With the help of a great driver and local resident guide, we took the kids on a multi-hour tour of a favela in Rio de Janeiro. Better referred to as a community, this was the Santa Marta aka Saint Martha “favela”. This neighborhood sits on an extremely steep hill (one of the steepest in the city) in the Botafogo district of Rio de Janeiro. Due to the steepness of the hill, we learned that the poorest people lived nearest the top since it is so difficult to walk up the hill and the more expensive houses were nearest the bottom. A great perk to those living at the top of the hill are the great views of Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, the beautiful hills, the magnificent view of the statue, Cristo the Redeemer and the wonderfully blue-green ocean fading to visual infinity all the way to the horizon. Additionally, the city has installed a funicular which carries passengers at least part of the way up the hill. Favelas have a reputation for being dangerous to outsiders with significant criminal elements. Although we did see evidence of an underlying drug/mob sub-culture, with young boys and men carrying automatic weapons, we found the people to be extremely welcoming and happy to have us there. The men with guns smiled at us and shook our hands (no photos allowed). We were as much an attraction to them as they were to us. The people went to great pains to show their pride in their community and their happiness for living there. This is a MUST-DO enriching experience for anyone visiting Rio. Our driver simply stopped at the community center at the base of the neighborhood and found a licensed favela resident to act as our guide. Since Marco was part of the community and knew absolutely all of his neighbors we felt safe and had a great time. Asher and Ella learned much about the culture and how the people live here. This was an excellent Human Geography and Culture lesson! Well done kids!
The Shaul clan loves cats, and here are some of the furrier residents we met during our visit to Santa Marta.
Santa Marta is famous for many things I’m sure, but one of them is that it was the location for the Michael Jackson video, “They don’t care about us”. The residents have installed a statue of Michael along with a great mosaic commemorating his visit here. He was flown to the top of the hill via helicopter which landed on a small futball (soccer) field. There are photos of him displayed in many places around the neighborhood. The residents are very fond of their famous visitor.
One of my personal favorite residents, was a little girl of about six years old who followed me and was offering a drawing she had made for 5 $Real, (about $1.25) She was with her little brother of about four years. With our driver acting as translator, I offered her 10 $real if she would sell me the drawing and also pose for a photo with me. Her nearby mother agreed and Ofer snapped a great photo of me and the beaming little girl holding her 10 $Real while her very jealous little brother scowled at us from nearby. They were so cute…
We ended the tour in a community center space where some local street musicians offered to give us a short drum concert with Salsa Dancing. Asher, Ella and our friend Merrill joined in the fun with Marco and the musicians.
Thanks to our driver Reinaldo, our host Marco and the residents of the Santa Marta community for making this a rewarding and educational experience! If you’re ever in Rio, look up Marco Antonio Rocha Martins in Santa Marta for a tour! Here is his website.
A special thanks to my love, Ofer for making this great experience happen. It wouldn’t have been possible without him!!!
