For the most part, my answer to the title question ‘Is Brazil dangerous?’ would be no. While things do happen that you’d definitely rather avoid, for every traveller who reports a crime there are hundreds more who don’t have a problem. The bad stories have a nasty habit of sticking in our memory and putting us off visiting places and that can mean that people miss out on some really special experiences. So, how do you decide if a place is safe to travel to?
My first port of call is always government advice on travel safety. If they’ve put a warning on a specific country or region I’ll usually avoid it altogether. When it comes to isolated events, though, I’m more likely to accept that, unfortunately, crime is not absent in any country and the best course of action is to learn from what happened and take precautions to avoid it happening to me.
With that in mind, here’s a rundown of the issues I faced in Brazil.
From the moment I crossed the border into Brazil, things started to go wrong. It was new year’s day and my friend and I were trying to get to Foz so we could check into our hostel before a fleeting visit to Iguazu Falls. Things had gone smoothly until we got our passports stamped on the Brazilian side, and then the bus that was meant to come every 15 minutes just never showed. Grabbing a taxi instead, we only just made it in time to jog along the footpath at the falls for one hour before the park closed.
Later that evening, we headed into town to get money out and find some food. There were plenty of banks, but all of the ATMs were in foyers behind locked doors. It took us 45 minutes to find a restaurant that was open and three more hours before our pizza finally arrived.
But these were just minor irritations compared with some of the scary experiences that were to come.–
WALKING ON BROKEN GLASS
The day after we arrived in Foz, having visited both sides of the majestic Iguazu Falls, my friend headed off to Rio for the final two days of her trip. I’d said goodbye at 6am and then crawled back into bed to sleep off a week of manic sightseeing and late nights. My plan was to hang about in Foz for a few days to give me time to plan where I wanted to go next and to do a bit of leisurely blogging. By midday, it was definitely time to freshen up and get back to being proactive.
I grabbed my pathetic microfibre towel and dashed to the bathroom while it was still unoccupied. Letting the uncharacteristically hot water cascade over my head, I felt relaxed and rejuvenated – that sinking feeling of getting my solo backpacker status back gradually dissipating.
The relaxed feeling didn’t last long. As I slid the full glass door to the side on my way out of the shower, the entire thing shattered to smithereens around me, cutting my hands and feet.
Feeling pretty shaken up, I tiptoed gingerly over the wreckage, leaving trails of blood in my wake, to retrieve my clothes from the back of the door. The hostel staff seemed genuinely concerned for my wellbeing, rather than charging me for the damage as I’d feared, but I was still shaken up.
CREEPY DORMMATE
Paraty was pretty quiet, but I made some friends in my hostel and hung out with them in the evenings. We had a 12-bed mixed dorm and everyone seemed really friendly, although we thought it was a bit odd that the men who were doing maintenance on the hostel were also sleeping there.
I’d chatted only briefly to one such maintenance man from Argentina. His English was good and he seemed nice enough. On my last night in Paraty, the others had all checked out and it was just me and him in the dorm room.
In retrospect, it was strange that he’d moved to the top bunk next to mine when he had his choice of 10 other beds, but I thought nothing of it until it was time to go to sleep. I put my book down and he asked if I wanted him to turn the light out. ‘Sure,’ I replied with a smile.
I was not prepared for what happened next. He headed straight for my bed in the darkness and grabbed me, then started stroking my legs and planting kisses on my arm. I pushed him off immediately but it took him a while to get the message that I wasn’t interested. Back in his bed, he used every trick in the book to try to change my mind, accusing me of being too scared so I’d be tempted to prove him wrong and suggesting it would be really hot to have sex with a complete stranger.
Finally, he gave up and fell asleep, but I was too concerned about his intentions to slip into unconsciousness so easily.
There was worse to come in the morning, when I woke to the sound of the bed next to me rocking from side to side. Mr Argentina was pleasuring himself vigorously and whispering in English in between the heavy breathing, ‘Touch my snake’! I reported him to hostel staff, but I don’t know what the outcome was because I didn’t fancy sticking around!
ATTEMPTED MUGGING
The Lapa steps…not long before the mugging
Two days after my unpleasant experience with Mr Argentina, I found myself in Rio, staying at the fantastic Books Hostel in the Lapa district. The area has a reputation for not being the safest at night, but advice from locals and hostel staff was that I’d be fine during the day if I kept my wits about me.
For the purpose of this blog, I slipped my DSLR into my bag with enough cash to last the day and a bottle of suncream. I didn’t want to risk having anything else stolen.
The moment I turned the corner, I saw a toothless woman smashing up a wooden box. She took one big piece in her hand and marched purposefully up the street as though she intended to murder someone.
I saw lots of homeless people, drunks, and small gangs casting me suspicious glances. It was by far the most unsettled I felt in the whole of my time in South America, so I kept my shoulder bag over my head, resting on my front, and grabbed hold of the side where the zip was.
I was sticking to the touristy spots and only taking roads that were busy with pedestrians. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. As I rounded a corner with particularly busy traffic and a high wall on one side, a young guy ran up behind me and took a strong hold on my bag, trying to yank it out of my grasp.
Scene of the attempted mugging. Doesn’t look too bad does it?!
–
I went with my instinct at that moment and screamed in terror. It was a chilling sound. In those few seconds, I wondered fleetingly if he might have a weapon. Since he’d approached me from behind, I couldn’t tell what he might be planning on doing next.
And then, just as suddenly as he’d arrived, he was gone. Presumably I scared him off with all the attention I was drawing to us.
WAS IT WORTH IT?
As you can see, my first few weeks in Brazil could have been better. I reached a point where I wrote off the whole country as not my kind of place and daydreamed about being back up in the Andes. I felt down about ending my seven months with a run of bad luck. But, as it turns out, you can always rely on good friends, generous family hosts and a massive world-famous festival to turn things around. No matter what had happened to me up to this point, Rio turned out to be one of my favourite cities, and Carnival was out of this world. In future, I’ll be very gentle with sliding glass doors, rethink spending the night in a dorm room with just one man who I barely know, and avoid exploring areas with a bad reputation by myself.
I loved the people in Brazil… not so much Sao Paulo
Me too! I met some fantastic Brazilians, especially during carnaval, when everyone was in the mood for fun. It was just a shame things didn’t go too well when I first got there…
The snake story is “funny” but in that obnoxiously ridiculous, only after it’s over, kind of way. I’ll never understand what makes people do these things – as if you waking to find him engaged in masturbation would have changed your mind.
Ugh.
Maria recently posted..Wordless Wednesday – Park Guell
Hehehe. I know! I don’t know what he was thinking! He even turned the fan off beforehand, as if he wanted me to be able to hear it all. I just pretended to sleep through it. I’m shivering just thinking about it!
I think you were really unlucky Ari. I was so ready to be robbed in Brazil after what everyone told me, but nothing bad happened at all, and I loved it.
I could have been more unlucky. At least the leery man and the mugger were both unsuccessful.. It kind of made me feel invincible! :)
I’m sorry to hear that you had such bad experiences on that trip, Arianwen. Very unfortunate, indeed. All the best for happier times in the future…
Andrew Graeme Gould recently posted..Santiago, Chile: Cerro Santa Lucía
Thank you Andrew! I have to say though, I’ve heard many worse stories from fellow travellers. At least they were close calls and nothing bad actually came of any of the experiences. I’m going to say it’s character building!
Oh no, what bad luck! It’s always the people and circumstances rather than the setting that really affect your experience in a country I find. And mugging is unfortunately a bad problem in Brazil, I always carried money and keys in my bra as it’s the safest place! Glad to hear that Carnaval was able to change your opinion of Rio de Janeiro, it’s such a gorgeous place (despite its faults) and definitely is a country I hope to return to (Salvador and Bahia please).
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Yes, that’s so true. I went to a couple of these places twice and had a completely different impression of them just because of who I was with. I did the same trick with my money. In Lapa at night I had nothing in my hands at all. It was quite liberating! I just had to be careful not to forget my money was in my underwear as I nearly washed it down the plug hole on more than one occasion!
Really sorry (for all of it) but in particular that incident with Argentinian! Kinda makes my blood boil….
Take the good with the bad though.
I know. It’s really bad that he behaved like that. He may not have actually gone through with anything, but some girls (obviously those less thick-skinned than me – haha) might find this sort of situation really hard to deal with. He wasn’t even remorseful. The next day he came over to tell me he was driving the transfer truck to the bus station. I said ‘Oh, great’ sarcastically and he actually replied with ‘Watch out!’
Oh man – I’m so sorry all of these happened to you *hugs* A series of misfortunate events happened to me in Ethiopia. Finally I decided that the country just didn’t want me there and ran away.
Hopefully after this things turned around for the better?
jill recently posted..Hiking ‘La Selva Negra’, the Black Forest in Matagalpa
I think I might have run away from Brazil too, if it hadn’t been for Rio Carnival being just around the corner, and the fact that I was flying out of Rio too. In the end I retraced my footsteps to meet up with a really good friend, because I knew I’d have a great time in her company. A bit of a wuss way to end the trip after all my solo adventures, but I was winding down and just wanted to enjoy the last few weeks….which I definitely did!
No fun! Glad to hear the attempted mugging was only attempted, at least. These things always seem to happen at once (in threes!) so hopefully you’re done for a while and destined for travel luck in the near future!
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Yes, that was definitely my little bad luck spell and things have been plain sailing ever since! I’m so glad that guy didn’t get my camera. I would have been devastated, even though nearly all my photos were backed up. I guess it goes to show that wearing your bag securely and being alert does make a difference. Although, perhaps it would have been even better if I’d gone with my gut instinct and headed back to the hostel when I saw the angry toothless woman!
Geez talk about a series of unfortunate events! Glad that the three scenarios didn’t turn out even worse! I was mugged in Ecuador by a guy with a screwdriver, which can actually be scarier than it sounds! I didn’t have my purse on me, so the only thing he took was a ring that was a family heirloom, not worth anything at allI guess that’s just part of travel though, accepting the bad with the amazing.
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While I was travelling, I actually heard about a girl being mugged in Quito by a guy with a screwdriver! Either you’re pretty famous for that incident or the nasty guy is still doing it. I’m sorry to hear that you had to go through that, but I’m glad you weren’t carrying all your important things when it happened. I got mugged earlier in my trip in Cali, Colombia, but it was just a subtle bag snatch so it wasn’t too emotionally scarring.
OMG CREEPPYYYY! “Touch my snake” Argentinian! Okay, so I did laugh when I read that part especially but holy YIKES! Glad you were safe! I’m more surprised you didnt move to another room! A guy once grabbed me from the back many years ago and I did the same thing you did… screamed at the top of my lungs. I think they expect us to fight back instead of scream or try to grab just about anyone’s attention. So glad you are A-okay! Rio happens to be one of my favorite cities and sorry to hear about some unfortunate experiences!
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I probably should have moved, you’re right. It was pretty late though and I didn’t want to seem like I was overreacting. I’m lucky he didn’t take it any further. Screaming was a gut reaction and it worked, so I’m glad I can trust my instincts! Rio is one of my favourite cities too, and I won’t let an incident like that change my mind.
OMG, you poor thing. That Argentinian guy would have creeped me out as well. I can’t believe he had a wank right next to you and actually said touch my snake. If it wan’t so frightening it would be hilarious. I experienced an attempted mug in Cambodia as well. A guy on a motorbike tried to rip my handbag off me. As I always hold on to my handbag as well he only managed to get the strap. Before I could realize what happened he was gone again, but only with my handbag strap. Ha! :-)
TammyOnTheMove recently posted..“Appy ‘Oli”
Nice work managing to avoid a proper mugging! The only thing that scares me about that is that they might drive by and grab your bag and it’s so secure it actually drags you with it! It’s encouraging to hear that quite a few people have had near misses with muggings. It goes to show that a few extra precautions like the style of your bag or the way you wear it can actually make all the difference.
You can get mugged even in the safest-looking parts of cities…
Yep. This wasn’t an area particularly known for its safety, but it was a busy road very near a popular tourist attraction at 2 pm in the afternoon. I guess it teaches us to just remain vigilant in unfamiliar cities, even when we feel safe.