It is a scene that would have been unimaginable just five years ago.  At the highest point of the twin peaks of the Dois Irmãos in Rio de Janeiro, jubilant Brazilian and foreign tourists look down on the beaches of Ipanema and Leblon more than 500 metres below.

To get here they have trekked through the rainforest above Vidigal, a favela that was off-limits for more than a generation but which is now opening up to visitors as the Rio tourism industry takes an unexpected turn. While sights such as Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf continue to welcome tourists by the busload, adventurous locals and visitors are exploring alternative attractions in Rio and enjoying a more authentic taste of the city's celebrated natural and cultural diversity.

The trek is one of a series of hikes in the city that Rio 2016 organisers are promoting with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as part of the Green Passport initiative. The majority of the new tours take visitors through favelas that have recently opened up as security has improved. Green Passport aims to make sure that these communities benefit fully from the influx of visitors during the Olympic and Paralympic Games and that tourism becomes a driver of their sustainable development.

To judge by the reactions of tourists on the tour this Sunday (15 May), the exhilarating Dois Irmãos trek has the potential to become an invaluable long-term asset for the community of Vidigal.

“What’s amazing about this trail is that everywhere you look there’s a different angle over Rio,” says Rossana Sarra, an Italian management student who is studying in the city. “For me, it has the best views in Rio.”

She is not alone in her opinion. On a sunny weekend morning, the vertiginous natural viewpoints along the way are crowded with foreign and local tourists delighting in discovering new camera angles in this most photographed of cities.

The five most Instagram-able locations in Rio

The trail starts at the top of the Vidigal favela on the western side of the Dois Irmãos (which means Two Brothers in Portuguese). Tour guides take visitors to the start by minibus or mototaxi and right from the beginning, walkers are treated to unique views of the 844-metre high Pedra da Gávea in the distance, while hang gliders and paragliders launch themselves off nearby Pedra Bonita. The sprawling district of Rocinha, one of Rio’s largest favelas, lies just below; this is the best place in the city to appreciate the sheer scale of the community.

Rocinha nestles in the valley below while Pedra da Gávea dominates the skyline (Photo: Rio 2016/Sam Green)

After a steep but short hike of less than an hour to the top, hikers are rewarded with a very different view to the east. From the peak of the Dois Irmãos, a breathtaking panorama takes in some of the city’s most luxurious neighbourhoods – Ipanema, Leblon, Lagoa and Jardim Botânico – while the Atlantic Ocean crashes onto the rocks below and the Cagarras Islands glitter out to sea.

The spectacular view from the top of the Dois Irmãos, looking to Leblon, Ipanema and Lagoa (Photo: Rio 2016/Gabriel Nascimento)

The times they are a-changin’

During the Olympic Games in August road cyclists will snake around the foot of these hills while the Lagoa (lagoon) will be the venue for rowing and canoe events. And although hikers who make it to the top won’t be receiving any medals, there is a tangible sense of shared achievement here, especially among Brazilians for whom scaling this landmark was for years just an impossible dream.

Initially a bustling neighbourhood popular with singers and musicians, Vidigal fell into the hands of drug gangs in the 1970s and 1980s and the state lost control over the district. It was only following a major police operation in late 2011 and the subsequent arrival of a community police force, or UPP, that the situation began to be normalised. “There used to be lots of armed teenagers in the streets here but they have all left following the arrival of the UPP,” tour guide Edmilson Morais says. “It’s a much better place to bring up my son and it’s been very good for business.”

Morais was born here 44 years ago and makes his living from guiding tourists not only up the Dois Irmãos but around the vibrant community of Vidigal itself. The tour agency that Morais works with, Favela Experience, takes guests to visit local artisans, NGOs, restaurants, shops and performers such as theatre group Nós do Morro.

All-female percussion group Morenas de Sol perform in Vidigal (Photo: Rio 2016/Gabriel Nascimento)

Shortly after the police operations, curious locals and foreign tourists began arriving here, followed by property investors and developers from Brazil and beyond. Since then, the bars at the top of Vidigal have become venues for some of the most popular parties in Rio.

With law and order now in place, it is services such as leisure and hostelry which are driving the integration of the community with the rest of the city. The aim of initiatives such as Green Passport is to maximise the contribution of tourism to this process.

“It’s important for us that tourists don’t just do the Dois Irmãos trek and leave,” Morais says. “We want them to spend more time here, see what we have to offer and contribute to the community.”

Some visitors like it so much they even stay. Adam Newman, the CEO of Favela Experience, estimates that around five per cent of the 30,000 inhabitants of Vidigal are foreigners, including many students, artists and musicians for whom the community has all the natural beauty and convenience of Rio’s South Zone but without the sky-high rents.

Adam Newman, CEO of Favela Experience, is working with Green Passport to enhance the social impact of tourism in Vidigal (Photo: Rio 2016/Gabriel Nascimento)

Social entrepreneur Newman came to Rio from Colorado on a one-way ticket four years ago, straight after graduating. “The UPP has transformed security in Vidigal and the fear has gone,” he says. “It’s given businesses here the opportunity to expand. It’s opened up the community to the whole world.”

In the short term, the Olympic and Paralympic Games are seen as an exciting opportunity for development. Many foreign tourists have already booked accommodation in Vidigal, either at hostels or at homestays with Airbnb hosts and other locals. It’s an alternative, imaginative way of experiencing the festivities – and one that will play a small part in healing the wounds of the city’s past and creating a long-lasting legacy from this year's Games.

Accommodation in Vidigal is an attractive alternative for adventurous travellers (Photo: Rio 2016/Gabriel Nascimento)

Check out more ideas for fun and sustainable itineraries in Brazil

Free attractions for holders of Rio Cultural Passport