SECOND EXPEDITION TO PARQUE DA CIDADE - PARQUE DA CIDADE

Now I call it "expedition", it is not really a visit anymore...the road is still closed because it is very damaged by a huge landslide, so it is impossible to go there by car. The authorities insist that we cannot go there, so "officially" going to Parque da Cidade cannot be part of my very intense tour in NITEROI. I have some contacts with the Forest Guards, some of them allow me to reach the top walking in the trail that leads us to the top, and I know the region very well, so the trails are okay and they are very safe to walk.

But we have to use our legs, if you have energy for some hiking, then we can see one of the most incredible and unique viewpoints of Rio Area.

It is important to mention that Parque da Cidade is not located in Rio, we have to go to another city, the very charming and surprising NITEROI. Very close to Rio.

Niteroi is the city where I spend most of my life, I lived 20 years there!

That was another tour that Marcone and I did together, we always do that and WE LOVE TAKING OUR GUESTS TO PLACES where regular tourists never go because they simply do not know about it. Our wonderful guests, Morgana from California and Susana from EntreRios, Argentina were our second guests to reach the top after Jeff and Pauline from Brunei.

We had a wonderful day, and to get there we went to the Woods and we had fun crossing all the trails, seeing so many birds, insects and lots of trees, mostly eucaliptus trees. The trail is not so radicial, it is a soft walk and when we are in a group we hardly feel the way.

It is a privilege to be a in a place where you can see all the famous spots of Rio and Niteroi, it is one of the most complete viewpoints in the Area and for sure this is where you can really understand where you went and where you will be. You understand the geography of Rio. Marcone also takes his guests to this hill called MORRO DA VIRAÇÃO. We love going there together because our guests have two guides paying just one! hehehehe :)

Susy had great fun there, it was a day full of laughs, it always a wonderful moment when we go to PARQUE DA CIDADE. The first time I visited there I was 7 years old.

So when I write to you saying that we are going to NITEROI, be sure that you are going to visit these spectacular places and your trip to Rio de Janeiro will be simply unique!!!

Our tours have a lot of energy, very informal invironment and we treat you like old friends, as a matter of fact our main concern is MAKING FRIENDS. We treat you like you deserve to be treated, with respect, with trueness (does this word exist???) and with a lot of great humour. We have the vibe of Rio, we are worry to show you simply the best of our land and you will be one of us!

From this other side of Parque da Cidade you can see all over the Forest of Tiririca where many rare species live such as rare eagles and the very rare jaguar.

If you are looking to very formal and robot guides like you find in big groups in a air conditioning bus...FORGET IT!!! We do not work like this...We have freeo spirits, our car has air conditioning, so do not worry, at least you will see unique places with some comfort. You will find friends, we work for a living, no doubt of it, but we do welcome you with passion!!!

We are prepared to give you a lot of happiness in your trip to Rio de Janeiro!

Rafael Torres Lopes

Tour Guide and Travel Planner

donrafainrio@yahoo.es

MORE WORDS FROM DEAR FRIENDS - THIS TIME FROM BRUNEI!!! MY BRAVE ADVENTUROUS JEFF AND PAULINE

WORDS SOMETIMES CAN EXPLAIN EVERYTHING, BUT NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT FOR ME TO READ THE WORLDS OF MY FANTASTIC GUESTS THAT CAME TO RIO AND FIGURED OUT THAT RIO IS MUCH MORE THAN A TRAVEL DESTINATION. RIO DE JANEIRO BECAME THEIR SECOND HOME!!!

First our visitors realized that Rio is not that dangerous place like everybody say before you travel, second they feel that Rio has a positive vibe and everyone is friendly without speaking english. They know they have a guide and much more than that, THEY KNOW THAT THEY DO HAVE A FRIEND!

Jeffrey Wong and Pauline Wong are sibblings and just like me they have an accurate taste for adventure! They travelled a big portion of South América and I was the one responsible to make Rio more than special. I think I made it!!!

We had a lovely day in Niterói and they saw much more than expected. They saw a vibrant city very next door to Rio de Janeiro, and we managed to reach the top of Viração Hill, our famous PARQUE DA CIDADE, the views from there are unique and we had the place just for us. We did not have na official authorization to go there as the area was destructed by many landslides, so for security reasons people were not allowed to go there! Well, I usually go there for years and years. And I know the way to the top through the woodlands and there we went. It was such a funny and glorious moment that I can do with you when you come to Rio!!!



THESE FANTASTIC TRAVELLERS FROM BRUNEI ASKED ME TO PUBLISH THEIR OWN OPINION ABOUT THEIR GOOD EXPERIENCE IN RIO, PLEASE READ WHAT THEY WROTE:

Thank you for the fabulous time. Our adventure was very unique as we had an interesting start of the day and gained access to a prohibited park! We have been sharing our stories about Iguazu falls, Rio and NITEROI =) to our friends and families. We have been encouraging people to visit Brazil and make the first trip perfect by embarking on your adventurous guides! Throughout this entire trip, you have been more than a guide - you have been our good Brazilian friend! Thank you for taking some time out of your very busy life to share your travel suggestions, dining ideas and program planning (Niteroi adventure). Your unrivaled effort and dedicated commitment to your work make you the most unique guide in the world!


As the saying goes, "It doesn't matter how you start, but how you end", so even though we did not get to start our Rio adventure with you since Day 1, the last day spent as Niteroi day left us lasting impression on Rio! We will really miss Rio!



I MET TWO GUESTS and we have been communicating for quite some time, and exactly like we wanted, we had a great day, and in the end of our tour I got TWO FASCINATING FRIENDS with gorgeous personal history!!!


THE GREATEST NEWS – Jeff and Pauline are my VERY FIRST guests from BRUNEI...

A very tiny and organized little country in Ásia...so all my love goes to Brunei and I am sending many thanks to all people there to give me the chance to meet such wonderful friends and I am waiting here for all of you, for more future friends from Brunei!!!

If you want to see more about this lovely country, we had a special TV documentary directed by a brazilian team that you can see more of Brunei, the links are:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q1kXo-JLZQ – in portuguese but with english subtitles!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9nKb5fO3ks&feature=related – all in portuguese.



Now Pauline and Jeff are in Vancouver, again, always Canada ready to welcome very talented and bright people to make the country, a real land of opportunities where everyone can have a great future.


So Brunei’s people and Canadians, thanks for so much confidence, friendship and fun!!!
I will be always here to provide joy and knowledge to anyone. I will take good care of all of you!!!

Rafael Torres Lopes
Tour Guide and Travel Planner
donrafainrio@yahoo.es

OUR HEROES AND BRAVE FRIENDS FROM BRUNEI - THE FIRST ADVENTURERS TO REACH PARQUE DA CIDADE AFTER THE TRAGEDY

For everything in life, if you want to do it in a perfect way, we have to reach the top no matter what difficulty we find in life, we have to conquer our challenges. Me and my brave friends Pauline and Jeff have something in common...THE TASTE OF ADVENTURE!!!

And they were my VERY FIRST GUESTS to reach the top of our magical place in Niteroi, the PARQUE DA CIDADE MOUNTAINS, after all the rain and landslides that caused to many destructions and death in the city of Niteroi. It is indeed the most impressive viewpoint at the famous mountains of Rio, Corcovado and the Sugar Loaf.

In normal days everyone can go there by car and the best thing is that we do no pay anything to go there!!! It is public free!!!

We got into the forest of Tiririca and walked in very easy trails until reaching the not affected part of the road, the acess is a little bit difficult because of the hit and some naughty mosquitoes but we got there!

The funniest part was going to the forest without being noticed by the FOREST GUARD, that gave us a little taste of adventure and it was really great to walk through the eucaliptus forests (with no koalas - kisses to Australia!!! - of course) and the expectation to come accross with a snake in any time. Lucky we did not see any snakes and I am very aware of it.

When we reached the top, we had the place just for ourselves and we could see how GORGEOUS Rio de Janeiro is, from the top of the hill we can see all over the city of Rio from a very different perspective anbd we could understand more of the city of Niteroi which must be addedd with honor and glory to every traveller's list!

It is great that now two more people are living in the great palace of my heart...Jeff and Pauline are now dear friends that I will always remember!!! And they surely have all my gratitude for so much confidence and friendship given to me!

THANK YOU FOLKS!!!!

RAFAEL TORRES LOPES

Tour Guide and Travel Planner

IT IS HARD TO REACH THE PARADISE - FORBIDDEN ACCESS AT PARQUE DA CIDADE

Niteroi is as essential to my tours as the earth needs the water. Niteroi is the greatest surprise of my tour and in my opinion it is a must see destination when you arrive in Rio de Janeiro, and the high light of my tours in Niteroi is when we reach the top of a very unknown hill called Viração...this is a city nature reserve called PARQUE DA CIDADE, this hill is part of a very important mountain range called TIRIRICA.




When people ask me where is the most interesting sunset in Rio, I always say, it is not in Rio, we have to go to another city and see a place that hardly anyone knows, and it is simply NITEROI. The locals call it as THE SMILEY CITY!!!


And you really small when you come to Niteroi, and I was raised in Niteroi and my tour to Niteroi is much more than a single and ridiculous visit to the CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM. Niteroi has all the conditions to be maybe the best part of your trip to Rio!!!!




In April we passed through a terrible time, very heavy and harzadous storms hitted all the State of Rio. Floods everywhere and our hilly neighborhoods were all destroyed by endless landslides, specially in the poor locations many people lost their homes and worse...we lost more than 300 people. And NITEROI WAS SPECIALLY AFFECTED. And the access to our beautiful PARQUE DA CIDADE were seriously demaged and the city hall (something that we call PREFEITURA) closed the road to reach the top. It is impossible to go there by car and my little secret will have to wait, at least I will not be able to go there via "normal" ways (later I will tell you how we get there OUT OF THE "NORMAL WAYS").




The Forest Guards are always aware to stop people from reaching the top using the trails, the main gate is closed and we do not know when they will open the gate, the control is quite restricted. You will find signs in the trails telling that you must be careful and you are not allowed to go through the forest.

But all my friends and guests know that I am quite adventurous...somehow I think I am a mix of Indiana Jones and Jacques Cousteau and I love getting myself into the woods, I love the wilderness and observing the birds, other animals like mammals and reptiles, and I love identifying species of plans, so I know some safe trails that can lead us to the top. So if you have good legs and energy...we can still visit this hill which is as important as going to the Christ or to the Sugar Loaf when you wish to see Rio and the surroundings from the top!

I am really specialized to take you to places where no regular tourists go, as I always say...I really deal with genuine travellers!

So if you are well travelled, your place is by my side!!!

HAPPY TRAVELS,

Rafael Torres Lopes

Tour Guide and Travel Planner

donrafainrio@yahoo.es

ME AND AND THE ANIMALS THAT MAKES MY TOURS SOOOO SPECIAL

Every place I visit there is always some animals that make my day and I get some nice and old friends because of that!!!

This is MR. AMBASSADOR, the name I give him because everytime I take my guests to this special corner of Niteroi's Ocean side, he comes from his owner's house just to say hallo and trying to tell us how happy he gets when we go there to see the beauties of Camboinhas beach and also the side of our long and amazing beach of Piratininga!

MR. AMBASSADOR is a very well treated boxer....

I am always expecting to meet him there...

I love Dogs, though I am a cat person, but dogs are very unique...And in Brazil we really know how to treat our pets!

Any dog would be happy living in such a paradise!!!

My friends Jeff and Pauline were very kind to send me this picture!!!

Very soon, you will know much more about my very dear friends from Brunei, now in Canada.

RAFAEL TORRES LOPES

Tour Guide and Travel Planner

donrafainrio@yahoo.es