If I were to visit Brazil again, I'd be more concerned about my personal safety. I had to fly up to Brazil every three months on a previous assignment. We were no strangers to crime and knew how to take care of ourselves in most cities, but were still assigned a security detail and were instructed never to leave our hotel and walk or drive around without them.
We took local advice, dressed down, carried about 50 reals in our pockets and the rest stashed away, Sao Paulo was ok, places like Avenida Paulista were fine during the day, but we were really creeped out by the sheer number of people who looked down in the dumps, staring at us even in Jardims. We were driven out for "sightseeing" and again, I was creeped out by the sheer aura projected in the favelas and outside.
I got pickpocketed once, got the creeps walking around at night, but generally had an ok time in the place. I can only imagine the rate of street crime going up when the thousands of Gringos land there before the Olympics.
If I were to visit Brazil again, I'd be more concerned about my personal safety. I had to fly up to Brazil every three months on a previous assignment. We were no strangers to crime and knew how to take care of ourselves in most cities, but were still assigned a security detail and were instructed never to leave our hotel and walk or drive around without them.
We took local advice, dressed down, carried about 50 reals in our pockets and the rest stashed away, Sao Paulo was ok, places like Avenida Paulista were fine during the day, but we were really creeped out by the sheer number of people who looked down in the dumps, staring at us even in Jardims. We were driven out for "sightseeing" and again, I was creeped out by the sheer aura projected in the favelas and outside.
I got pickpocketed once, got the creeps walking around at night, but generally had an ok time in the place. I can only imagine the rate of street crime going up when the thousands of Gringos land there before the Olympics.