Tour Guides in Rio -- Where Are Neyla and Rafa?

[MalibuCA]

I have read so many postings about Neyla and Rafa, both described as the best guides ever to hit the tour industry in Rio de Janeiro. I have sent them both 2 emails (each) to try and secure their services when we are 4 days post-cruise in Rio. Neither one has responded. I've doubled-checked my email addresses with those posted on CC, and I've sent to the correct addresses. Anyone know how else I can reach them? Cell phone number? Other emails? Please help if you can.

 

Thanks,

Shelley:confused:

[Menininha82]

I am sure Rafa is feeling overwhelmed in these days leading up to Carnaval. He not only does the actual driving and guiding of both day and night tours, but all the "secretarial work" (e-mails, etc.) as well, which makes for a looooooong day if one is fully booked all day/night every day.

Try tel: (city code 021) 9469 6562 .

Hope you are lucky enough to book him !

Do enjoy Rio.

[MalibuCA]

Thank you so much! I will give him a call and hope I can find him!

 

Thanks,

Shelley

[Menininha82]

@Shelley--

I'm told it's best to send another email into the extremely overfull inbox of our friend Rafa. (My suggestion is to make the subject line "memorable" in some way. :-) But there is an updated cell number as well: 8391 5290

Have a great trip.

[Scrapchick]

Shelley,

 

If your user name corresponds to where you live, then we are neighbors...

 

We are using Neyla on our visit to Rio. We actually called her on her cell phone and she answered and said she was at the Christ Statue with clients and told us to e-mail her. We did that and she got back to us within two days and we are now booked to tour Rio with her. I think she is pretty much a one person operation, so out all day and then catches up with messages when she can.... Try calling her cell phone number from her website.

[MalibuCA]

Hi, Scrapchick --

 

Yes, we must be neighbors! We live right near Pepperdine University. We've probably past each other with our shopping carts at the market no doubt!

 

Thanks for the info on Neyla. Actually, I spoke with her on the phone, too! I connected with Rafa as well, and we have signed up for a private tour with him. I knew they would both surface eventually! Just a very busy time of year for them. I think we can both relax about private guides now -- from all that I have read, we've both got fabulous people to show us Rio.

 

Have a great cruise, and thanks for helping me find Neyla.

 

Shelley

[Scrapchick]

You're welcome. We're on the Point, but I'm sure we've crossed paths... A very small town!

 

We're on the Feb 18 Rio cruise on the Star Princess. How about you?

[MalibuCA]

We have to wait a looooong time, I'm afraid. Not until December on the Regent Mariner. I love the planning stage, however. Almost as good as getting there (but not quite).

 

Have a great cruise! I will definitely check out your music venue! We love discovering local music, too. In Vienna, it was the opera. In Buenos Aires, it will be tango. In Rio, looks like Bossa Nova! Did you happen to find a place (that is safe) to see Samba?

 

Shelley

[Scrapchick]

What music venue?! Do you mean the Sunset??? I have a friend who sings there regularly. Must go and check her out.... Haven't set anything up for samba in Rio yet, but I've not given a lot of thought to this cruise until recently, as we travel a lot and I tend to focus on the first one coming up... Our roll call is absolutely huge and almost overwhelming, so I walked away from it for a while and am now getting back into things. My first priority was a city tour in Rio, but I did set up penguins in the Falklands a few months ago, and was almost too late for that.....

[Menininha82]

Shelley--

You asked "Did you happen to find a place (that is safe) to see Samba?"

There are a few different possibilities (depending on the timing of your trip--can't remeber if I saw that detail elsewhere).

And there are two distinct kinds of samba to see, the type seen at Carnaval, and samba gafiera, the type seen in clubs that is danced with a partner.

For samba gafiera danced to live music, you could go to Carioca da Gema in Lapa or Estudantina or Elite in the Centro. You can join in with the locals if you like or just watch and lsiten while sipping a drink.

For Carnaval samba, there are evening rehearsals and feijoada lunches at the neighborhood locations of each samba school. You should not have any safety problems. Mangueira and Salgeiro schools are fairly close to the tourist neighborhoods by taxi. The schools also all have (uncostumed) technical rehearsals in the sambodromo just before Carnaval starts.

There are also shows for tourists on Thursday night, as well as exhibits, at Samba City (but not just before Carnaval).

There is a very Vegas-y Carnaval tourist show with costumes at Plataforma.

Have fun.

[MalibuCA]

Thanks for the samba info. I will check that out. We will be in Rio mid-December. Will the samba venues be impacted by Carnaval yet?

 

Scrapchick -- Oops, I got your posting confused with another I read, where the poster was suggesting a music venue in Rio for local music. Now I need to figure out where that was! I wasn't referring to the Sunset, but we do like that place. We've been going there on and off for years as it changed hands and is now finally the Sunset. What a spot! One of the best wedding locations in Southern CA!

[Scrapchick]

I agree.... Beautiful place to marry.. Unfortunately, we know of a couple who planned to get married there today, of all days, and it has rained most of the morning.... Such a shame!!

 

I remember the Sunset back in its Monrose days. It seems to have stabilized now with the current owners.

[MalibuCA]

Oh, no! What a day for an wedding! I hope that it was planned indoors, at least. It's pouring right now. I thought about taking a walk at the Malibu Bluffs Park because it looked like the rain was finished, but then the skies opened up again. I'm glad I stayed home!

 

Shelley

[Menininha82]

"We will be in Rio mid-December. Will the samba venues be impacted by Carnaval yet?"

 

No, everything mentioned should be in full swing, a great time to be visiting!

[Menininha82]

For anyone arriving at the cruise pier at Maua in Rio who might want to be prepared and see what the location actually looks like, I came across a YouTube video that shows it. (It's actually a video that guide Rafa recorded about meeting his clients, but does show the locale pretty clearly.)

and another from outside, showing the ships docked:

[Reader64]

I also am having a difficult time getting in touch with Don Rafa-we will be in Rio on the 25th and 26th of February-looking for a tour english speaking for seven people from the Oceania Insignia.....Any ideas on how to find a tour.....

[Menininha82]

Note: Whereas many Rio tour guides, including Rafa, have a private vehicle, seven people means that any guide proposing to take you other than by foot would need to rent a vehicle, or vehicle with driver, with that capacity. The type of mini-van found in the U.S. with seating for 7-8 is not common in Brazil.

 

As mentioned above, re-send your email to Rafa.

 

Here are some other resources for guides:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Search?q=tour+guide+rio+de+janeiro&sub-search=SEARCH&geo=303506&returnTo=__2F__Attractions__2D__g303506__2D__Activities__2D__Rio__5F__de__5F__Janeiro__5F__State__5F__of__5F__Rio__5F__de__5F__Janeiro__2E__html

 

http://www.toursbylocals.com/TBL/WebObjects/ToursByLocals.woa/1/wa/mapclick?type=guide&region=25&area=15&wosid=GCas39D4lOjcmccjPTnnSw

 

Have a great trip!

[mare s.]

For those who have used Neyla or Rafa....how far in advance is it best to contact them and set up tours?

Thanks.

[Scrapchick]

We got extremely lucky and booked Neyla with three weeks notice, during the week Carnival is due to start...... We had three days we could do, she was only free for one of them. We contacted other tour guides and were told they were booked and expected their colleagues to be booked as well, so I think we got really lucky with Neyla at such short notice. In hindsight I should have acted on things a bit sooner...

 

MalibuCA... The rain on Monday was more than expected and came back with vengeance later in the day. Our friends wedding was a very wet affair but apparently a big rainbow came out which cheered everyone up. We enjoy Bluff Park a lot and I will soon be spending a lot of time there as Little League season is about to descend... I have spent many hours freezing in the winds and fog at the bluffs... I keep a blanket and winter coat in my car during Little League season just in case!

[susierailroad]

I've searched and I cannot find the email addresses for Rafa and Neyla. Will someone be good enough to provide me with their addresses? Thanks

[Menininha82]

Rafa (Rafael Torres Lopes)

email: donrafainrio@yahoo.es

[LuAnn]

Shelley,

 

If your user name corresponds to where you live, then we are neighbors...

 

We are using Neyla on our visit to Rio. We actually called her on her cell phone and she answered and said she was at the Christ Statue with clients and told us to e-mail her. We did that and she got back to us within two days and we are now booked to tour Rio with her. I think she is pretty much a one person operation, so out all day and then catches up with messages when she can.... Try calling her cell phone number from her website.

 

How are you??? We are on a Rome to Rio T/A in November..where are you staying in Rio? And can you email me ...want to pick your brains a little, please?? Happy New Year and hope you all are well!! LuAnn

[Scrapchick]

I've searched and I cannot find the email addresses for Rafa and Neyla. Will someone be good enough to provide me with their addresses? Thanks

 

 

Here is Neyla's address. She does respond to this but it can take a couple of days.

 

Torguide Neyla <neyla@tourguideneyla.com>

[Scrapchick]

How are you??? We are on a Rome to Rio T/A in November..where are you staying in Rio? And can you email me ...want to pick your brains a little, please?? Happy New Year and hope you all are well!! LuAnn

 

 

Well, well, well... Look who popped up!

 

LuAnn, how are you??? Great to see you here.... Yes, I will e-mail you. I believe I still have your address on my computer.

 

We are staying at the Sheraton Resort in Leblon in Rio.

 

I'll shoot you an e-mail and we can connect that way.

[CaseyJo]

I'm in the South Bay. Will you be there for Carnival? We are taking the HAL Veendam on Feb. 20.