View from Corcovado over Rio de Janeiro and Sugar Loaf

Another business trip to Rio de Janeiro that Jenni took full advantage of by “hiring” a rather nice Brazilian man to drive around the major sites and keep her entertained! 😉   More hang-gliding from the rain-forest… more beaches…

Having visited not only Rio, but the same hotel, less than 2 years earlier, Jenni had been fascinated by the constant machine gun fire from the favela (slum) behind the hotel disturbing her peace by the pool 🙂  This trip, she decided to investigate further and took a guided tour into South America’s largest favela – Rocinha – which basically stretches over a couple of mountain tops and tumbles down towards the Sheraton and Leblon; it was neither depressing nor oppressive, but obviously life there is extremely tough for many people… it’s chaotic and lively and there is a Health and Safety nightmare on every corner 😉  A few days before, a major drugs lord had been killed in a shootout with the police and it was interesting that there were black flags draped across many of the streets in memory of this man who had spent a lot of his illicit earnings (apparently) maintaining (to some extent) peace in the community… I guess it depends on which side of the fence you are on as to who is the good guy and who is the bad guy!

Photo’s are at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3ouxle51law4ynl/Yy-hW6R4R1