Rio de Janeiro Warning or Danger Tips by Dabs

I always read about these crazy scams that people think up to part tourists from their money but this is the first time one has ever happened to me.

We were walking down one of the major streets in Ipanema, but it was pouring buckets of rain for most of the morning and it was a Sunday so few people were out. A guy starts gesturing madly at my shoe, were my shoe laces untied or was I in danger of stepping in a large pile of dog crap? Nope. So I ignored him and then I looked again and where the heck did that mustard come from???? This wasn't your run of the mill yellow mustard, no this was fancy Grey Poupon mustard, right smack in the middle of my tennis shoe.

So I look at this guy, who is still gesturing at me and I notice he's got a shoe shine box and I think must be a really slow day if you're squirting mustard on tennis shoes, you see these weren't fancy white leather tennis shoes but mesh tennis shoes.

I just kept walking and eventually he went away and I found a nice big puddle on the sidewalk and a couple of hops and *poof*, the mustard was gone (don't think the mustard would enhance the taste of the shoe much anyway). Guess it could have been worse, I could have been hit by the dog crap shoe scam that I read about in Travelers Tales or it could have been yellow mustard or even worse yet, what if I had been wearing sandals?

I've also read they use mustard as a distraction and use it to part you from your wallet, my advice is to not stop, eventually they will go away

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Favelas are the slums of Rio, I've seen statistics that estimate that anywhere from 1/5 to 1/3 of Rio's population live in these slums. Favelas are mostly built up the side of the mountains in Rio and are very easily recognizable, all of the guides say that you do not want to enter one without a local guide. Although I can't fathom why anyone would want to go gawk at the living conditions of impoverished people, especially after watching "City of God", there are companies that run favela tours and most guidebooks list the reputable ones, hopefully whom pass on some of their profits to the residents.

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Be sure to check your bill before paying it at a restaurant, most of the time a 10% service charge (tip) is already tacked on, especially in nicer restaurants.

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In a warm and fuzzy tit for tat move, the Brazilian government mirrors the visa requirements that the US imposes on Brazilians wanting to visit the US. This means a $100 visa fee, a 2 page form that needs to be completed and a personal visit to the Consulate or mailing your passport in for processing.

Now while it might very well be fair for the Brazilian government to have this requirement, the logical side of me says that a) it discourages tourism for people on tight budgets b) it discourages people who can afford the $100 by making the process inconvenient c) it's the only South American country that requires a visa (or least that I know of) so it encourages travelers to head to other countries.

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Rio's best attractions are all outdoors-you wouldn't want to hang out on the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema in inclement weather, Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf need clear weather and good visibility. So when we woke up on Sunday morning and saw rain pouring from the sky, we looked at each other and went back to sleep. Unfortunately, when we finally got up, it was still pouring and we were combing the guidebook looking for something to do. It can't always be sunny in Rio, I wished I had a plan B that day.

We eventually popped open our umbrellas and went over to the Hippie Fair which was sparsely populated then headed over to Ipanema where I got hit with the mustard scam, went and had some lunch and then headed over to Maracana for some futebol.

Take advantage when you have good weather, especially if you have good visibility, and head up to Sugarloaf or Corcovado to see Christ the Redeemer, we waited and ended up missing the trip to Sugarloaf.

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