Deborah's place was just what the doctor ordered.
It was very close to the beach in Leblon, 10 minutes walking distance.
Deborah's place was less than 5 mintues to a drug store, fruit stand, restaurant, pub and sports bar. She was a gracious host and showed me around the area and introduced me to some great people. I highly recommend staying at her place. There was hot water, wiFi and Netflix. Her place is a 5-minute motorbike ride (4 reais) up to the walking trail at Mutirao Refloresatamento. On any online map look up coordinates -22.9958639 and -43.2461889 (separated by a comma). The hike from the soccer field up to the peak is 45 minutes with breath-taking views of Leblon, Ipanema the lake and Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro.
I would definitely stay there on my next trip to Rio.