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!!!

THE WORK OF A MASTER - GRAÇA ESTRELA - LOCAL PAINTER

I am a real bird fan and I travel alot the country looking for places where I can see and learn more about their habitats, and when I go to the Amazon or even in the Forest of my own State I come across with very interesting species and I do admire to meet artists who can create elements of our nature using the best PHOTO CAMERA we have: OUR OWN EYES!!!!

And of course I follow with great interest the work of a local painter from the State of Goiás, Graça Estrela is her name, she is from the very countryside of Goias State, from a very tiny village called IPAMERI. She also loves travelling the countryside, magical places like CHAPADA DOS GUIMARES in Mato Grosso and in her own land too, aroiund the forests which follows the course of Araguaia River.

So Graça paints MACAWS, Parrots and my dear Ararajubas....

She helps to run a preservation programme in the jungle called PROJETO CANINDÉ, that is the name given to the blue macaw, by the way. This project can be found at Fazenda Cachoeira das Moitas, which is a real paradise for nature lovers and people who are really interested to travel in Brazil and find out the most genuine places and local places where the NATURE rulezzzzz!!!!

I have so many guests that are interested to bring beautiful paintings from local artists, and I really believe that Graça Estrela deserves a chance to be known in the World and she is one of the people that I know who really loves Brazil and she will be very happy to have their work in your homes!!!!

Rafael Torres Lopes

Tour Guide and Travel Planner

BIRDS IN MY TOUR

In my tours I focus alot on Nature, I always take my people to places where Nature tells you that you are really in a country full of wilderness, even though you are visiting a city of almost 9 million people!!! Rio is privileged because of our forests, mountains and absolutely beautiful ocean.

Everywhere I go, and I visit lots of places with my guests, either in Rio or outside of the city...we come across with different birds and we can see some unique species of our environment. We are lucky because our people preserve our natural resources. We are very proud to have so many city parks, state parks and national parks all around!!!

Rio is not a city for birdwatching, it is not a common practice among brazilians.

But I do love it and I also found out a birdwatching place in the mountains of our state, it is a location called CACHOEIRO DE MACACU.

My birds I find mostly in the mountains of Bocaina and in the wetlands of Marapendi where I have found not only birds, alligators are often there!

So if you want to experience a different side of Rio de Janeiro, oh yes...YOU CAN REALLY COUNT ON ME!!!

Happy travels!!!

Rafael Torres Lopes

MARAPENDI WETLANDS - WILDNESS IN RIO - ONE MORE TOUR WITH MARCONE

Marcone and I working together in our wild spot Marapendi

Always showing what Rio has best...adventure

This is a guide and a friend with a lot of charisma: Marcone

We have not find their mother yet....

This is the scenery you see...A different side of Rio de Janeiro

I think this is indeed one of the highlights of my tours and I have a special fond for this place...I am not sure because I have never been there but I always says that this is a very small version of the Florida's everglades, but the coolest things is that we are in Rio de Janeiro.

Marapendi is a complex of various lagoons in the west side of Rio, it has about 7 islands, some islands people live, other islands are protected reserve areas and one island is a big country club where people can have a lot of pleasant activities such as practicing sports and simply to have a good time with friends and family.

For the moment and I hope it takes a long time, Marapendi is not even writen in any travel book, so it is a very local and down to earth place. The pace of life is slow and calm and you will be thinking that it is hard to believe that in a city which has the World's famous Copacabana you can find this little peace of paradise that Marapendi shows you all the time you go there!

That day marks some very often co-work between Marcone and I which makes me very honored. I was the one who met Marcone way up north where I do my tours in the Amazon, in a very fantastic State called Maranhão, and since that time I always told him...You'd e a perfect tour guide and after so much time learning about my work and seeing the places I cover, Marcone decided to go to Rio and start his professional life down here in the South East of the country, and nothing better than starting in Rio which I am sure this is the door entrance of a fascinating country called Brazil!!!

Now Marcone is no doubt the person I always can count with when my guests write to me requesting a TOUR GUIDE to make their trips something more than special, of course, when I am busy with other guests...It is hard to be one person, but I can see myself in the way that Marcone shows Rio with a solid enthusiasm, with all his heart and using the same endless person just like I always do in my tours! To show the best of Rio I think you need to use your blood, to use your heart...And Marcone makes these personal quality a very important tool in his work!!!

And he is a working guy...such a busy and well known english teacher and brilliant student of Nursery-Medicine in one of the best federal universities in Brazil. UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO DE JANEIRO.

And this special day, that happened in August 9th, 2009...Marcone was taking care of such a very nice couple from Chicago, Marija and Bruce, and I was taking care of ANOTHER Chicago's couple, Maggie and Bill, my fantastic friends and special guests with a lot of GREEK BLOOD...these special people who gave such a HOT FLAVOR in Illinois' culture, right????

Laughs, breathless landscapes, wildlife, fun and a new discovery in one of the sides of Rio that not even the locals have access...

This is what makes my work different...and with a little help of Marcone, makes it even more special!!!!

You can write directly to him, Marcone is another busy man like myself but we will always find time to clarify all your doubts about Rio and we are able to make your dreams come true in Carioca's land, his email is marconelima@yahoo.co.uk

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: We take people to the wetlands, but we cannot include the boatmen payment, so bear in mind that we all have to give 15 reais (each person), which is about 7 american dollars, for the trip that takes about 40 minutes to one hour.

A good suggestion is stopping in a local bar called Cicero for some delicious local snacks (specially schrimps) in one of the islands.

GREAT TALKS AT HOME

Great tours are planned at home, Diana, an excellent tour guide came to our house to discuss about new spot to be exploited and we talked about new plans for the next high season!!!

The last one was a great success and we want more!!!

Now that many guests trust in my tours and also the tour guides I work with, we have to be organized and also do our best to make Rio de Janeiro and also all over Brazil more than a travel destination, we want to make BRAZIL your HOUSE outside of your country!!!

Marcone and I are working together and we have at our disposal fantastic names that can take you to a Rio that no one knows..Unique places, local villages, wildlife. All this with a very informal treatment.

So we invited Diana for a little meal in our apartment and we had such a wonderful wine which I do recommend, EMILIANA, from our southern vineyards. By the way, Brazilian Wine can be a very good surprise if you are a winer lover...

Anyway...the news are that you will have even more quality in the next tour...we caount with comfortable cars and great experienced guides with very good english like Marcone, Diana, Cedric and Manu!!!

ALSO, GREAT PROFESSIONAL IN THE TOURISM BUSINESS ARE WORKING WITH US!!! Now I can help you to find suitable accomodation for all budget for my future guests, very soon I will give you complete details!!!!

You will be able to make reservations via my blog!!!! :)))))))))) And the big variety of tours will increase even more, only tours with wonderful things to offer!!!!

JUST WAIT AND I WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED!!!!

So, you see, a simple home meeting to decide the best for you when you come to Rio de Janeiro