Is This Really Rio de Janeiro’s Safest Favela? Visiting Vidigal and Dois Irmãos

Rio de Janeiro is a cosmopolitan city that attracts many people worldwide because of its amazing beaches, beautiful people, and breathtaking nature.
But in Rio de Janeiro there is not only fun and beauty, the city also has many downsides: social inequality is very large and can be seen everywhere. Many people live on the streets or in the adjacent slums, which are called favelas in Brazil. Often these neighborhoods are right on the border with the more affluent areas, making for an amazing contrast.
One of these favelas is called Vidigal. Possibly the most visited slum in Rio de Janeiro, it is not far from South America's wealthiest neighborhood, Leblon. Many people claim that it is the safest favela in Rio de Janeiro. The community attracts many visitors because of its hike to Two Brothers Mountain (Dois Irmãos). There are also a few hostels in the favela.
We visited the favela to hike up the mountain and meet some of the residents. We wanted to know what life in the favela is like and if Vidigal is as safe as everyone says it is.
If you are interested in a deeper look at life in the favela, I highly recommend you watch the video by @naomiandmar :
• Inside the SLUM Beside...
If you want to connect with me:
IG: / vogelthebird

[@ianstuart5660]

Excellent video, enjoyed very much. During the World Cup too, how exciting!

[@patrickvogel]

Thanks mate!

[@simongroenendijk34]

Awesome video! Visiting Rio for the first time in about 2 weeks and really excited to visit Vidigal and do the dois irmaos hike.

[@patrickvogel]

Thank you, Simon! Enjoy your time in Rio! And better take a second (worse) phone, a lot of pickpockets in the city!

[@christinachislovabeautiful7485]

Have just came from Rio. And one of the best experience was visiting Vidigal. Thank you for your video ❤

[@patrickvogel]

You are welcome. I'm glad that you had a good time there 😊

[@kgetorv988]

nice vlog mate, would like to visit there

[@patrickvogel]

Thank you. Go! :)

[@stefanlehnert1152]

Nice video, well done!

[@patrickvogel]

thank you my friend!

[@marianbroz]

Good Job Patrick !!! Keep going

[@patrickvogel]

thank you, buddy, I appreciate it. And thanks for the sub ♥

[@billcook4768]

Rio is such a beautiful city with amazing people. But people need to think long and hard before visiting a favela. Even putting aside safety issues, people need to ask why they are visiting. It can be an amazing experience. But are they going to meet, to learn, to experience and gain understanding? Or do they just want some “poverty tourism.” It’s a fine line.

[@patrickvogel]

Thank you for the insights, Bill. Yes, that's true. One thing is going just out of curiosity and seeing something spectacular/different. Another thing is going to learn and take something with you out of the experience. And as you rightly say, it's a fine line. There are many tours for tourists, no matter what the intention of the tourist is, the neighbourhoods get something from the money earned by the tour. Usually with a guide who is originally from the favela. I haven't done one yet, but I might go with a private guide one day. That would be the best learning experience

[@nancyleal2529]

Bill, I am Brazilian and it depends on the favela. Some are really more dangerous because of armed drug lords, but Vidigal is known for being more pacified and that's why there are even Europeans and other foreigners living there like the French Charlotte shown in the video. Favelas in Rio probably began after the abolition, but there are smaller towns and regions in Brazil where slavery was not big during the colonization, where favelas don't exist. In big cities it's impossible that they finish because of the migration of people from other regions and also immigrants who search for cheaper housing. Despite the curiosity of Europeans etc. some Brazilian favelas are considered "normal housing" in some countries in Africa, Asia etc. not a "slum" for their standards...

[@LaChicaconSuerte-1111]

The unregulated constructions and the sheer number of them is actually shocking to see. Does Rio have any plans to try to improve the situation? It seems to be a place of large contrasts between rich and poor, like in many developing nations. Brazil is such a huge country with so much to offer. Surely, they can do something to improve living conditions for people in Rio?

[@patrickvogel]

Yeah, they probably could. But since it's unregulated land on which they don't pay (or didn't pay) any taxes, I don't know of any official initiatives apart from sending the police to have an eye on what's happening there. In 2016 they built better infrastructure for public transport (buses and metro) to connect the favelas with the South Zone (Ipanema + Copacabana). And sometimes there are some private initiatives.

[@LaChicaconSuerte-1111]

Seems pretty crazy. They should really offer to pay people to move and then demolish some of the buildings and reclaim the land. I mean someone owns that land and ultimately, it would be the country itself and its government. In the UK, it would be the KIng (previously the Queen, but essentially, the Crown). There must be financial and/or political reasons why they are not doing anything about it.@@patrickvogel

[@patrickvogel]

@@LaChicaconSuerte-1111 Yeah, I guess so. It's a complicated topic. As you say, they probably have their reasons why they leave it unregulated.

[@samil5601]

There have been some token projects in favelas in less desirable locations like Rocinha to replace unsafe buildings with modern builds. These, of course, come with a price tag to the resident. In the ocean facing communities the plan would seem to be to drive the people out and grab the land for property development. I seem to recall some houses being demolished in Vidigal a few years ago under the guise of landslide protection or some such.

[@LaChicaconSuerte-1111]

Hmm interesting....so at the moment it seems they have to come up with some excuse such as safety or environmental risk to be able to demolish old structures and build new ones. Who actually owns the land? Unfortunately, in most countries, greed wins. Whoever has the money to buy up land will build for the rich and for tourism and ordinary people can get lost.... Governments are usually only interested in allowing whatever allows them to receive more money and more taxes. @@samil5601

[@peersp]

Nice video! Do you mind sharing the name of the restaurant you visited?

[@patrickvogel]

Thanks Pieter. It was the quiosque do arvrāo. People usually go to Bar da Laje with is above of it. In case you want to check that one out, too.

[@shn2402]

holy the whole trip is truly amazing! the monkeys are mico, i got threatened by them once during corcovado hiking because i tried to pass by when he or she was pooping😂😂😂they're the owner of the woods lol

[@nancyleal2529]

Patrick, the French Charlotte appeared in a Brazilian video about "Favela do Vidigal" 7 years ago. Video "Estrangeiros decidem morar e trabalhar na Favela do Vidigal". I got surprised because when I watched that video I imagined that she was just spending sometime there, but she still lives in Vidigal. The video shows another French man and a Portuguese also living there. Certainly there are other Europeans etc. I am Brazilian and Charlotte is right about our sensationalist media (everything for audience) and that's why the image of Rio is much worse than the reality in Brazil and abroad.

[@patrickvogel]

Wow, muito interessante, obrigado Nancy! Vou ver se encontro o documentário :) Yes, she's still there and even has a beautiful family now. Very happy for her. For us Europeans it's surprising that other fellow Europeans or people from abroad choose to live an a favela. But having been there, now I know that there are people like you and me living there. Very intelligent and capable people that choose to live there because of their friends and family or just don't have the financial resources to live somewhere else. Rio is very expensive and the inequality is gigantic.

[@nancyleal2529]

​@@patrickvogel , just type the title of the video I wrote on youtube search and you will find it. But it is in Portuguese and at that time Charlotte spoke a terrible Portuguese... Certainly I imagine that you and other Europeans etc. don't understand why these foreigners live in a Favela or even in Brazil because many ones think that the country is more poor or dangerous than the reality because of the negative media images. The reality is that many people live better than in countries called "first world" by the media because of better average social indicators. The huge slavery in Brazil during the colonization (ended only 135 years ago) generated a class of people that can live worse than in Europe like in favelas and another one (middle class here) that live like rich people for the European, American etc. standards. , especially because of large wage differences. A middle class person here can pay people to clean their homes and other domestic workers; cheaper apartments/houses etc. because of cheaper labor to build them; a lot of services that make their lives easier while in Europe etc. they have to solve everything by themselves. As an example, I have a couple of friends in Germany who decided to change the windows in their house (by themselves) because of the high price to pay a professional to do it. Here normally the prices in furnitures stores etc. include already a professional to assemble the furnitures at the buyers house. Many Brazilians of middle class and up don't spend much time in Europe etc. after losing their "facilities". Many of my compatriots think that everything is better in countries called "first world" in our media and are naive to imagine that these foreigners are here just because of natural beauties, good climate and nice friendly people... But they simply don't mind if there are more uniqualities or not here compared to their countries if they themselves are living better. Charlotte, for example, has a beautiful view from Vidigal and not so expensive as in the richer neighborhoods around (Ipanema, Leblon and São Conrado); she can probably pay someone to clean her home at least once in a while etc. This is the "unknown" reality for many tourists. Traveling around Brazil you will see many recent Europeans etc. living here and there are other more pacified favelas in Rio where some of them live like the one called "Tavares Bastos" near the Center with view for the Sugar Loaf.

[@patrickvogel]

@@nancyleal2529 Thank you very much for your insights. It's always helpful to listen to the locals. No one knows better how thinks work there. Iv've seen the video already. It was early after Charlotte's arrival. Normal that the portuguese is not perfect. Now she speaks very well. The topic about the quality of life is a very personal one and could be discussed endlessly. I've noticed that many Brazilians are struggling because many jobs don't pay well. Most foreigners who love Brazil and stay to live there work for a foreign company, were sent over as patriots or still have their old job and are able to work remotely (like many from the US). They earn well. I'm not sure if they would stay if they would have a job at a local company. I've travelled through a lot of latinamerican countries. I like to visit them and love to meet the people there. Standard of living I prefer Europe though

[@nancyleal2529]

@@patrickvogel, yes, quality of life is very personal for each person. I have been to Europe a few times and I understand that you prefer the European standard. In general the most touristic cities in Brazil and other latin american countries are bigger and with more inequalities, but there are many places with very good standards in Brazil. Watch for example videos of "Balneário Camboriú" ; Gramado - Southern of Brazil ; Curitiba ; or the 'Germans' Blumenau and Pomerode. I consider part of the public transportation better in many places of Brazil than in most of Europe, Canada, USA etc. Check, for example, "subways in Brazil" and "buses in Brazil". On the other hand, a country with less social inequalities is better for other reasons, but I have noticed that things are really getting worse in some called "first world" countries. The main reason why many Brazilians suffer from low wages is exactly the legacy of slavery. After the abolition millions of people and descendants were available for especially manual, heavy and low-skilll works, who accepted anything to survive. There are still many available people for these jobs, including white people etc. with a lower level of education and also constant immigration of poor people from other countries. That is, by the law of supply and demand they cannot get good wages and so the middle class continues living better... Wage differences are large here and it's not like in Canada, Nordic countries etc., where a doctor can live next to a garbage collector because they earn almost the same. There are many recent Europeans etc. here who don't work for foreign companies (and almost all the European ancestors of millions of Brazilians). I've seen several around the country that opened small businesses like restaurants and "pousadas" (small hotels with a few rooms). Those who bring their savings in stronger currencies like euros and dollars have advantages, of course. Ilha Grande and Buzios in the state of Rio are examples. Unfortunately there are dishonest people all over the world and some, if things don't go as they expected, simply "disappear" (relocate to other places in this huge country), without properly paying employees and creditors. I don't know if you still continue in Brazil, but enjoy your trips. I love to travel, too, but it's more expensive for us... ☹️

[@samil5601]

Firstly, Vidigal is nowhere near the outskirts of Rio, even if it is on the edges of the South Zone. Secondly, the safest favela is Tavares Bastos in Catete, for the simple reason that they host the HQ of the BOPE police unit and as a result, do not have a drug gang there. Who did you pay for the hike? There's never been a charge for that when I have visited.

[@patrickvogel]

Thank you for your corrections, my friend. It was a guy from the Favela standing there. Maybe he invented it. Hopefully the money supports the favela.

[@samil5601]

@@patrickvogel Interesting. I've been up there a number of times an no-one ever asked us for anything, apart from paying the mototaxi, of course. I'd be inclined to think that it may have been a hustler of some form as it wouldn't even be clear who would have the authority to be charging for entrance there (residents association or city Council).

[@patrickvogel]

@@samil5601 Yep, maybe it was just a guy making some many for himself pretending that this is official now.