Visitors who feel they would like to enter a favela should first and foremost ask themselves why they are going - whether it is simply something they have heard they should do, or whether they want to learn about an alternative and equally rich culture. If the aim is to truly engage, interact and learn, it is of fundamental importance that visitors educate themselves prior to making a visit.

Without even just a basic knowledge of the history and culture of favelas, visitors will have a superficial understanding at best of what they are looking at - knowing something about the birth and past of favelas is necessary to appreciate, even if just superficially, the method, beauty, and significance behind apparent disorder.

It would be impossible to truly understand the identity of any individual, institution or place without understanding a bit of the history and past that shaped its present - trying to 'understand' or 'experience' a favela by simply gaining a short snapshot of its present, would do it  injustice.