Floresta da Tijuca e Jardim Botânico

I only got to spend an hour in the botanical garden. Our tour company told us the Tijuca was closed and that was a lie. We drove up to the gates of the National rain forest and people were coming out so we knew it was open. We were told it was closed and because we complained and asked for a refund, our guide waited until 5pm and tried to take us there. He wasted a lot of time in traffic and trying to convince us to try other places that were not on the tour. Waste of money and time.

I had such a great time! We spent the afternoon in the botanical gardens and saw monkeys, the biggest fish I've ever seen, and insanely beautiful trees and rare flowers! The rainforest was definitely my favorite- we saw a waterfall and the hike wasn't bad at all and worth it! Tomas is well-studied in biology and all things botany! He was the best tour guide to have for a nature outing. Get out of the city and see the natural beauties of Rio!

The tour provided an opportunity to visit the Tijuca Forest and our guides were wonderful. However the mid-afternoon start of the tour left little time to visit the Botanical Gardens. It was a week before the official start of Carnival and the route to the Gardens was loaded with traffic. By the time we reached the Garden, the Gardens were completely in the shadows and the lighting was an overall gray -- not a great way to see the beautiful color of the Gardens. It took a lot of haggling with the guide to let off return to our hotel without touring the gardens. The tour was exceeding the proposed time and we had already made dinner reservations with friends who were meeting us at a restaurant. Our guide did offer to have our driver take us to the hotel for the estimated tip (to the driver) that a cab would have cost, and that was very fair. However, we only got two-thirds of the advertised tour and there was no mention that we would be compensated for missing out on the Gardens. We did get a different guide service the next day and got to see the Gardens in the beautiful daylight. Really didn't appreciate paying twice to see the Gardens only once.

Wonderful tour of Tijuaca Rainforest, the tour is very relaxed and shows some of the best viewing points for Rio. The tour is lasts for an afternoon and Newton is super knowledgable and helpful.

We had an excellent tour of the Tijuca Forest and Botanical Garden - our guide did an excellent job and was very professional and knowledgeable about the history of both these places. He explained in detail about these places. I would highly recommend him as a tour guide for any sight seeing in Brazil. He was one of the best guides that we have run into over the years in our international trips.