Thursday 26th October 2006. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Up and into the office with Irene, this morning I am working on the project here at the central office in Botafogo.

After lunch at Bistrô da Jaque with Jorge and Paula (a Scottish member of staff here at the Cultura's Rio HQ), I am heading out to the Barra district of the city.

At both branches of the Cultura Inglesa in this area of the city I am delivering lectures to students. These lectures are very well received and I get a tremendously positive response from the students.

In the car, one of the technicians accompanying me kindly offers me açaí, a sort of fruit smoothie drink to give me some local flavour.

I am getting on very well with Rico, my driver and he does me the honour of taking me to his home this evening after I have completed my days work.

We head off up the hill and into the favela community of Rocinha.

I learn that in Rio the communities do not like being referred to as Favela's. Rather they consider themselves communities.

This particular community is the most developed slum district I have seen in South America. Whilst all such districts I have visited have been communities in the personal sense, this is the first such area where I see such a strong material sense of community.

There are many shops, bars, restaurants and even a police station. Everything is very open. It is however explained to me that this is due to the fact that outsiders don't come in to these areas. The community protects its own and when there are issues thses are dealt with internally.

I am told that if trouble flares then there is no-one who can control this except the favela owner, i.e. gang chief. As such any visit is potentially dangerous as a situation arising will cause an imploding of the community and the rest of the city will just wait for matters to settle.

There is even a Bob's burger chain outlet up here. It is definitely NOT SAFE for tourists and I am, after all, a tourist.

However, I am very lucky. I am visiting with a very popular local who is well known and respected. Also, I feel like Madonna when I get out of my black car with tinted windows to take to the food stalls on the street. Rico is out to open my door and the two bruisers who are travelling with us in the car look like my mafia protection men as they stand over me and follow me on my walk-about.

Rico has brought me here to show me the beautiful night view of Rio from the heart of this community and it is stunning.

I can't help thinking as I leave that it is a shame that I didn't have these bruisers with me throughout my trip!

I get to see Rio at night for the first time, albeit from the safety of my car. We drive back along Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana beaches and I watch the beach volleyball and a few football games that are happening on the beachfront.