A great family afternoon in Tijuca National Park - Interesting, fun and sporty. We had some great family time time discovering the nature around Rio. Our guide Fabio was very knowledgeable about the park, local history and the plants and species around us. He adapted the tour to our wishes and mood of day and spiced things up a little when visiting caves in the park so that everyone could have a bit of fun.

Great day in Tijuca - Entering the jungle, two sloths lumbered in the branches high above us, showing much better hospitality than the dozen or so monkeys we walked past earlier, who began throwing pods at us from the branches of jackfruit trees when they realized we weren’t there to feed them. A flock of colorful parrots flew past Janna just as our attention was diverted by a large toucan, who sang to us from the tallest treetop, while we ourselves were perched on a ledge overlooking, Rio, trying to get a bird’s eye view of the beautiful city and beaches. Meanwhile, the whirring of hummingbirds drinking from the bright red hibiscus plants seemed to surround us. The world is alive here in Tujica National Forest, the largest preserve in an urban setting in all of Brazil. Wonder waited for us at every turn. Eduardo, our guide for the afternoon, took us on many off-the-path locations that provided more than a good photo op, but a deeper understanding of the world we were stepping into. Jules, Janna, and Elliot followed Eduardo to a small clearing which lead to an enormous tree. “The largest Eucalyptus Tree in Brazil.” He then told the story of how a plant native to Australia ended up in the Tujica forest. “When the first European farmers came here, they cleared this land to do monolithic farming. Sugar. Or Coffee. The Chinese came here for a time and tried to grow tea. They farmed and farmed but eventually gave up tea farming because it was too hot. Those who stayed when into other occupations. But for a long time sugar and coffee were grow here, over and over. To do this, trees were cut and as farms grew, more trees were removed. The good trees were used for importing to Europe, to make furniture. The trees that were not good for making furniture made another business, to make charcoal. When the forest was cleared, more trees needed to be planted to keep the charcoal business growing so the owner planted Eucalyptus trees because they grow fast. The giant sentinel that we were drawn to is the oldest and largest surviving of those trees planted in another era. So how did the forest come back? It is lush and alive, but not first growth, more like a hundred and sixty years old. In 1861, Brazil’s Emperor Pedro II took a long look at the devastated land, the abandoned farms, and the bare mountainsides. He took control of the area to restore it. Slavery was still legal and still practiced (Brazil was the last country to abolish slavery) and the replanting of the forest along the barren slopes was done by six enslaved people, whose names were recorded so I am happy to share so they can continue to be remembered: Eleutério, Constantino, Manuel, Mateus, Leopoldo, and Maria. When the forest was re-established. it was mostly-- but not exclusively-- planted with native trees. Other popular trees of the time which made for nice wooden furniture or which grew quickly were also planted. So some invasive species were introduced. They have a creeping vine called Adam’s Ribs, and it grows all over things like Kudzu.

Great Rio adventures - The company offered me a great experience and different activities in Rio. Very friendly and available, prompt and professional, made my trip to Rio amazing.

Fantastic tour - A great tour to Christ the Redeemer, Parque Lage & Tijuca Forest. The guide was very knowledgeable and took me to all the sights that I requested.

The PERFECT Option for a Cloudy/Rainy Day - My mother and I had an amazing experience touring this artful city with our guide, Eduardo! We booked this tour very early that same morning when we realized the forecast would be a bit wet and foggy. This company reached out to us soon after asking for our tour preferences. I explained that we wanted to see art and history, and that is what we got! We were then paired with Eduardo who arrived promptly with a warm welcome. Eduardo communicated clearly and took great care of my mother who has a slight fear of heights. He gave great historic descriptions as we stopped through many locations. We went to both popular attractions and beautiful hidden locations that your average tour guide may not be privy to. Every place we went had such a scenic view (even on this cloudy day). Eduardo took fantastic photos of us unprompted. All of which he shared at the end of the day. We used the full 6 hours and learned so much of Brazilian culture and Rio specifically. We were kept safe, dry, and given ample time to stop for washrooms or nourishment. We are so grateful for the experience and our guy, Eduardo!!

Awesome experience! - Amazon experience, we toured Floresta de Tijuca, explored caves, waterfalls, hiked, got to know history and stories, our family absolutely loved it. Henrique was our guide, he was skilled knowledgeable and overall just a cool cool guy. Definitely recommend it.

Tijuca Forest - The hike was lovely and the scenery was beautiful. We had a great time. The forest is beautiful with lot of hidden gems, which we visited. We also saw some wildlife: toucan, monkey, coati.

Best ecotour ever! Super beautiful, highly recommended! - Honestly our favorite part of the trip! Our guide Bernardo was super accommodating, spoke excellent English, and took us/showed us exactly what we wanted to see. We were literally sad to leave the tour, despite being in Rio where theres a zillion things to do! Highly recommended!

Tijuca Park Hike - Great tour. Guide did a wonderful job tailoring the experience to our skill level. Saw different animals, lots of unique fauna and beautiful views. Highly recommend this tour and guide

Tour of Rio - Great tour guide with lots of information and spoke English very well. Only drawback was that there were 6 of us over the age of65 so the 3rd row of seats you had to crawl over seats. Therefore 2 people could not do so they stayed home.