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Thanks for sharing your opinion about the two cities. It seems Rio has caught you in its snare. I travel often to many parts of the world. I can say, without any doubt, that there is no other place in the world like Brazil where our kind can be ourselves and enjoy life as we never imagined possible. Over my many years of making bi-monthly trips to Brazil, I have seen changes for the good and changes for the bad. The bad had to do with the Brazilian economy which is slowly trying to recover. I have seen many saunas come and go. There was a time when Rio had five very popular saunas that were consistently busy and filled with handsome garotos. Then there was the notorious and wonderful Corujinha's in Rio that was something out of a fantasy book, but it was real - it is no more. Sao Paulo also had five good saunas but two were the busiest (Fragata and Lagoa). This year I decided to stop visiting Fragata because it is too often disappointing and a waste of time and effort to go there. Where am I going with all this history and nostalgia? Those who enjoy Brazil should continue to do so. There could be a day when the good places are no more. As I said, I have seen many saunas in Brazil close. Rio still has 117 and Sao Paulo has Lagoa. Even though 202 in Rio is popular at the present time, for several years, 202 was barely staying in business. If it were not for Junior's friend, the place would have closed. I return to Brazil this weekend for my bi-monthly trip there. I want to thank you for your frequent updates about some of the places I visit in Sao Paulo and Rio. It is good to know that nothing negative has happened to them.

The building mentioned by sanddunes used to be the tallest building in Sao Paulo (and South America overall). It is still quite tall despite three newer skyscrapers constructed in Sao Paulo. The building is located on a hill which gives the building more height, sea level wise. The building has changed names several times. For those interested in visiting the building and thus doing something different during the day, below is a link to the building and its location. Also, the area where the building is located is very near Brazil's stock exchange. This equates to the area being well maintained and safe with lots of excellent or good restaurants in the general neighborhood. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altino_Arantes_Building

Like many Lagoa guys, “V” presented himself as a total macho top. The only problem was that he was struggling to stay enough to fuck me. You know what that means? It’s your turn to bottom. V looked at me somewhat sheepishly. “Go ahead, sit on it...” And he did. I’m pretty sure he liked it. At least his moans and growing erection indicated so. It might have been the first time he came while getting fucked, judging by the look of sheer surprise and pleasure on his face. I don’t think he’s a total top anymore. Or maybe he was never one to begin with? “If the guys ask what we did, tell them I was activo, ok?” Sure...this can be our secret..

Update on my exploration of the Argentinian forums. Things over there are pretty different, moderation is strict and merciless. As I shared before, I was timed out for the first time in my life for exchanging some heated words that here or at Daddy's would be just a fresh breeze. A group of members with a strong history participating were complaining about management, they were all banned for ever. Instead of letting threads die from natural death, the moderators close them. They have edited threads fully erasing posts in a way that they are completely intelligibly. My theory is that the owner does not really care about the male escorts forums because his money and the traffic for his website are coming from the female escorts forums. Anyway, if you are careful you can have some meaningful conversations and exchange useful information. I am traveling with an interesting To Do List. This is just the beginning.

I have not seen much info on Costa Rica here, so I wrote up a report about a trip I took several years ago. I checked as I was writing, and most of the info still seems to be relevant (places are still in operation, etc.) Prices may have changed, of course. I have visited Costa Rica twice now, but haven’t been since summer 2012. I am excited to return next month. I found Costa Rica to be beautiful and laid back, and a lot of fun. The country’s infrastructure is very basic, with a clear division between the poor/older areas and the newer upscale areas. All of the gay attractions I visited were in the older areas. I stayed in San Jose and in Manuel Antonio and enjoyed both. San Jose The strip club Pucho’s has a very standard formula: At 10:00 PM, the strippers all come out in G-strings and dance for exactly 10 minutes. Afterward, you get 50 minutes of drag queens who are actually pretty good. At 11:00 PM, the boys return, but this time fully nude…then 50 more minutes of drag queens. At midnight, the dancers return, but this time with erections, and they dance for 10 minutes. Many clients approach the stage and sample the merchandise (sometimes even with their mouths). If at any time you decide you want a “private” with one of the dancers, you pay the bartender, and the dancer takes you behind the scenes. I did not go, but it seemed that they simply took clients into the dressing room, where other strippers and drag queens were located. Any of those strippers is available for a fee, but you may have to pay a fee to the bar if they leave before the midnight show. Pucho’s is popular among locals, but not just for the dancers. They have a restaurant and a patio and a dark room attached. This was not immediately apparent, because the door is kept closed between the two parts…you must go through what looks like a door to the outside, but is really a door into the restaurant, cut through the corner of the restaurant, and then exit again onto the patio. The dark room and patio are packed. Many types of guys. Younger, older, nondescript, handsome…truly all types of guys go there. There is a brothel in San Jose called Oasis Erotic Massage. You enter the place, and the proprietor calls all the working guys to the front, and you get to make your choice. There are different price points, and the proprietor explains in Spanish that everything is included including oral, or penetration if you go with the more expensive option (you also get a nicer room). You basically pay $25 or $40, depending on what you want, and that includes the use of a room for an hour. Despite the very explicit assurances by the guy who runs the place, the guy I went with (a handsome and friendly 19 year old from Honduras), tried to get more money from me for basic services. I wouldn’t say it was a great option, but a few of the guys were at least young/cute/fuckable. The better place I found to look for escorts was on craigslist or on the Spanish language websites that offer erotic services ads, or on Grindr (I apologize, but I can’t recall the specific website that had many ads for escorts and massage). On this next trip, I will also try Planet Romeo. I had a lot of luck simply going to bars and meeting people. Ticos are friendly and approachable, and gay tourists are enough of a novelty to garner some attention just by their presence. Late one night, after exiting Pucho’s and getting into one of the many waiting taxis, the driver asked me if I was looking for a boy, because he knew a place where lots of hustlers hang out--Parque Nacional on Av.1 and Calle 19. He said that any of them would be very happy to do anything I wanted for $20, or they would stay the whole day/night for $40. I had already arranged to meet someone at my hotel for massage and oral ($20), but I took his card and he promised he would take me there the next day. Unfortunately, with the janky cell phone service at that time, I could not reach him the next day, despite trying about 20 times. I got a message each time saying the person you are trying to reach is out of the area or unavailable. I did call a regular taxi and try to drive past the park the next evening, but the driver did not speak English, so rather than explaining what I was doing, I asked him to drive slowly past the park because I was looking for a friend. After one trip around the block, and not seeing any likely candidates, I told him to circle back and I would get out and wait for my friend, and he immediately responded with alarm, “No, no, no. Muy peligroso! (very dangerous)” This was something I encountered several times in San Jose: warnings from the locals to never walk anywhere downtown after dark. Always take a taxi. Even for a trip of one or two blocks. I didn’t spend enough time there to gauge if these warnings were overblown, because I figured it was probably better to be safe than sorry, and I took a taxi everywhere. And one final note on the taxis: three of my taxi drivers let me know very plainly that they would be willing to fuck for a little money, and I got the feeling that several others would have been open to the idea. Manuel Antonio Manuel Antonio has a reputation as a gay destination, but the reasons for that seem to be historical (there used to be a popular nude beach, but it has been shut down because a hotel was built overlooking the beach). There is a gay hotel that I enjoyed very much (Hotel Villa Roca: https://www.villaroca.com/ ), but the area has very little to offer in the way of sex tourism, at least that I could find. It is pretty much a beautiful jungle paradise, with an amazing national forest where I saw sloths, toucans, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and a beautiful but very poisonous golden eyelash viper (oropel). The tour guide I hired through the desk clerk at my hotel turned out to be a fun and friendly gay bear who came onto me, but he wasn’t really my type, so I passed, but I did enjoy his tour very much. There were two guys in the area offering massage, but it was clear that it was legit/therapeutic massage, and the desk clerk acted completely scandalized when I asked if there were any guys who offered “extra” service. He shouted at me, “NO!” and said there was no way any guys in the area would do such a thing. This despite the fact that I was hit up by a few guys on Grindr, so I knew very well that there WERE locals who were willing to provide services for a fee. Most of those guys live in the nearby town of Quepos, so expect to pay for their taxi to your location if you stay at Villa Roca or one of the resorts closer to the national park. There were multiple other clients staying at the property. They have a happy hour each evening at the pool, and that offered a chance to hang out with the other guests, who were mostly from Mexico and Costa Rica, or from other Central and South American countries. I got the vibe that the very handsome bartender would have been available for pay. One last note about Manuel Antonio/Villa Roca: After I returned to San Jose, I happened to see one of the owners of Villa Roca at a bar with an attractive, much younger guy. So, if I were to return to Manuel Antonio, I would be more likely to ask the owners of the property about the availability of rentboys, rather than the officious desk clerk. Or maybe hire someone in San Jose and take them along if you want to be sure of companionship.

CRY, and you're on your Own....

Testing profile. Not supposed to be live for others but have to have it there to test front end messaging, etc.

There are still tons of kinks to work out but glad things are faster.

During my travels to Buenos Aires (5Xs) to be precise, I used www.soytuyo.com.and had some very scorching times with the men I'd selected. In fact, my first, independent guide had an amigo who had an ad at this site. ...gave me the 'BEST FUCK' of my life! Unfortunately, he is no longer escorting, and he's no longer a friend of Chorch. Chorch, himself is no longer escorting either, for he is the proud owner and operator of a home for seniors. I saw Norbert and his lover in 2011. The sex was ok but was not "off the charts." My other guys are no longer escorting. Abdul at www.ratonesonline.com gives one a stellar time as a top. But again--the other hotties have moved on! Enjoy yourself, and I do hope that you'll report back about your overall trip to the "City of Portenos!"

I am glad you did not leave. Ignore the back noise and keep contributing. As an English learner, it is a pleasure to read your best posts.

No @Latbear4blk I don't mean to be a cock-tease. I was simply describing the range and quality of 'below the radar' guys in Buenos Aires who simply wished to augment their incomes. As it happened, such guys preferred the company of an older foreigner visiting BA. I found that in general they valued discretion and, if seen out with a man. thought it better to be with a visitor than have to explain an older local man to their friends. On my various visits, I did explore several commercial offerings but I never found any of the type (preppy muscleboys) I like. I did find many attractive guys off-the-scene through recommendations and ordinary dating sites, eg I met the polo-player through Manhunt, the "lab rat" (as the red-haired guy was nicknamed) through Facebook, and the green-eyed soldier through a contact on foro-escorts. I can only suggest you read all the reviews/recommendations in that forum and see who appeals to you. I always sent polite messages congratulating the poster on his experience and enquiring if he was able to share the contact info for the guy.

Well, that didnt take long..... Looks like I won the pool ? Welcome Back RH, didnt even have a chance to miss ya !

Yeah, you can tell within the first few minutes if it’s going to be good or not. Different garotos definitely have different business strategies. Some go for repeat clients and others are churn and burn. The locals usually point out garotos with bad reputations to me, but every now and then one slips through the cracks.

The MASP top floor masterpieces are displayed somewhat unconventionally. Sheer magic. I went to that level 3 days in a row.

If you get Bored here....play with your Balls !

Sao Paulo has its own version of the Empire State Building called the “Farol” building. In addition to having an observatory deck on the 26th floor, it also has a museum and art exhibits (thanks to @mvan1 for the recommendation). Not wanting to go alone, I asked one of the garotos I’m friends with if he was interested in going. Of course! Can I bring my cousin? Well the more the merrier... His cousin turned out to be quite cute, and is taking English classes to pursue his dream of being a diplomat (No, I didn’t sleep with him lol). I took them to lunch, and then to the Farol building, which has amazing panoramic views of the city’s skyline. There was a light show called “Tundra” on the 24th floor, which is advertised as “a floating meadow of sound and light between the earth and the sky” and promises that you will be “fully immersed inside the eerie space of a dream.” I loved it.. Afterwards we went to the Sao Paulo Museum of Art, which is widely considered the best art museum in South America, with Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet and many other masters represented. It was a fun afternoon, and my garoto friend didn’t ask for any money other than lunch and the admission tickets. So for anyone else going to Sao Paulo I definitely recommend checking out these two places...admission to the Farol building was 20 reals and MASP was around 30.

Thanks @torogen for the interesting and helpful report on Costa Rica.

Me favorites? LOL That is funny. In this thread alone, I have been urged to ban you, Lucky and Rockhard at least 20 times each over the years. I have never done it. If standing up for someone and asking people to play nice is playing favorites, you need to work on a new definition.

Rockhard, PS I hope you don't leave. But, you must do what you must do. You can never change things from the outside. But, you may not feel it worth your effort to change things from the inside. Again, your call.

I truly have never understood when someone doesn't like a poster or a post that they can't just move on to something else. It baffles me. I also agree that I am too easy and let things go Wild West here. But, I think grown men should be able to put up with shit from time to time. But, there are always limits. The growth of the board is important to me but I have never been good at booting people out because they were assholes. It is my weakness. But, I also appreciate all the work people put into posts. RH's last post, whether or not real, imagined or just creative, is irrelevant to me. It was an excellent post and I really enjoyed it. Why people felt the need to piss on it is something I don't get. On the GayThailand site there is a while group that don't like Fem boys. So, they need to move on to threads they like. Why is this such a hard concept to grasp?

I did not realize that Waco, TX was "hereabouts". Live and learn. Best regards, RA1

Belo Horizonte. We arrived at noon. Time to see some Oscar Niemeyer masterpieces The conjunto de Pampulha (1940) and its church And the Administrative Center of Minas Gerais (2003) One of the last masterpieces of Niemeyer who was already 90 years old when he conceived it.

For those of you tired of the usual side dishes, and want something different, quick , easy and Healthy, how's about Sweet potato hash browns with Honey crisp apples and raisins? It's light, fresh, sweet and Great with many diff proteins. Depending on how many people you are serving: a few large Yams, peeled and cut into bite size pieces a few Pink Lady Honey crisp apples peeled and cut into bite sized pieces. 1/2 raisins 2 tablespoons oil, heated. I par cook the yam pieces in the microwave for about 3 minutes, then transfer them to the HOT oil in the pan with the raisins, Cook until they start becoming tender, then dump in the apples... Sautee all until they are cooked to a nice toasty color and a knife slides in easily. Be sure not to get them to a "mushy" state. The potatoes should remain firm. Be creative and serve with your favorite chicken , beef pork, or fish...

I got my tickets and this Thursday the appointment for my first American passport! The first weeks will be boring, lots of family time in Corrientes, a city in the NE close to Paraguay. There is gay life with a disco and a very active Grindr, and I am planning to enjoy it, but I do not think I will have much to report on professionals. A guy in the local forums promised me some phone numbers but I am still waiting. Then I will move to Buenos Aires to spend there the last week. For sure I will have experiences to report here. If you are planning to be in or close to Buenos Aires July 13th to 20th, send me a PM and let's plan something together.

Not completely different. It happens in Rio, although admittedly, not nearly as much. In 2015, I visited 117 and in walked in one of the best looking men I had ever seen. He never changed clothes, went to the back bar area, met with and drank with a client for about 15-30 minutes, then left with him. He was a vision that I never thought I’d get to see again. A good friend was traveling to Rio as I was leaving. We compared sauna notes. He mentioned seeing the same guy with the same description, doing the very same thing as zi viewed — no change of clothes, having a drink with one completely clothed client, then leaving the sauna with him. A few months later, through several mutual connects, I ended up connecting with this garoto on social media, and we talked behind the scenes (DM / PM). On my next visit to Rio, I arranged for him to meet me at the sauna and he was fully Clothed. As agreed previously, I brought him a nice trinket that he wanted from the USA. I was able to convince him to drop trou and join me in a suite (but in retrospect, admittedly, it didn’t take much convincing). Fast forward to today, he visit various saunas in Europe as well as does trips with clients. But he has been known to work at 117 — in a towel. Maybe I ruined him? LOL