A steaming pot of seafood rice arrives at the table with a glass of chilled rosé. The owner, who would be looking dapper in his chef's whites if it weren't for the shorts and flip flops on his bottom half, spoons a generous helping of squid, mussels, plump prawns and a langoustine on to my plate. There's just one thing that sets the scene apart from the cliches of a touristy lunch in Rio de Janeiro I'm in the middle of Rocinha, Brazil's biggest favela, sitting in a narrow alleyway outside a restaurant with no name and no menu. There were no street signs to follow either. As soon as I strolled into Rocinha I needed directions to find Travessa Gregório 5. Happily, a vendor in a nearby market abandoned his stall to lead me.
Wandering about in Rio's favelas is no longer considered as risky as it once was, but it should be done with eyes open and forward planning, particularly in view of recent events neighbouring communities Cantagalo and Pavão-Pavãovinho, behind Ipanema beach, are just two of the high-profile favelas that have witnessed violence, protests and sporadic shoot-outs in the run-up to the World Cup. Riotur, which has tourist information booths dotted across the city, advises on which favelas are safer to visit the most tourist-friendly, Vidigal, even features on their list of top itineraries, but life is still far from easy for many living there. Commonsense rules apply here as they do on the streets elsewhere in Rio de Janeiro, or any big city.
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