PARATY - STRONG INDIGENOUS PRESENCE - THE REAL LAND OWNERS

Attention all PHOTOGRAPHY LOVERS!!!! Humbling speaking, I feel this is one of my best photos since I start to be an amateur photographer...YUUUUUUPIEEEEE!!! :) And I am happy that my victims were such dearest people like Marcone - THE FAMOUS MINI RAFA - and my great friend from North Carolina, Terrence. A very pristigeous doctor in Chapel Hill and a great doctor of joy, friendship and love in Brazil. A Dear Friend, a Real Brother and Loyal Guest.

Terrence in his various trips to Brazil always used my tours to see things that he knows it will provide unique experiences...and this time we chose to go to Paraty.

We went to see the exihibition at Casa da Cultura in Paraty that gives us a wonderful overall of our Native Population. And Paraty has a great opportunity to show their people and also to all visitors because the land was populated by the legendary Guaianás Indian Population that helped the portuguese to settle this wonderful corner in the South Shore of Rio State, they were strong enemies of the Tupiniquins, a fierced tribe whose canibals fame was well known by the Colonizers and Explorers..One of them had the sad luck to be a hostage and was nearly eaten alive, Hans Staden...the history of this german explorer gives a wonderful adventurous book in Brazil.

I am always interested about European Explorers who settled Brazil since the very beggining of our existance, and we have recent ones like our incredible photographer Maureen Bisilliat, she made an excellent work picturing the fascinating tribe Xingu in the middle of our country that streches between the Marshy lands of the Pantanal to the Amazon Jungle of Pará State. A very traditional Nation of Warriors. Maureen is from England, borned in Engle Fields, Surrey. Now she takes care of our famous and very important Latin American Memorial which is also the Latin American Institute in São Paulo.

In my opinion our indigenous population does not have the respect they deserve, specially the indigenous population in our Coast which I am quite familiar.

Marcone and I are very curious about Brazil's Heritage and Native Populations because we want to show to the World the value of our Country. We are proud Brazilians and we love to provide lots of knowledge and deep information about everything in the country. Marcone comes from Maranhão, one of the wildest States in Brazil where the indigenous population is massive. I was born in Rio and I always travelled all over Brazil in search of our own identity and I came across with many indigenous population specially in the Amazon and in the limits of Brazil and Argentina in the Iguazu Falls Area. I spent a lot of time getting to know the Guarani Population and we are very surprised to find part of the Guarani population here in the State of Rio, a small group in my dear homeland Niteroi and also a bigger village in a jungle spot in the mountains of Paraty, in a location called PARATY MIRIM and also a very important indigenous village in the State of São Paulo near the coast in Bertioga.

Well, at least I am reliefed to think that my Guests will not only have a Tour Guide, if you come to Rio de Janeiro you will be a real expert about Brazil and your time with us will worth Gold.

You will have someone who are passionate about Paraty...I must confess Paraty is no doubt one of my favorite places in Brazil. Our guest can be sure that no matter who will guide you. Myself, Marcone, Françoise, Suzi and Diana will give you THE REAL EXPERIENCE!!!

And the most important thing...I am not FORMAL...I AM VERY INFORMAL!!! :) hahahaha :)

Rafael Torres Lopes

Tour Guide and Travel Planner

A Proud Brazilian

THE ISRAELI MISSION IN NITEROI

Israel always send me new friends and each day I realize that I must visit this incredible country because they always come to Brazil. They are famous travellers, everywhere you go you find an israeli always ready for adventure, always ready for knowledge...

It is easy to tour around with very well informed people and it is pleasant to travel in my own homeland with people who love people...So nothing better than a tour in Niteroi!!!

It is not a typical tour...the tour in Niteroi takes you to the soul of Brazil where you will meet brazilians and understand so many different life styles. And we started in the magic fishing village of Jurujuba. My new friends Shai, Efrat (am I writing correctly???) and Meir. Three people crazy about brazilian culture!!!

It is not exactly what we consider " a touristy attraction"...it is a local place with slow pace of life that makes us being part of our culture!!! Jurujuba is not at all glamourous...It is just a simple place where we see how people work and where people live.

Shai is a football fan ( and so do I) and look what we found??? A boat with the name of a very famous soccer player in the 70s....So Jurujuba can give you lots of surprises.

The place is my playground for human shots and daily life pictures...specially in black and white...so I always take the chance to practice my hobby!!!

Labor...hard working....They live in a very simple way and when we walk in their community salutations like BOM DIA or BOA TARDE are often heard prooving that from the poor to the rich you will always treat kindly by Brazilians. Their friendly way is an attractions apart.

Yes...Jurujuba is part of a surprising destination called NITEROI. It is my homeland. I am not living there anymore, life and important reasons brought me back to Rio. But Niteroi remains in my heart and in some of my best memories.

Thanks to Israel for giving me also very special people!!!

SHALOM!!!!

Rafael Torres Lopes

Tour Guide - Travel Planner

A friend of Israel

BRAZILIAN ART IN COPACABANA - A HUMAN PROFILE

It is absolutely fantastic and amazing the african influence in our culture. Thanks for that our food ios very rich, it is a mix of various cultures that turns the brazilian food one of the most interesting gastronomy in the World. But I am not here to talk about food today!!!



But the afro presence can also be expressed in our paintings...Some of the paintings shows aspects of native tribes in Africa and some others simply show what they call "black beauty".



Brazil, no doubt, is very proud about our african heritage. Our history with Africa comes from the very early years of our portuguese Colonization and Africa took a great part of what we are know...are free and united country!

It is art that I want to give you some ideas...many guests that I have always ask where they can buy good local art. I am also interested in unknown artists and one of the places where you can see and buy incredible work from our brazilian art is in the Fort of Copacabana. There are always some temporary exibihitions (is that the right spelling???) with incredible paintings.

We had famous painters like Portinari, Di Cavalcanti, Tarsila do Amaral, very popular people with spectacular work, but we also have endless beautiful work of art made by people that we have never hear.

I am always interested by local art, specially from every region of Brazil, our amazon is simply incredible; and also haitian art and asian art. I am not a collector, but humbly speaking I am a good observer and I am happy to share with you what I found in my short brazilian travels!

Rafael Torres Lopes

Tour Guide and Travel Planner

donrafainrio@yahoo.es

NOW YOU CHOOSE - VERY SUPER FULL DAY

We will start our tour at 08:00 am. But of course you can choose what time we will start, but remember to see everything in this itinerary, the earliest we can move on is better for us!!!!

We will go to the Christ Area, we will explore all over the Forest of Tijuca, a road full of lush green and with some nice surprises in local areas such as natural showers, waterfalls, some incredible views of the city and a beautiful lake in the middle of the jungle; then we will visit a very unique place, our big area of wetlands with seven islands and intense bird life, this area is called Marapendi, it is a real success in my tours.

THEN AFTER VISITING THE BEST OF RIO WE ARE GOING TO EXPERIENCE THE GREATEST SURPRISE OF ALL TOURS: NITEROI

After that we will drive to the other side of the Bay, crossing the bridge, we will find Niteroi, another city very close to Rio which will give you a very different perspective of Rio, you will see all over the mountains and the interesting skyline of the city, plus different beaches with beautiful coastline, we will visit the MAC, our interesting MODERN ART MUSEUM, a project of our famous architect, Oscar Niemeyer, the same one who projected Brasilia; then we will see a wonderful fishing village that will give you an exactly idea of a real pace of life in a different Brazil, we will also see a military fort on the edge of the Bay with the huge mountain of Sugar Loaf right in front of us and we will end our day in a fantastic viewpoint that will convince you that Rio de Janeiro is one of the most sensational cities in the World!!!

VERY INTENSE DAY THAT IT WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR ANYONE TO EXPLORE BY THEIR OWN!!!!

A day that will make HISTORY in your life and you will be able to tell to all people that you know and all people that you love that YOU REALLY HAVE BEEN TO RIO!!!!

You will see the classic and you will see a lot of new and off the beaten path places and I will use a lot of space for improvisation, if we have just one day, so I will have to make two days in one day, you know what I mean???

RAFAEL TORRES LOPES

Tour Guide and Travel Planner

donrafainrio@yahoo.es

STREET FOOD IN RIO????? OHHHHH YES!!!!!!

Believe me, sometimes you can HAVE LUNCH just visiting the food stands that you find in every corner when you tour around Rio or even when you walk on your own in the streets of the city!!!! Amazingly some of them have great quality and you will have the opportunity to experience some unknown delights that produces in a brazilian person a real "food orgasm".

The Franguinho da Esquina, which is chicken barbecue with wonderful and very healphy salad that you can see Marcone eating with enormous pleasure, or the delicious baked corn that my friend Koonal from Washington and I just bought after our lovely afternoon exploring the Atlantic Forest in the local walk way Pista Claudio Coutinho!!!!

Being part of our daily life is another feature that makes your trip special.

And this is one of our concern!!!! Our visitors here are friends, and we do take them to the most curious secrets of the city!!!!

Rafael Torres Lopes

Tour Guide and Tour Planner

THAT'S ME!!!!

For those who don't know me, well, my name is Rafael Torres Lopes, I am a tour guide in Rio de Janeiro for 9 years and now many people also convinced me that I am also a tour guide and a travel planner for all over Brazil, specially for Iguazu Falls, the Amazon, the Northern Coast and the states of Maranhão and Roraima...And just for the record, I was also convinced that I can be a tour guide out of Brazil, so I started to organize tours in Argentina, Uruguay and Venezuela.

I know what you are loooking for when you decide to go to South America, and I know exactly what you want to see when you choose Rio de Janeiro for the holidays of your dreams. I focus on places that no tourists can go, at least, the real researcher or someone who have contacts in Rio or elsewhere in Brazil, we also go to the places where I take my people. Of course I also do the classics but all this followed by a very special personal treatment. I see you as a person and also as a traveller.

Thanks to that, all over this year I have many incredible guests from mainly 5 countries: USA, UK, Australia, Canada and Israel; and of course, I have met many people from every little corner of this World, and I give them the same: THE BEST TREATMENT EVER!!!!!

No matter how fat or thin your pocket is, I will always make Rio, Brazil and South America easy for you. away from the high prices and for places when we obviously know that we can get commisions. I want my land to be simple, fascinating and special for each of my people.

I work with a lot of passion and the big majority of my guests are now wonderful close friends, and this is a result of so many reviews about my work at TripAdvisor.com; CruiseCritics.com, the web foruns at American Airlines; Virtualtourist.com and so many other spaces in our cyber planet that I can find no words to describe so many kind words coming from many different part of our fantastic planet.

IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT...

People write to me requesting tours around Rio and sometimes in other parts of Brazil, and they do that way in advance, and some times I am not available for everyone, but I am so blessed to work with five guides: Marcone, Cedric, Diana, Manu and Inez that can provide you such a blast in any destination you choose in the city. And I also have good and unique contacts all over the country who can assist you either in Amazon or in Iguazu Falls and the most spectacular places in our coast!!!

So all you have to do is writing to me and I will always find something special for you to do.

AND ALSO...I AM OFTEN QUITE BUSY WITH MY TOURS and it is hard for me to answer so many emails that I have in my inbox, so please please please, be patient, I will answer you and you will always find something amazing to do with you choose my tours...

Sometimes it can take less than one hour for you to have a message from me, but it can also take three or five days for me to write, I will always try to write back as soon as possible because when you write, you are trusting your dreams to me and this is sacred!!!!

Things are getting better and better, in the future I will be taking brazilian travellers to the Middle East in order to experience the best our the World's Heritage and to experience many adventures in the wilderness of the far east...I will be writing about it quite soon!!!

I know I am writing too much and I have a tour to attend and many emails to reply, but what really matters to me is that you will have fun here and I will be your friend in Rio de Janeiro and your best contact in Brazil!!!