Traveling to Rio de Janeiro is not what it used to be
By Brian Miller
For most of the 20th century, Brazil and especially Rio de Janeiro was the South American country you just had to visit. Now, not so much.
As a kid and into my teen years, I loved the idea of traveling to Brazil. The culture and landscape was awe-inspiring. Pictures back then were in books and not on YouTube or the internet. You heard stories from friends who were from there or visited. It was a lasting impression.
I remember in my early 20s I met a girl from Rio. Her dark skin and the way she moved and talked with broken English was not foreign it was exotic. She had been raised just outside of one of the most visited cities in all of South America but like many, her family saw a future that wasn’t as beautiful as she was.
She wasn’t kidding. A gem on the south Atlantic Ocean, Rio was more than Carnival and Bosa Nova’s, it was a mix of nature and modern civilization all in one. Now, it’s an overcrowded cesspool with troubled waters and an even more troubled city on the verge of internal collapse.
The draw for visitors to this part of Brazil was the festivals like Carnival, the pristine beaches, traditional South American food with a Portuguese mix. Now, the beaches are overcrowded and crime often goes unpunished and unstopped. Police have little power and when they do, they are accused of brutality.
Covid-19 has ripped through the country as well and decimated the tourism industry making the financial crisis in the city even worse.
While the streets are unsafe, so are parts of Guanabara Bay. The 2016 Olympics was supposed to bring a much-needed boost to the economy but instead, it was a failure. Water events outside of pools were canceled or moved to other locations due to the filth of the bay. The infrastructures so hastily put together that today, they are unsafe only a few short years later.
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The jewel of all Brazil should no longer be on your must-see itinerary for a South American trip. It should be avoided. Thick jungles and natural surroundings still call to the out-of-country visitor but many who live there will tell you to stay away.
At a park in the Florida Keys, I met up with some Brazillian vacationers and when I said I always wanted to go there, they all almost in unison, said, “don’t”. If you are planning a trip to Rio, take a few moments and really dig into what is going on down there but if you do go, don’t expect the crown jewel of Brazil because it may no longer exist.