I visited two favelas in Rio de Janeiro on the same day. One felt like a theme park. The other almost cost me my camera and my nerves. Here is what nobody tells you before you book that favela tour.

Rocinha is South America’s largest favela. Getting there on a motorcycle taxi through the narrow streets was already an experience. The views from the top were genuinely impressive, with Copacabana and Christ the Redeemer visible in the distance. But once I was inside, the tour felt staged. Art galleries, curated stops, locals charging small fees for rooftop photos. Touristic in the same way some parts of Paris are touristic: real place, fake version.

Santa Marta was different. Smaller, rawer, and completely unpredictable. This is the favela where Michael Jackson filmed They Don’t Care About Us, and the energy there still carries something from that history.

The moment things went wrong was on the cable car. I was filming with my Ray-Ban Meta glasses when a man with a gun stopped me. He grabbed the glasses, interrogated me, and I genuinely did not know how that situation was going to end. I stayed calm, gave up filming, and eventually got my gear back. But it shook me.

After that, the rest of the tour continued on foot. I met a resident who had spent 30 years collecting over 3,000 working clocks. I stood in Michael Jackson Square. I looked out from rooftops with swimming pools over a city that contains so many versions of itself at the same time.

If you visit Rio and want to do a favela tour, go to Santa Marta. It is intense and real. Just leave the action camera at the hotel.