Hotel de cinco estrellas en Vidigal

 

Tendríais que haber subido hasta lo más alto de la favela de Vidigal y ver la increíble vista sobre Leblon, Ipanema y Lagoa a la luz del atardecer. Se veía un mar azul de mural de fondo, con las islas Cagarras flotando entre el mar y el cielo. El aire era limpio, no había coches, ni ruido, ni ese hollín de Mordor. Los niños jugaban descalzos por las calles y se respiraba calma y tranquilidad. 

En lo más alto de lo que hace unos pocos meses era el bastión de traficantes de droga y armas están construyendo un hotel de 5 estrellas. Así os lo digo. En poco tiempo, los turistas pijos estarán paseándose por Vidigal. Muchos dicen que es imposible que ese lugar con tan pocas infraestructuras se convierta en una ladera de chalets de lujo, pero de cualquier modo, el espectáculo de sus vistas le da muchos puntos para que así sea. Ahora hay cortes de luz, poca presión de agua, gente con pocos recursos que habitan atrincherados en pequeños y húmedos apartamentos. Pero no me extrañaría nada ver esa montaña llena de piscinas y jardincitos en un futuro cercano.

La verdad es que subir hasta allí fue una odisea. Cómo la calle de la ladera es tan estrecha, los propios habitantes de Vidigal han creado un sistema de transporte en moto y ellos mismos te suben hasta el punto que quieras. Claro que después de dos semanas, aún me pica la cabeza de ese casco mugriento que me puse, a saber por qué cabeza habría pasado antes...

Si os interesa saber más sobre Vidigal esta semana publicamos un artículo en The Rio Times. ¡Aquí lo tenéis!

Metro llegará a Ipanema y Gávea

Se aprueba la construcción de la línea 4 en Río de Janeiro que unirá Gávea con Centro. Sin duda, supondrá un alivio para el tráfico y la contaminación. Leer artículo

The Rio Times

                                             

Habréis visto que he colocado una noticia en inglés. He conseguido una plaza como periodista en The Rio Times donde publicaré 2 veces por semana sobre temas relacionados con Rio de Janeiro en inglés. El tema de esta semana lo tenéis aqui. Un abrazo!

Ecologically Sustainable Tourism in Brazil

June 12, 2012 | Filed underTravel | Posted by Contributing Reporter

By Antoni Galbany and Jay Forte, Contributing Reporters

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A record number of foreign tourists entered Brazil in 2011, according to figures released by the Ministry of Tourism, increasing 5.3 percent to over 5.43 million. Along with the domestic tourism, measured by the number of Brazilian passengers landing at the country’s airports reaching nearly 69 million in 2010, double what it was in 2004, and it adds up to a large footprint.

Ecologically sustainable destinations are becoming a larger part of Brazilian tourism industry, photo provided by Dehouche Travel.

Now with Brazil hosting the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in June, a focus on preserving the natural environment that makes up so much of the tourism attraction has become a priority for many.

Paul Irvine of Dehouche Travel explains: “With the Amazon and the Pantanal being two of the most important tourist destinations, Brazil has had a natural focus on low environmental impact tourism for quite a while but in the last years we are seeing increased focus from hotels in other destinations.”

“New hotels such as Reserva do Ibitipoca and Fazenda Catucaba (both driving distance from Rio) are dedicated to sustainable practices, from reforesting to producing their own food organically.” Irvine notes.

In regard to the Rio+20 event, Irvine is optimistic it will help advance the emphasis within the travel industry globally as well as in Brazil: “Events like Rio+20 do put the spotlight on sustainable tourism practices and hopefully encourage tourists to make responsible choices which will encourage the travel industry to continue sometimes costly investment in low environmental impact practices.”

Coast of Ilha Grande, where authorities are registering it as a UNESCO world heritage site, photo by The Rio Times.

While in the city of Rio, a tour guiding outfit focused on eco-sustainable tourism is Trekking no Rio. The company was started by three young, eco-friendly entrepreneurs who offer fifteen different hikes with an average of eight excursions per month to places like Cachoeiras do Mendanha, Morro da Babilônia or Serra do Vulcão, and secret Mata Atlantica hidden treasures.

“We started guiding for free. Afterwards, as the demand increased we decided to invest, we got trained through courses and got registered at the tourism office in order to have more access to companies and associations,” says Jorge Samulha, guide and founder of Trekking no Rio. The next hike will be to Pedra da Gávea on June 16th for R$50 per person.

In the state of Rio de Janeiro, a short bus ride southwest from the city are some other amazing locations to experience nature along the Costa Verde (Green Coast). The most famous are probably Paraty and Ilha Grande.

Ilha Grande has long been a popular tourist destination and weekend getaway for Cariocas and foreigners alike in search of the natural, rugged terrain and beautiful beaches. Arguably one of the most popular islands on the Brazilian coastline, steps are currently being taken to preserve its natural beauty and protect the wildlife by registering it as a UNESCO world heritage site.

This is already the case with the famously pristine Fernando de Noronha island in Northern Brazil. This protected UNESCO World Heritage Site is so sensitive they charge visitors a preservation fee on arrival which is just over R$33 per day and increases steadily the longer the stay.

This type of financial model may become more prevalent in some environmentally-sensitive locations, and perhaps even a norm for an industry which contributes to nine percent of the global GDP.