LOVELY WORDS FROM A FRIEND IN NEW YORK - - RIO CAN BE "WHEELCHAIRABLE" WITH RAFA

Jon is a very dedicated son and a wonderful friend...He decided to take his mother, June, to Rio de Janeiro on the top of her very well lived 87 years old. One of their wishes was visiting Brazil and they needed someone really special to make this trip one of the best in their memories. June has some walking problems, so she needs a wheelchair. One of his concern was making this trip comfortable for her. Jon always took care of his Mother like all great sons do...My friend Jon is now giving back all the care, all the love and his personal dedication. He delivered his life to me and Marcone, meaning, we would have to take care of his lovely Mother and make sure she would be alright. I told him I would have Marcone, someone specialized in dealing with Elder People, he is a nurse also with geriatric and cardio specialty.

This tour was already special because I had Jon, a great friend from New York..with all his knowledge about life, his country and funny facts with their travels (He always travels with June), but I knew I would give more of myself so I decided to bring Marcone to help me in this challenging and great mission. Human Taste is something that I judge absolutely important in our tours. So we thought about not only showing Rio, we wanted to give a complete experience, so from the airport we went straight to Paraty where Brazil is more historical, where Brazil is wilder. Nature and Culture; but Paraty has cobble stone streets and not good at all for wheelchairs. No problem, we did even more, we put June in a boat to see the remarkably beautiful islands, small villages in islands like Sapeca, we shown the mean streets of Paraty and later we explored Rio for two days. Everything well planned among Jon, Marcone and I.

June specially loves animals...a visit to Paraty was great...we met a lot of dogs which made her day and we went to a very old Sugar Cane Farm in Cunha with a lot of wildlife, colorful birds like the restaurant we went in Bocaina Mountains....where we had the whole view of the jungles. All this with a wheelchair...believe me, lots of work, lots of thinking but as a result we just had pleasure, joy and we were honored to make everything possible for someone (June) who dedicated her life to help people. So I made sure that she would have good taking care with the super essential help from Marcone and also Jon that gave us hints about dealing with all the difficulties.

We had wonderful moments in this "different" tour as a result, Jon wrote some words about his days with his Mother June that I am happy to share with you, Reader:

"I went to Rio with my 87 year old mother in a wheelchair who saw the Statue of Christ from the top and Sugar Loaf at dusk to see the city light up. You can choose where next. We drove around and ate in hilly trendy Santa Teresa. Rafa loves his job as much as he loves Rio. When you meet him, you are family and you become a Brazillian going to tourist or non tourist places.
Marcone is a warm and loving trained nurse. Who specialty is caring for older people. We even went to the village of Paraty and did a boat ride and ate off an island. Rafa and Marcone can tell you what to expect while keeping your care in mind

Rafa can make adventures, make the most of your custom trips. When our flight was canceled til the next day, he had already adjusted everything to work. She liked birds so we went to a small cafe on the side of a mountain where they put fruit on some branches to attract birds while you eat. She loved seeing the birds in the wild in a place that we would never have known about. He is a native who loves the city and wants to show it off to the world to see with an interestt in everything Brazil. Make his ever growing knowledge work for you."

 

Thank you Jon for all the kind words, thanks a lot for your friendship and to the great gift that you gave me, taking care of your trip to Brazil. It was a great pleasure for me!

Rafael Torres Lopes
Tour Guide and Travel Planner