How to find a reliable guide when visiting cities in Brazil?

12/07/24 @Pablo888.  The only time we've used a professional guide was for a half-day walking tour of Belo Horizonte.  The guide was knowledgeable, professional, and pleasant, his English was good, and I thought that the service was worth the price.  We booked the tour on TripAdvisor, and they appear to offer many different tours of most major Brazilian cities at a range of prices.  The tourist pays TripAdvisor and they pay the guide, so you can use any major currency or BRL, although prices may vary a little among currencies.  Most tour guides accept private bookings, so a one-off tour like that lets you "try before you buy" and do some negotiating for a more extended engagement.

You can research professional guides through Cadastur, the Ministry of Tourism's agency for licensing guides and helping clients connect to them.  You can specify a guide who's also a driver, if that's what you need. The site, unfortunately, appears to only be available in Portuguese.  You can find guides here:

https://cadastur.turismo.gov.br/hotsite … sta/inicio

Most hotels have relationships with tourism organizations, so the front desk at your hotel can probably connect you with a guide.  You can also just walk up to one and discuss your needs at any major tourist attraction, where guides find various ways to make themselves visible.  Here in Manaus the best choice would be the Largo de São Francisco, in front of the Teatro Amazonas; I'm sure that the same goes for major squares in any city with a lot of tourists.  Cadastur-registered guides generally have plasticized business cards with their Cadastur registration number and contact information, and if you show any interest at all, those cards will rain down on you.

I notice a Brazil-focused service called iFriend  that looks promising.  I know nothing about them, but they look worth checking out:

https://theifriend.com/en

Thank you @abthree.

I will look at the Cadastur web site.  I am sure that there are gold nuggets of information there... I am really eager to ramp up on my reading too.

Much appreciated.

@Pablo888 Find a Brazilian Friend! That seems to be one of the major differences between the USA and Brazil. Brazil is a very family-oriented, friend-oriented place. The USA tends to be a craigslist, freelancer society where we hire out for help.

We have a Brazilian Man Friday, who is actually the father of our prime caretaker. He takes care of our car, drives us around and in the beginning gave me a tour of my new village. This all came about because our caretaker is also my wife's secretary and she worked for my wife in Fortaleza and then when my wife moved to our village 6 hours away, she came too. Later my wife built a house for her and her children knowing that she would then have 24-hour back-up for taking care of my 97-year-old mother.

Finding the right person is invaluable and longer lasting then your one-day hire.

Roddie in Retirement🕵

@Pablo888 Find a Brazilian Friend! - @roddiesho

@roddiesho, great suggestion, but I get a minor panic attack whenever I think about that....

1. How do I do that?
2. I keep thinking of the song by Seu Jorge - "Amiga de minha mulher" - it can be a dangerous thing to find a Brazilian friend....

I guess that in the NA culture, this was not something that was emphasized.....  Or I am too left-brained to have learnt....

@Pablo888

Can you find guides on AirBnB Experiences?

@Pablo888 I noticed that, not necessarily with you, but just in general...the look it up in the phone book, or google it, whereas in the old days the men and woman used to gossip over the fence etc for information. 

Since I was 10 years old, I always had a Brazilian relative, then a Brazilian wife, so it is natural for me.

The only thing I would say is take certain precautions, but since you are living

here just go out and get around.

I went to the  Pimentao Grocery Store with my wife and there was

a Photographer taking customer photos of customers with the "Stuffed Christmas Bear".

I started to tell him what camera I use and then found out not only did he speak English, but he was a Videographer, and he owned a Drone.

All of which I really needed help with for my YouTube Channel.

Sometimes going out and being friendly will really do the trick.

As far as the "Panic Attacks", I am actually an Introvert who

just happens to be funny and extroverted.

Kind of a Steve Martin type, where I am very lively with some people,

but very quiet at home.

When I was very young, my father had me and my younger brother

read the announcements in church in front of the congregation. I became very

adept at speaking in front of friends and strangers to the point of

if the announcement writer mis-spelled a word I could mentally

correct it and not miss a beat in my reading.

Somethings just take practice. One Step at a Time.

Roddie in Retirement🕵

12/07/24 @Pablo888 Can you find guides on AirBnB Experiences? - @alan279

I've occasionally seen guided tours on AirBnB Experiences for both groups or couples.  The challenge for the places we go is that those experiences usually fill up fast for the days we have available, and are usually fully booked by the time we get around to making a decision.  The situation may be different at other locations, or for people with more flexible schedules.

At first glance this site looks promising.

https://www.getyourguide.com/

@Pablo888

I could help you find a guide in Ilhéus. Probably other expats could help you in their cities. Or do you require a guide to multiple cities in Brazil?

@Pablo888
I could help you find a guide in Ilhéus. Probably other expats could help you in their cities. Or do you require a guide to multiple cities in Brazil? - @alan279

Thank you @alan279.  No, I only need local guides... 

The issue here is to find a local guide for my kids (16, 20, and 21).  I am comfortable with exploring on my own but my kids do not know what to expect and more importantly do not know what not to do....

For now, I will ask them to use a guide who has been personally referred to by someone else - and also get a chance to talk to that person before.

@Pablo888

I know you have visited Rio before, but if you need an English speaking guide with a car for that city - I have a great contact who I have used a couple of times...

@Pablo888

Rio has good public transportation, if that's your destination. And Uber.

The light rail (VLT) will take you around downtown. The bonde will take you to Santa Teresa. The metro runs along the beaches. There's a train to the Cristo. And the cable car to Sugarloaf. There's a ferry to Nitoroi.

Where do you and your children want to go?

Where do your children want to go? - @alan279

Good question.  Have you ever tried to get 3 Gen-Z'ers to agree on anything?  The only thing that I know is that they do not want to be with their parents all the time.

@peter_itamaraca - I may take you up on the offer here - but I will need to decide in the next couple of days as the events and good guides book fast.

Maybe a tour of Rio?

https://www.airbnb.com/slink/Xa3sS8An