It’s no secret that Brazil is portrayed as an unsafe place, stories of robberies and violent crime are all to prevalent. But that doesn’t mean that you cannot enjoy everything that this magical country has to offer, you just need advice on staying safe at Rio Carnival.
I recently travelled Brazil for a month and even as a guy from a small town in England, I managed to stay safe and enjoy everything from the mega cities to the natural wonders.
For my carnival experience, I was in Rio De Janeiro, as most of you will be as well. Although carnival happens in all Brazilian cities and much of Latin America, the allure of Rio’s beaches, mountains, jungles and nightlife are hard for a tourist to resist.
This is for good reason, it is by far the most beautiful city I have ever seen; but it is a city of contrasts, the mega-rich neighborhoods of Copacabana and Ipanema sit within walking distance of favelas (informal and unregulated housing developments) where crime often runs rife.
For this reason, tourists need to know how to stay safe at Rio Carnival. Below is a collection of my own observations and tips from some of the lovely locals that I’ve met (and a little bit of common sense).
My top tips for staying safe at Rio Carnival
- Do not walk the streets at night alone.
As I said some of this article is common sense, I personally wouldn’t do this in cities in the UK but people continue to make this mistake and often lose their phone and wallet because of it.
- Put your valuables in a bum bag (fanny pack for the Americans)
Despite the fact that you might look a bit silly, bum bags are by far the easiest way to keep track of your belongings. It won’t prevent you from getting pickpocketed, but it will make it harder. Just make sure you turn the bag around so the zips are facing your chest when you’re in the bloco’s (it gets very busy in some.
- Keep your phone in your pocket when walking
Most crime that affects tourists in Rio is opportunistic; you can keep yourself off the radar of thieves by not advertising what you have. If you need to make a phone call just go into a shop to do it. I would also recommend buy a cheap seond phone to take to bloco’s, that way you can stay in touch with friends and still get photos and videos.
- Do not attend parties in Lapa alone
Lapa is the city’s nightlife district, the vast majority of venues are safe for tourists but the stories of tourists being spiked and robbed in these clubs are sadly not a fallacy. If you go on a night in Lapa, take only the cash you need, your dummy phone and most importantly some friends who can look out for you.
- If you are a victim of a robbery, do not struggle.
Sadly Rio’s reputation for violent crime is not unfounded and neither is its reputation for armed robberies. It is often hard to tell who has a weapon or if they are working alone, do not provoke your attacker into escalation. Losing your iPhone is upsetting, but losing a litre of blood will be much worse.
