In the distance, Christ the Redeemer stares down from on high, but few folk here will ever get to view the statue in all its glory as the price of a tour ticket could feed a family for days. Just six miles across the city are the sparkling sands of Copacabana and Ipanema, but most people in this neighbourhood are unlikely to see the sea either as bus fares of around 60p are hugely prohibitive.
This is the Vasco da Gama favela, an area of just 15,000 or so souls but a microcosm of a hidden existence in much of Rio de Janeiro.