Praia do Leblon

Praia do Leblon looks like Rio de Janeiro's postcard beach, backed by some of Brazil's most expensive real estate. This guide looks past the buildings to the two canals draining into the sea here, and the engineers who track the illegal household pipes tapped into them, nicknamed gatos for how quietly they sneak in. Many of those pipes trace back uphill to Rocinha, one of the city's largest favelas, and city hall has promised a fix more than once.