Favela tours are a controversial subject as to many they appear to be a form of ‘poverty tourism’ treating the residents of these communities as a tourist attraction or just another form of exotic scenery, a view shared by many Brazilians. It’s also worth noting that amongst many residents the preferred term is comunidade (community).

Visitors to Rio who want to take a ‘favela’ tour should seriously consider what their motives are as well as what they are likely to learn, what their presence contributes as well as the practical issue of personal safety.

Some considerations to ponder.

Favela tours make very little real input into the economic or social development of the communities that host them. The majority of residents work outside of their communities, often in low paid service jobs. The income from these sources, not to mention the illegal activity that is rife in many communities makes the income derived from a few tours pale into insignificance.  Visitors who want to make a real contribution should consider contacting the various community organisations and charitable institutions that work within the favelas. Another simple and direct method of putting money into these communities is to tip the vendor selling you an ice cream on the beach or the maid who makes up your hotel room. Many of these people reside in Rio ’s favelas.

Many of Rio ’s favelas are host to drug trafficking and very high levels of violent crime. There is a real safety factor to be considered when visiting a favela. Stray rounds fired by a policeman or a drug dealer, will not distinguish between a tourist and a resident just as they do not distinguish between innocent bystanders and their intended target.

A brief tour of a slum is most unlikely to give much real insight into the lives of the moradores (residents). Unless someone taking such a tour has a reasonable grasp of Portuguese, they are likely to get a filtered view of life there anyway.

Potential visitors may wish to ponder the ethics of visiting a poor neighbourhood just for the sake of seeing its poverty. They may wish to ask whether they would advocate such tours in their own hometown.

Some possible alternatives to favela tours.

Those still wanting to visit an actual favela under their own steam and in a relatively safe manner may wish to consider a trip to Tavares Bastos, a community next to Catete. This is renowned as the most crime free such community in Rio, due in large part to the presence of the training facilities for BOPE ( Rio ’s SWAT squad). Tavares Bastos is considered so safe that it's been used as the shooting location for a number of films, it also hosts a small pousada marketed at overseas visitors

Those wanting to gain an appreciation of ordinary life away from the usual tourist beat of Zona Sul, may wish to venture out to Zona Norte. Explore the shopping precincts of Madureira for example or wander around some ordinary residential bairros. Working class people are not confined to the favelas. A simple way to meet people from all walks of life  is just to head to the beach. Rio ’s beaches are the great social equalizer. Alternatively people may just consider seeing a film on life in the poorer parts of Rio .The documentaries Babilonia 2000, Favela Rising and News from a Personal War are all worth seeing and give worthy and different perspectives. Fictional representations, grounded in reality include such offerings as City of God, the TV offshoot City of Men ( now also a film) and Tropa de Elite about the BOPE and their war with Rio's traficantes