Monkeys and meteorites!
Its North Zone location means that Quinta da Boa Vista is little visited by tourists, but it's well worth making the effort to venture out here. Handily located for the Metro, this park lies around three kilometres from the famous Sambodromo, and was formerly the Brazilian Emperor's private park. It's now the location for the Museu Nacional, which, although a little past its prime, houses some interesting exhibits such as the giant meteorite found in Bahia in 1888.
The park is also home to Rio's city zoo - a monkey-lover's paradise! Although the zoo does need work (not least in terms of improving conditions for many of the animals...) the cheap entrance fee (R$6) makes this attraction hard to resist. Here you'll meet all manner of South American primates - from tiny marmosets to lively spider monkeys and howler monkeys. The zoo is on the large side, so set aside a couple of hours to take everything in - you'll need even longer if you're coming here with kids. The native birds can't fail to capture your attention - from the flocks of squawking parrots to the magnificent toucans.
Granted, it's not the Amazon, but the zoo does provide a good opportunity to get up close and personal with some of Brazil's more elusive inhabitants. It's open from 10am-4pm Tuesday to Sunday, and is located at Avenida Dom Pedro II.