Visit the most typical places of the first African cultural manifestations in the Americas. Take a new look at the two cultures, African and European, and its legacy in the arts, cuisine, dance and music, highlighting the Carnival.
• Visit the City of Samba, or City of Dreams, an area where the Samba Schools develop the floats that will parade in the Sambodrome
• Understand how celebrations of Catholic and African merged its cultural manifestations and producing the most famous Carnival in the world.
• Visit the current region of the Port, which for decades received thousands of Africans from different ethnic groups, nations, and cultures.
• Visit Pedra do Sal (Salt Stone), where the Community of Remnants of Quilombos is located and considered as Cultural Heritage.
• Get to know Valongo Wharf, the largest African point of entry in the Americas. It has been submitted to UNESCO to become World Heritage.
Posted By : Quinn D
Camilo picked us up at our hotel and began to customize our tour based on the places we'd hadn't recently visited. This, led us to feel that he'd taken us on an excellent tour of all our tours in Rio and that was of the Little Africa area of Rio de Janeiro and Samba City. It was fascinating and not something that we would have experienced anywhere else. We were all over and got such rich and heartwrenching history in 5 hours. We parked the car and walked the neighborhoods of Rio; visited Valongo Wharf where 1 mil slaves disembarked ships;the Instituto Pesquisa e Memoria Pretos Novos(the location of a "cemetery" where the remains of newly arrived slaves were discarded);Samba City (where we experienced Carnival); up Morro da Conceição (Conception Hill);the Forteleza da Conceição; Sao Francisca da Prainha Square to see the bronze statue of Mercedes Baptista the 1st Afro-Brazilian ballerina in the Theatro Municipal) where I attempted the same position; and the Hanging Gardens of Valongo. It was a pleasure to spend the afternoon with Camilo. He's gentle, knowledgeable, and takes lots of pictures and videos to document your time and shares them with you. We have our own little documentary of the experience.
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Posted On : 2019-06-30 20:09:31 
Posted By : susanmK4092UQ
Camilo picked me up at my home and took me on this excellent tour of the Little Africa area of Rio de Janeiro and Samba City. It was fascinating and not something that I could have put together or done by myself. In one afternoon, we visited Valongo Wharf (where @900,000 slaves disembarked; which was rediscovered and excavated beginning in 2011, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site), a large warehouse designed by the first Afro-Brazilian engineer, the Instituto Pesquisa e Memoria Pretos Novos (a home turned into a museum after the owners discovered that it sat atop a "cemetery" where the remains of newly arrived slaves were discarded), the Jose Bonifacio Cultural Center (incredible architecture), Samba City (buzzing with activity getting floats ready for Carnival), up Morro da Conceição (Conception Hill) (where you feel as if you have gone back in time to an earlier Rio), the Forteleza da Conceição, views of the harbor, down via the Pedro de Sal (a center of samba and choro music), then to Sao Francisca da Prainha Square to see the bronze statue of Mercedes Baptista (among other accomplishments, the 1st Afro-Brazilian ballerina in the Theatro Municipal), the Igreja de Sao Francisco da Prainha (built on the beach), and then at last the Hanging Gardens of Valongo (built over the site of the former slave market and in need of some gardening). This is not a side of Rio that I'd seen before, and the tourist angle has not been exploited. It was a pleasure to spend the afternoon with Camilo as evidenced by the fact that my husband and I went with him to Sitio Burle Marx two days later (another good tour). Camilo also takes lots of pictures and shares them with you.
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Posted On : 2019-01-27 12:54:56
Posted By : VC
We are fortunate to be able to travel a lot worldwide and have done many tours. Most are good but rarely am I moved to share my opinion outside of family and friends. This tour and guide, however, merited a rave review! The tour was informative and interesting and our guide was extremely gracious and very knowledgeable. In fact, Camillo was so great that we asked him to arrange a Favela tour for us during our stay. He handled all of the details including hotel pick up. I would highly recommend him and this experiences to any traveling to the area.
Posted By : Florence W
Camilo was a great host! My mother and I went on this tour on our last day in Rio, and it was great walking through the city and experiencing the culture up close and personal. I would highly recommend this experience for all who are new to the city. Camilo also was kind enough to take beautiful pictures of my mother and I, and provided us with a video, at no additional charge. Thanks so much Camilo!!!
