MORE TWO FRIENDS TO EXPERIENCE THE REAL TASTE OF RIO DE JANEIRO

I have a very good secretary in the States, her name is Sherry, she arranged a trip for her brother Jon and her cousin Will, and she contacted me to organize a cool tour around Rio. I had no enough time to show them the best of Rio properly, so I decided to give them a short introduction of the city and at the same time providing an unique experience!!! :)

Jon and Will are great people, they stayed in Copacabana Beach and they did well walking in the surroundings of the neighborhood, trying to meet cool people and just have fun. And my task was to make them fall in love with Rio, so I took them to the most symbolic attraction of Rio...we went to the Christ driving through the Forest, the so incredible Tijuca Forest where we stopped in the showers of Paineiras and we visited the main waterfall in the forest Cascatinha and we fed some friends in the Lake of Solitude which in portuguese it is AÇUDE DA SOLIDÃO!!!!!

Then we finally went to the gated community, that famous Rafa's place where they saw a very hidden surfer's corner, the Joá Beach. We spent some minutes contemplating the ocean and the huge waves beating the rocks, after some minutes watching that paradise where whales can be seen in our winter we went to the Wetlands of Marapendi; we could see many wild birds and we were lucky because for THE SECOND TIME I COULD TAKE PICTURES OF OUR ALLIGATORS, the famous Jacaré do Papo Amarelo, very rare species of Alligators in Rio. We also had some incredible encounters with a happy blue butterfly and the unusual meeting with the SPOONSBILL, another rare bird in our lagoons!!!

WE HAD A WONDERFUL DAY AND WE ENDED OUR TOUR IN ONE OF THE BEST BUFFETS OF RIO WHERE WE CAN EXPERIENCE REAL BRAZILIAN FOOD!!!

THE RESTAURANT, A MINEIRA!

We had a great time, and my guests were wonderful, they will leave the country with a taste of "asking for more".

Again, they left a tour guide and they have a friend for life time!!!

Rafael Torres Lopes

Tour Planner and Tour Guide

MY BRAVE TEXAN FAMILY

Some guests I have are so special that they become dear friends for life time. As many great people I have met and who are now so dear to me, Cappie and Robert invaded my heart and they got here to stay.

When my guests come here I want them to experience everything and get to know Brazil as a real country, not a country made for tourists to do touristic things...No...they are here to walk everywhere, they are here to tell others that you do not need to be afraid to stroll around all over the city, they are here to say to others that our people are friendly, that our people are struggling alot to stop crime and we demanding even more attitudes to make Rio a better place to live and to be visited, my guests are here to see Rio from its past, its present and help us to build a future!

So my brave friends in their second day...well, we decided to explore the CENTRO using our subway system, very efficient and it serves the city greatly well, we walked in the city and saw the main old buildings and some colonial churches, we went deep in our hstory, and we had lunch in typical restaurants, and in our way back to Copacabana, they took a bus just like every single Carioca.

Sometimes experiencing the simple things of life can make any trip to be really spectacular!