Botafogo Beach
Sheltered cove beach beneath Sugarloaf Mountain, recently restored to safe bathing after decades of pollution.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Botafogo Beach in Rio traces decades of broken promises to clean the Guanabara Bay water it shares with Sugarloaf Mountain, starting with a governor's 1994 pledge and a 1999 deadline that came and went. You'll hear about a 2000 oil tanker spill, a sanitation program that shut down having missed its own targets, and a pollution-cutting vow made ahead of the 2016 Olympic sailing events offshore. A fisherman's blunt verdict about the water sets up the question the rest of the guide answers.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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