Salsa in the Brazil slums

Posted: Thu 2 Sep, 2010 9:32 AM

For tourists looking for an excursion off the beaten path, the recently launched pilot programme in Brazil offering tours of its infamous slums may be just the ticket.

These shanty towns, known as ‘favelas’, have been cleared of drug dealers and criminal elements to allow tourists a safe window into the sometimes lawless hubs of drug-trafficking and violence, according to a report by Tour Expi.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was quoted as having said that the new initiative was part of the plan to curry world favour leading up to the 2015 Olympic Games to be held in Rio.This would also show that slum-dwellers have a sense of community and pride like any other neighbourhood in the world, he said.