Tours in Rio de Janeiro at first, that is till I took one of Marcelo’s tours, booked through Blue Ocean Tours.
I saw the direct benefits that these tours were having on the local community, children researching projects on computers in the school (where proceeds from the tours go), playing on Youtube, just as any other child would be doing around the world and should have the freedom and right to do so.
I don’t see the Favela as a bad place ruled by drug lords, but rather a place where a percentage of the working class people live, because the government has not been able to provide adequately for their needs.
So Paula I would think that you need to take one of these tours with someone like Marcelo, before making your judgements.
Thanks Marcelo and Luiz for the opportunity to visit what is an important element to life in Brazil and Rio de Janeiro.
Regards,
As someone who periodically travels to Rio and who owns property there, I appreciate the efforts of Blue Ocean Tours. I am constantly recommending these tours to clients and insist that if they want to really understand the local community a tour such as Favela Tours is the way to go.
Here is another good blog for relevant information on travel to South America, especially to Rio:
http://www.southamericanexperts.com
favela tours
Hello, My name is Zezinho and I live in the favela of Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I am a proud resident here in my comunity.
I understand people’s opinon about favela/slum tours.
I offer a diferent perspective. I welcome “tours” but only if done with a person who lives in the comunity. The majority of the tour operators do not live nor are not from the favela. I think it is the time that we who live in these comunities need do something.
It is true that some tour companies do glamorize the negative things (drugs, trafickers) in the comunity. This is something that make me upset. Becase there is so much more to favelas than this. I know about all of this because I see the tour guides make their tours.
Favelas deserve to be seen and to be heard. There is so much prejudice against these comunities. There is much culture that comes from favelas. When a foreigner comes to our comunity, this help legitimize us as people, like everybody else. It is only that we are poor. When you come for a visit, it is then people from the outside can see the realities of life there.
People always focus on the negative becase that is what the media promotes, drugs, violence, only this. But for we who live there exists so much more. Most of the tours have this one “sanitized” route that they take every visitor. And we have never had to pay drug lords anything to make our tours. Anyone who believe this knows nothing about favelas or the people who live there.
Some of us who live here in Rocinha are changing that. We are welcoming people to come for a visit with one of us. We know everything about this comunity and want share the truth but at the same time, want people to enjoy themselves when they come here. I like to bring people to visit my family and see how I live. When you come here, I also learn about you.
I respect people who may think this as exploitation but the diference is, we live here and are making changes to benefit OUR comunity. Our goal is to build a comunity center for Arts and Culture. And through our “tours”, people have the oportunity to also stay in the comunity. Many people return to volunteer, which we welcome.
If you want more information on how we are changing the perspectives of our comunity, please email me:
rocinhajj [at] yahoo.com.br
Thank You,
Zezinho
“Proud favela resident” Zezinho