Tourist Guide in Rocinha since 2012.
An ambitious and avid young man who knows what he wants.
Luiz is a great guide and knows his way around the neighbourhood very well. He is open to questions and gives a lot of information to bring some understanding around the life in this neighbourhood. He brought us through all of the place, paying attention not to go in less safe areas and always looking after us. We recommand him warmly!
I was hesitant to book a favela tour but I’m very glad we did!! The tour was great, we felt very safe and we learnt a lot. We had biases coming in and I’m glad to have had the experience with Luiz to widen our world view. The route was really cool, through the back streets and winding roads. We went from the top of the favela to the bottom and Luiz dropped us right to the subway / place to get an uber from. Luiz was really good about when to take pictures and when to put your phone away. He answered all our questions and was very informative. Only negative was the other people from our group were 30 minutes late to start the tour. But Luiz was really good - apologising on their behalf and also waiting for them as obviously leaving them at the top of the favela without a guide would not be the best. Be prompt for your tours guys!!!
It was a very interesting tour. I also thought it was great that we were only a small group.
I felt surprisingly safe in Rocinha even tho I had concerns before the tour. The tour itself was very interesting and did not feel staged. Luiz was a good tour guide with good insights since he was born there. would recommend the tour.