in addition to the extra safety hiking guides can provide, professional guides are fluent in portuguese and would be indispensable in case of an emergency to communicate with rescue crews.

we highly recommend all hikers to enjoy rio's mountain trails accompanied by an experienced and certified professional hiking guide, found through proper and reliable channels or recommendations. 

another important thing to do, before undertaking a hike or a trek, is to plan for the journey, both physically and through research - many of the hikes can be quite physically demanding, so it is important that participants are in appropriate physical condition for the trip, whilst also researching the trail to know what they are undertaking