LAPA BY DAY - ROMANTIC AND TRASHY BUT WONDERFUL!!!

It is not clean but it simply beautiful that some images will remain in your mind forever....A stroll around Lapa is a journey to the soul of a Rio that stucked on time. It is poor but the wealthy of this people are bigger than MICROSOFT. It is trashy but it keeps the grace and charming pace of life of a people who are there just to enjoy life with the simple things....

Lapa is not Copacabana...Lapa has no beaches...Lapa is so faraway from the fashionable Rio with LA CREME DE LA CREME of our high society...

Lapa is a very old district of a Rio which is nearly forgotten by some cariocas (We know Lapa by night very well) during the day. Lapa is our live and unknown Rio de Janeiro. Lapa is an endless resource of surprises.

Going to Lapa will feed all our expectation to experience a local neighborhood and will make you understand much more about our culture!

I am a frustrated photographer, I explain, I am not a professional, but I love taking people of "regular life", I like to catch the moment of a COTIDIANO...I love picturing simple people and simple scenes of life and my black and white resolution makes me very happy!


If you really like to "translate" your trip in images...I think Lapa is simply a marvelous place!!!


Lapa is also a place of "street arts" where simple people express the amadzing pride of being brazilian and people are really proud of old Samba composers like Bezerra da Silva, one of the biggest name of our Street Poetry. Now we are convincing our children and youngsters in the School to do art instead of nonsense trash grafittis.

Lapa also gives you the opportunity to see the biggest human master piece in the World...one stairway changed by a crazy, dream and lunatic painter...The Chilean and dear friend Selaron. Selaron gives to Lapa the best of his art and the most important creation of his career. He gave to us a treasure that I am very happy to show to all my guests!!!

A ESCADARIA SELARON...Everlasting part of my tours!!!

I love Lapa because Lapa explains the informal way of being a Carioca. And I am Carioca!

Rafael Torres Lopes

Tour Guide and Travel Planner