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The Rio artful dodger - the story of the englishman who turned a favela upside down

Find out about the Brit who fell in love with a Brasilian favela and turned it into one of the safest areas in Rio

Words: Adriano Espinola Filho / Photos: Erika Tambke

One of the main strategies for surviving in Rio is learning to respect where you can and can’t go. You can’t just walk about anywhere, at anytime, anyway you like. Anyone who knows the reality of Rio will know what I’m talking about. And this reality has a name: favela. And in the favela, my friend, people live by the gun. That’s why, when I was chosen to write an article on the Tavares Bastos favela, located in the Catete neighbourhood in the centre of Rio, I couldn’t help but think “I’m f***ed”. Yami, the editor, calmed me down, “Relax, there are no drugs in this favela. There’s a troop of elite police (BOPE) stationed there, and they don’t let anything happen.”

“Ah right... Ok then, I’ll do it”, I replied, somewhat uncertain. The fact that the Swat Team was stationed there calmed me somewhat, it’s true, but I’m still a long way from considering myself a war correspondent. My mission was to interview Bob Nadkarni, a British journalist and artist who set up an atelier 27 years ago in the favela, and two years ago transformed the place into a guesthouse. And it’s precisely this guesthouse, The Maze Inn, which is making waves internationally. To get an idea, The Guardian wrote an article classifying it as one of the safest parts of the city with one of the most beautiful views in all Brasil.

There has been increased interest in itall with the attention the film industry has been giving the area. Ever since directors discovered that they could shoot there without getting shot at, “Bob’s house”, as it’s known locally, has begun to serve as a base for film teams from across the world. The favela has been the backdrop to scenes from the new Incredible Hulk film with Edward Norton and co., a Snoop Dog clip, and an episode from the series Rhythm of Life, which the “fifth Beatle” George Martin recorded for the BBC. And that’s not all; the favela was the location for scenes from the film Elite Squad, soap operas produced by TV Globo and Record and even the actor Matt Dillon plans on filming scenes for his next movie at Tavares Bastos.

OK, now that I’d been introduced to everyone, Érica, the photographer, and I went off in search of “Bob’s house”. At the foot of the hill leading up to the favela, still unsure that we were on the right track, we spotted a man in a black shirt with a rifle in his hand. It was a member of the elite squad – a sign that we were near the guesthouse. Walking on a little further, we came to a stop. “Excuse me, could you tell us where Bob’s house is, please?”

“Ah, just over there. Just go up those stairs, son”, explained the friendly local sat on the pavement in front of his house, without a care in the world. We carried on through the narrow alleyways of the favela, unable to hide our satisfaction at being able to wander through a no-go area for the majority of Cariocas.

As soon as you arrive at the Maze Inn, it’s impossible not to be taken aback by the view; Sugarloaf Mountain, looking like a postcard, is practically plonked in the middle of the living room. Bread and fruit abound, and a little tram slowly makes its way up and down the hill.

the man | It was there that we met Bob Nadkarni, chatting excitedly with an English tourist. Bob was trying to sum up to his recently-arrived guest how the Brasilian political system worked.

“Brasil isn’t a democracy, it’s a cleptocracy. The government is the first to rob all the money. When people start complaining down here, they give out a little bit to shut everyone up. If someone somewhere else starts opening their mouth, they hand out a little bit to that person as well. So they just hand out money until everyone stops complaining, from the top of the heap to the bottom. But the poor, who are all decent, honest people don’t complain. They just get caps and T-shirts with politicians’ names splashed over them”.

And that’s Bob down to the ground. He says what he thinks and doesn’t spare anyone. This unique Englishman doesn’t just put down Brasilian politicians: he can turn his ammunition back on his own homeland just as easily. I asked if he saw any solution for Brasil.

“I don’t know. I look at England. I was raised at a time when honesty and a person’s word were the most important things in life. Then Margaret Thatcher came along and destroyed all that. The England I knew doesn’t exist anymore. It was the same thing when I came over here. In Salvador, I came across a wallet in the street. When I handed it in to the police, the officer turned to his mate and said “Look at this gringo, what a sucker”. Two weeks later, I received more change than I should have at a bar; I gave the money back to the waiter and heard the same thing: “Ah, these gringos really are suckers”.

The third time around I thought “Ok, I get it ‘otário’, the Portuguese word for ‘sucker’ must mean ‘honest’. It took me six months to learn what the word really meant”.