I came to Rio the first time about ten years ago. Young, clueless, and stumbling into good times. I drank caipirinhas in Copacabana and sun bathed on Ipanema Beach. I was told Don’t go left—went left anyway. I got lost. Had the night of my life in a favela.
No photos. No itinerary. It was careless, a little reckless, and definetly unforgettable.
So when VisitRIO invited me back this year, I wondered if Rio could still hit the same now that I wasn’t wandering blindly. This time, I came with context, access, and experience. And what surprised me wasn’t that the city still held the carefree magic I remembered. It was that Rio brought the history, the culture, and the Blackness forward in ways I wasn’t prepared for — right alongside the joy that first made me fall in love with it
Black in Rio: Even When It’s Not the Headline
Hosted by VisitRio
Could Rio still move me when I wasn’t just chasing vibes?
I was invited during Brazil’s Black Consciousness Month, something I didn’t even realize other countries formally recognized. November honors Zumbi dos Palmares, a legendary leader of escaped enslaved Africans who resisted Portuguese rule and built one of the largest free Black communities in Brazilian history. Today, he symbolizes resistance, survival, and the ongoing fight against systemic inequality in a country with one of the largest Black populations in the world.
That context alone shifted how I moved through the city.
Samba City: The Blueprint Behind the Greatest Show on Earth
If Carnival is the greatest party alive, Samba City is where the magic is engineered. We walked through doors few outsiders ever get to enter — into a samba school working year-round to build what the world sees for just a few nights. Welders shaping floats, artists sewing thousands of costumes, drummers practicing rhythms passed down through generations. I learned quickly that Carnival isn’t just a party. It’s a really huge competition!
Carnival Competition and Guidelines:
roughly four thousand people per school
five to seven floats per performance
exactly one hour and twenty minutes to tell a story that has to land perfectly — musically, visually, emotionally.
And then came the history that stopped me in my tracks.
Samba, and Carnival itself, were born from Black creativity. Tia Ciata, a free Afro-Brazilian woman from Bahia who preserved African traditions through music, dance, and community gatherings in her home — now part of Rio’s Little Africa. Her spaces became sanctuaries of joy and resistance, laying the cultural foundation for the Carnival the world knows today.
You won’t always hear that part in glossy travel guides. But once you do, Carnival stops being “a party” and becomes something much more.
The Carnaval Experience tour lets you step into this world in a way few visitors ever do. As a guest of the 2022 Carnival champion Grand Rio. It’s one of the rare opportunities to see the process up close, try on the costumes, dance samba, and understand the cultural weight behind the spectacle. Proceeds also help fund social & educational projects for children from Providência, one of Rio’s oldest favelas.
It’s a secret! But I’ll give you a peak…
Rio’s Icons, Seen From the Top
This time, I finally saw Christ the Redeemer. We took the Corcovado Railway through Tijuca National Park, joining hundreds of thousands of visitors making the climb to one of the Seven Wonders of the World!
Even with the railway I was very happy to find there was also an escalator to help climb the rest of the journey. The crowds were thick with people vying for the perfect picture. The sun sat directly behind the statue when we arrived mid-afternoon. PRO TIP: Timing matters. I recommend getting there earlier for a different positioning of the sun. Still, standing there felt spiritual. The scale, the view, the silence that briefly settles when everyone looks up at once — it’s worth it.
Sugarloaf Mountain at sunset is definitely the move— a whole party where you can grab a Caipirinha and enjoy the DJ-set-meets-scenic-vibes at the top. We took not one but two cable cars to reach the top, gliding above Guanabara Bay as the city stretched out beneath us. Locals and visitors blend together to enjoy the party, shopping, and eats are on the first stop. PRO TIP: make sure you splurge for the fast pass because this isn’t just a tourist spot.
When Culture Feels Like Home
After a long day of exploration, we were welcomed at Yayá Comidaria. The Black-owned neighborhood restaurant serves Brazilian comfort dishes with warmth and intention. Chef Andressa Cabral’s portions are generous in the way that signals care — the kind of meal that feeds both the body and the moment. Located near the South Zone and close to Sugarloaf, it felt like being welcomed into a space where locals eat and visitors become family.
But the moment that truly felt like home came unexpectedly, under a bridge in the Pedra do Sal area where we discovered Baile Charme,
In a country where I expected samba, funk, and bossa nova, I found myself surrounded by people dancing — flawlessly — to late 90s and early 2000s 90s. Joe, Franky Fade, Ryan Leslie, SWV, and Ginuwine. Choreography so sharp it looked rehearsed. It felt like stepping into a throwback house party, a BET music video, and a family cookout all at once.
It was like my dreams of being able to enjoy a 90’s house party were coming true and I was finding out I couldn’t hang! Here are some videos for reference that I cannot wait to practice.
Black History Everywhere, Even When It Isn’t Centered
Here’s the truth that deserves space.
Rio is built on Black history. You feel it in the music, the food, the neighborhoods, the movement of the city itself. But that doesn’t always mean the history is centered the way it should be.
That’s where the Black Travel Summit hosted by VisitRIO mattered deeply. Black creators, journalists, hoteliers, and travelers from the U.S., London, Italy, Turkey, and beyond gathered to talk about representation, access, and storytelling. And Rio didn’t just host us. It acknowledged us. It made room for our voices.
I didn’t feel like the odd one out.
I felt seen. Chosen. Celebrated.
Rio is welcoming to Black travelers — warm, curious, proud — even as it continues to evolve in how it tells its full story. The beauty and the progress coexist here, and that honesty is part of what makes the city compelling.
Who Netflix House Is Actually For
Everyone. Truly. It’s for kids old enough to run around without face-planting. It’s for date nights that need something fun to break the ice. It’s for friend groups who need a reason to get dressed and leave the house. It’s for solo people who want adventure without pressure. It’s for families who want to see their favorite stories come alive. And it’s for people like me — the ones who love TV a little too much and feel like they don’t have to apologize for it.
There are only two Netflix Houses in the country, and Dallas is one of them.
Netflix House Dallas opens to the public on December 11, 2025.
If you want to see what it actually feels like inside, check out my videos and other blog posts linked above — and follow along for more real, lived-in travel and culture stories:
