In a low-wage economy, and without even half-decent social services, life is extremely difficult for the majority of Brazilians. During the last thirty years the rural poor have descended on urban centers in search of a livelihood. Unable to find accommodation, or pay rent, they have established shantytowns, or favelas, on any available empty space, which in Rio usually means the slopes of the hills around which the city has grown.

They start off as huddles of cardboard boxes and plastic sheeting, and slowly expand and transform as metal sheeting and bricks provide more solid shelters. Clinging to the sides of Rio's hills, and glistening in the sun, they can from a distance appear not unlike a medieval Spanish hamlet, perched secure atop a mountain. It is, however, a spurious beauty. The favelas are creations of need, and their inhabitants are engaged in an immense daily struggle for survival, worsened by the prospect of landslides caused by heavy rains, tearing their dwellings from their tenuous hold on precipitous inclines.

However, life for Rio's favela dwellers is beginning to change for the better. Bound together by their shared poverty and exclusion from effective citizenship, the favelados display a great resourcefulness and co-operative strength. Self-help initiatives - some of which are based around the escolas de samba that are mainly favela -based - have emerged, and the authorities are finally recognizing the legitimacy of favelas by promoting " favela-bairro " projects aimed at fully integrating them into city life. Private enterprise, too, is beginning to take an interest as it becomes alert to the fact that the 22 percent of the city's population that live in favelas represent a vast, untapped market.

Favela Tour

Wandering into a favela does not, as many middle-class cariocas would have you believe, guarantee being robbed or murdered. Law and order is essentially in the hands of highly organized drugs gangs, but it's simply not in their interest for a visitor to run into trouble as this would only attract the attention of the police who normally stay clear of favelas. Alone, you're liable to get lost and, as in any isolated spot, may run into opportunistic thieves, but if accompanied by a favela resident you'll be perfectly safe and be received with friendly curiosity. For most people, however, the best option is to take a tour , with the most insightful and longest-established run by Marcelo Armstrong. Marcelo, who speaks excellent English, is widely known and respected in the favelas that are visited and has made a point of getting community approval. It is strongly advised to make your own arrangements with Marcelo rather than through a travel agent or hotel front desk, where you may end up with an inferior tour and be charged too much. If you're worried about voyeurism, you shouldn't be: residents are eager that outsiders understand that favelas are not in fact terrifying and lawless ghettos, but inhabited by people as decent as anywhere else, eager to improve the local quality of life.

Marcelo's tours usually take in two favelas, Roçinha , Rio's largest, with over 160,000 inhabitants, and Vila Canoas, much smaller, with around 2500 residents. Twice a day (8.30am and 2pm; $25), tourists are picked up from their hotels or pre-arranged spots in the Zona Sul for the two-hour tour, which stops at look-out points, a day-care centre, a bar and other places of interest. Marcelo offers a fascinating commentary, pointing out the achievements of favelas and their inhabitants, without seeking to romanticize their lives.

Rio de Janeiro guide
Brazil guide

To reserve a place on a tour, call Marcelo (tel 021/3322-2727, mobile 9989-0074 or mobile 9772-1133), or for more information check out the www.favelatour.com.br Web site.