One of the highlights of Marcelo Armstrong’s favela tour for us was a visit to Para Ti, a very special NGO that was started by Italian Franco Urani, a former President of Fiat Brazil in the 1970s, and his wife Giuliana. The couple lived in the neighbourhood around which the favela Vila Canoas grew and … Read more
The coconut is to a Carioca* what the baguette is to a Parisian. Okay, well, not quite. Rio de Janeiro’s locals don’t cycle along Ipanema beach with a coconut under their arm, nor will you see them munching into one (ouch!) as they walk home from work. But like the baguette in Paris the coconut … Read more
One of the first things we do when we arrive at a new destination is explore our neighbourhood. Despite having done the long haul down to Rio de Janeiro from Costa Rica via Miami, it didn’t take us long to get out the door and down to the famous Ipanema beach. Our Ipanema apartment is … Read more
We’d gone wildlife spotting in the Manuel Antonio National Park and bird watching in the forest at El Silencio nature reserve, so the next logical thing to do seemed to be to get on the water and check out the wildlife from a boat, cruising the mangroves of the Pacific Coast Costa Rica. One of … Read more
The languid Pacific coast town of Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica is hot and humid. Stand still long enough here and you’ll see mould appearing on your body. The locals, however, have standing still down to an art. The laidback Costa Ricans take their time with everything. It’s common sense when just the act of … Read more