20 Apr 2024
Most visitors assume that Rio is mainly Copacabana, the Favelas, Sugar Loaf and Corcovado. Therefore we allocated 2 full days in Rio on our S American sojourn. To my surprise, as I delved deeper I realised there was a lot more to explore. We knew we needed to have a private guide to be able to cover all our areas of interest in history, architecture and culture. I was recommended Gus Guia to guide us through the two days we had. He has a great way of introducing the many facets of Rio. Starting with the country’s history at the onset, to guiding us through the beautiful examples of classical, modern and futuristic architecture in the city including the street mural art. Being a vegetarian group, he even managed to ensure that we could sample Brazilian food through the vegetarian version of ‘moqueca’ and took us to his secret ‘find’ of freshly baked cheese bread, with its taste still lingering in our mouths. In most visitors minds, Rio is synonymous with the Carnival. However, who knew of the history of Samba, the Samba clubs and an entire industry that it supports.
Gus is very proficient in English which greatly increased our understanding and enjoyment of our trip. He knows all the photographic view points and doubles up as a good photographer too. He even indulged our desire to visit an old Brazilian perfumier and knew of the branch that had added a new endeavour of perfume flavoured ice creams.
Gus has a vast repository of knowledge and expertise. He deftly planned and made efficient use of the time we had at our disposal to cover the numerous places on our itinerary and interests.
Our first visit to Rio has been made most memorable! There is no doubt Gus has had a great hand in it. We have already ‘booked’ Gus for our next Rio visit!