In Rio de Janeiro they have been busy civilizing the favelas (slums) whose brutal existence was immortalized in the 2002 film, City of God. Adventurous tourists are now visiting some of the more sanitized favelas and small restaurants have opened up. (The favela Dona Marta gained fame for the visits of Madonna and Michael Jackson.) My guide in Rio, Marco Bransford, said he celebrated last New Year’s in a favela overlooking the festivities ob the beaches of Copacabana. It’s the beginnings of gentrification of the notorious slums. Rio—the country’s second largest city with six million people—has much more to offer. READ MORE