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Here is a Brazilian site where you can look city by city to see the trend in recent cases. Just like the USA certain areas may represent more risk. Look in the area on the page "Índice de destinos" and select your city/region--it will show the number of new cases from the week and what the trend is. https://www.viajenaviagem.com/2020/09/coronavirus-turismo-situacao-brasil/#indice

Moderna, one of the major developers of a possible Covid vaccine in recruiting volunteers for their stage 3 trial in my city. As a healthcare worker I am in a high risk group for exposure so I qualify to sign up to get the shot. Of course I could get the placebo but I could always check my antibodies to see if I got the real shot. Would you guys risk it or wait for an approved, fully tested vaccine?

I couldn't agree more with all of your points. At first I thought September would be reasonable and I am realizing there is no way. I then start looking toward November and that in my mind is looking less likely. I saw a friend from Rio that lives here in the USA over the weekend and he said a big reason to avoid Brazil in the coming several months is the possibility for major political upheaval. He really felt that was even more of a reason not to go than Covid.He also knows several people that have died in Rio recently from Covid. I have been in a Brazilian hospital on one of my visits there (for three days from a fracture). They are seriously overburdened in non-Covid times. You don't want to be in one these days.

As an aside it seems like on previous trips to Brazil that it's just my luck that the first guy I meet up with turns out to have a cold or cough halfway through the programma. I always think what bad luck--now I'm going to be sick for the rest of my vacation. In the past this was often just an annoying cold--though once I did have the worst flu of my life in Rio. I doubt that when things re-open the sauna guys will have access to testing or will stay at home if they are sick. It will for sure be interesting to see the vibe when things re-open. Maybe as foreigners people will shy away from us as it's widely thought that it was foreigners and rich Brazilians who travel that brought Covid to Brazil. I remember while traveling in the early days of HIV you didn't exactly want to advertise that you were from San Francisco or people would keep you at arms length. We will just have to see how this evolves and one day hopefully all will be back to the way it was!

Here is the company I used. https://www.globalguardian.com/air-ambulance Here is also another alternative company https://medjetassist.com And yes when I used my company they paid all of the costs up front and made all arrangements. The owner of the company told me later if I had paid on my own for the services it would have been $100,000 usd. I did have to settle my bill with the hospital and doctor in Fortaleza before I left but that was only $2000 for three days which I later got reimbursed for by my medical insurance back home.

More than ever it is essential that anyone planning to travel outside the US have medical evacuation insurance that guarantees they will be evacuated to the hospital of their choice. I have posted about this before and I feel strongly about it. On a pre-Covid trip to Brazil a few years back I got a nasty fracture in some sporting actives in Northern Brazil. I was able to get myself to the nicest private hospital in Fortaleza--but even there I had to spend over 24 hours soon a gurney in the emergency department before spending a few days in a room. My Brazilian friends told me that wait was typical--public hospitals much worse. My medical evacuation insurance company sent a private jet to transport me all the way to California at no cost to me. I had surgery in California and I am as good as new, You do not want to be seriously ill in Brazil without a way to get back home for care. Coverage is about $265/year and a bargain when you consider the alternative.

I think if you went to Cartagena for the beach scene you would be disappointed. The beaches there are small and not particularly clean. On the good hand there are some high rise condos with great ocean views right on the coast where you can get an airbnb. Most of these buildings have a nice pool--but the nicer the building in general the tougher it is to bring back a guest. Cartagena's historic district is nice to walk around in for a few days but after a couple of days you have pretty much seen it. Cartagena doesn't have a sauna that I am aware of and it's only gay club is busy on weekends only. Colombia is small enough and cheap enough to travel between major cities easily. I would recommend you try to visit Bogota, Medellin, and Cartagena in that order for guys--and you can see all three in a little over a week if you keep moving.

I just read that the largest Pride parade in the world has been moved from June until November. I wouldn't be surprised if may US cities will have to delay their June Pride celebrations as well. http://fabricioviana.com/parada-lgbt-de-sao-paulo-muda-data-por-conta-do-coronavirus-de-junho-para-novembro/?fbclid=IwAR3Nt1nrDpmDUl0Jc3hegWvbPZA-tf581o9ocAoF6B0Fm3mk-Rwbub-KeNc

When booking domestic flights on Avianca switch your location to Colombia on the home page of the website(you can then view the site in either english or spanish). You will pay in Colombian pesos but will generally save significant money vs the USA version of the site even if your credit card changes a conversion fee(my Capitol One card does not).

After my friend's experience getting drugged in Medellin--and after hearing your experience I decided to read a bit more about the drug used. I came across this very good but rather scary documentary about the use of the drug in Colombia to rob people. You can watch it here free on Amazon Prime if you have any interest. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B07H3BPTQP/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r I remember now on my first trip to Colombia I stayed at a gay hotel in Bogota (that ironically was run by a very friendly older straight couple) and they warned me about this. They told me the story of another guest who they tried to warn and they said he was like "I don't need to hear this--I've travelled all over the world and I know how to take care of myself." Sure enough he was drugged in Chapinero (the gay area of Bogota) and lost quite a sum from his ATM. Colombia is a wonderful place with a lot of good people. In 5-6 trips there I have never had a problem personally--but as the saying goes "You aren't in Kansas anymore!"

I thought I had read somewhere on this forum that Club Tobi had closed. My local friends weren’t sure and since my time in Medellin was limited I didn’t check it out.

I just returned from 10 days in Colombia and I thought I would share my experience. It was my 4th or 5th time to Colombia and as always had a great time. Bogota--Arrived late Friday in order to enjoy Teatron on a Saturday night. As many know Teatron is the large nightclub that is truly amazing. Many floors and rooms for dancing and music. The top floor is men only and has naked strippers. Others have suggested that they might be available but I am not so sure. Very little opportunity to talk with them as they are on and off the stage pretty quickly. My local friend says that they have more strippers on Tuesday night than on the weekend--but my favorite night to visit is Saturday when all of the club is open and there is plenty of eye candy in the crowd. As far as hookups--Grindr is the way to go in Bogota(and really all of Colombia). Lots of free offers-- and the working guys in Bogota seemed to be happy with 70-90,000 pesos. There is a Sauna called Saint Moritz that has massage available but every time we visited the massage guys had already left around 6-7pm. If that is what you were looking for then get there earlier like 4-5pm. That seems to be the peak time for Saunas in both Bogota and Medellin. Bogota has a lot to see and you should not miss the view from Monseratte--ride up on the tram or funicular. I stayed at the Novotel--no problem with guests and they take a copy of the ID at the front desk. A friend had multiple guests over the course of the trip and they did not charge him extra with a double room booked. Very nice hotel, great breakfast and good neighborhood. Medellin--Medellin is a beautiful City with a great climate. I stayed at an airbnb in a nice neighborhood called Laurelles--lots of trees and good places to eat. I have some warnings about Medellin that really apply to everywhere in Colombia--more on that later. Lot's to see in Medellin including the Botanic Garden in the city--and a large park outside the city called Park Arvi. Park Arvi is accessed but the Metrocable which is the tram that acts as mass transit around parts of the city. Getting there involves a few different changes between lines but is really easy if you google the instructions. There is a very fun, clean and beautiful sauna called Club 55. This is not a working boy sauna but they do have massage available that I'm told rapidly turns into something else. Again all of the massage guys were gone by 7. The very friendly, cute, and frisky locals tell me that peak time for the sauna is like 5-6pm. It has a bar, jacuzzi and is very clean and modern. You can definitely have fun for free here. Several hot working boys on Grindr in Medellin--they seem to want more than Bogota--like 150000pesos ($43). Medellin is where two people close to me had potentially serious problems within 24hours of each other. In the first situation a good friend from the US who lives there, fluent spanish speaker, and is very savvy about having guys over was drugged and robbed by someone he met online and invited to his apartment. He has lived there for over 10 years and this was the first time anything like this had ever happened. He spent the night in the hospital but is fine now. In the second incident I met a guy on grindr and we had a hot time. I'll admit I took a chance by having him back to my airbnb but I felt comfortable enough with the guy enough to refer him to another friend who was traveling with me. My friend wanted to meet up with the guy and they agreed on a price to meet up. This is where my friend made a big mistake. He agreed to go to they guy's nearby apartment(also in a nice neighborhood) and the guy who had just hours before been nice and friendly with me became very aggressive with my friend and took the money that they had agreed on up front and then demanded more before he would do anything. When my friend (a native spanish speaker) decided to just leave--this guy blocked his exit and started screaming and demanding more money even though they hadn't done anything. My friend gave him another wad of cash and beat a quick retreat. It easily could have escalated into something worse. In all cases this could have been avoided by following the usual safety measures talked about on this board. The reality though in Medellin is that many hotels do not allow guests and "love motels" are not that prevalent or are located in Centro far from the areas where most people stay. I'm not sure what the best solution is for Medellin in this regard. Barranquilla and Carnival--I have some younger friends that live in Barranquilla that I wanted to visit and this was an ideal weekend because it was Carnival there. I have been to Cartagena many times and enjoyed it but this was my first trip to Barranquilla. Carnival was in the air as I landed at the airport and the beer companies were passing out cans of beer to arriving travelers on the way to baggage claim. I have never been at an airport where I had drank two free beers before I had claimed my luggage! Barranquilla is a pleasant city and I stayed in a nice high rise air BNB with security at the front desk--but they let my friends pass by as long as they were with me. These are guys I have known since they were college students and are now in graduate school and working and I trust 100%. The carnival in Barranquilla is a big deal and last year there were over a million visitors. Prices for hotels and apartments go up just like Rio. The highlight of carnival is a big carnival parade on Saturday in centro. I relied on my local friends advice and we all got an early start on Saturday to go watch the parade. Unfortunately the area is for the most part blocked off with high barriers that block any view of the parade unless you buy a ticket to a private seating area. Those tickets were being sold by scalpers for upwards of $100usd per ticket. In the end we gave up on watching the parade due to the crowds and heat and the fact that we were unable to find any public viewing area that was accessible. My friends complain that each year the viewing area open to the public for free gets less and less and more of the parade is blocked from view by barriers. From what I did see though the parade in Barranquilla focusses more on colorful costumes and dancing than on the elaborate floats and displays at carnival in Rio. Like carnival in Rio there are street parties but these are more enclosed events where you pay admission as opposed to the free bloccos in Rio which are more open and free flowing. The biggest difference--and for me this is huge--is that in Barranquilla despite the heat at Carnival I did not see a single guy with their shirt off whereas in Rio the display of shirtless male bodies is a big plus! Culturally I think the Colombians are much more conservative about their dress and keeping themselves covered up in public. We had great fun at a big open air gay club called The Patio which was packed with cute guys dancing to latin music all night. I was the only gringo there. There is another club in Barranquilla that my friends told me about that plays electronic/pop music but I do not recall the name and I did not visit. I didn't hook up in Barranquilla as I with friends but plenty of cute guys in the club were eager to meet, practice their english, and make out for a while. I would mention that casual cocaine use is common amongst many Colombians of all classes and it is a bit shocking to see how openly used it is in the clubs--no attempt made to hide it from security. I do not do any drugs at all but my Columbian friends tell me that it's not a big deal there --kind of like having a joint or a cigarette.--still I would stay away from it if you are tempted. I love Colombia--great people, hot guys, beautiful scenery and many different regions to explore in a relatively small country. I still prefer Brazil for the open display of bodies everywhere in Rio and the safety of fun in the saunas there. For a true Carnival experience nothing beats Rio despite some of the hassles and security concerns. I will continue to visit both countries for all of their charms!

I have been to Carnival several times and always enjoyed it. Good that you are staying close to the metro as it is open 24hours during the days of Carnival and it is a great way to get around during Carnival. Uber and taxi's are still available but there are frequent road closures and traffic jams so metro is the way to go if possible. For the Sambadrome there is a gay party on Friday night in a private box with open bar and a front row view of the parade. It's great to be right up front and to be able to go inside the private box to get out of the rain if it starts. Tickets are cheaper when bought months in advance but you can still buy them online here. https://www.candybox.com.br If you buy tickets you need to go pick them up in advance at their location in Ipanema. For other nights in the Sambadrome you will probably be somewhere in the stands which is certainly enjoyable but nothing like a front row view. For other nights you can generally buy tickets from various online ticket sellers. A couple of times I even bought tickets for the stands from scalpers outside the Sambadrome at a not too inflated price. Make sure you ride the metro to the Sambadrome as taxi's cannot even drop off or pick up close to there. There are street parties everywhere called bloccos and the theme changes. One fun one I went to was the neon themed party that they have every year. The location changes every year so for bloccos ask some locals if they can help you find out where the best parties are every night. The big club The Week is busy during Carnival with Circuit type events but most of my friends in Rio avoid it during Carnival as there are so many free alternatives on the streets. I usually still go there at some point during Carnival and it is fun. Needless to say watch your phone and wallet during Carnival in the crowds. Even my very savvy friend who has grown up in Rio has lost his phone during carnival. I have seen many fights and even been tear gassed during Carnival--especially in the later days of the celebration. Best to get away from the crowd at the first sign of any problem. Saunas are busy and fun. I am sure you will enjoy Carnival--or at least parts of it. Make sure to report back!

What I meant was If you know if is there a metro stop nearby. Usually in Rio I get to the saunas by metro as it’s more convenient when traffic is bad. The one time I went to the soon to be old Lagoa it took forever to go a few miles on a Friday afternoon in a taxi. The new place sounds like it will be great and thanks for the update!

Is it accessible by metro or better by UBer?

Guadalajara is a beautiful city with a large gay population. They say that Guadalajara has the most attractive men and women in Mexico. There are several gay clubs but you could probably find fun on Grindr.

Thinking of a visit to Sao Paulo for a weekend mid-november during my trip to Brazil. Does anyone know if the old Lagoa will still be open? I would hate to go to Sao Paulo and get caught in the period between the old Lagoa closing and before the new location opened.

One of my friends booked a room through Mister BNB in Rio during carnival. The host was straight and his slightly disapproving girlfriend was there in the apartment the whole time. Needless to say he couldn't bring guests back to the place if it was someone who he "just met."

There is a series on Netflix called "Inside the Worlds Toughest Prisons" where a British ex-con goes inside to "live" inside a tough prison for a week to document conditions. Not surprisingly many of the toughest prisons he visits are in Latin America. Check out the episodes where he is in Brazil, or Colombia and it is not hard to imagine some of the tough guys that he interviews working in either 117 or 202. There are a lot of hot, shirtless guys in this series but more than anything it shows me what a fine line there is between a hot, seemingly well spoken guy and someone who could be a killer. It's worth watching not just for the eye candy but to remind us all to be careful south of the border.

I think an important distinction in hotel guest policies is whether or not they will allow multiple different guests to register with you during your stay. At the old Ipanema Plaza(which I am pretty sure is closed for good) you could register one guest for the duration of your stay which was great if you had a boyfriend join you for your vacation. On the other hand some hotels will allow you to register multiple guests as long as they are one at a time but will charge you a fee for each one even if you have a double room. Some hotels won't allow any guests to register at all past the original check in.

Well I always use condoms --100%. Recently two friends who are on PREP were in Rio and they really wanted to have bareback sex and they had a hard time finding garotos who were in to that--and their impression was that all the garotos played with condoms only. I guess it depends on the night, the client , and the $$.

Bogota is 8660 feet above sea level. I've never had a problem with altitude sickness there but some people may. You may feel a bit winded going up stairs for a few days until your body adjusts--but that is not altitude sickness. If you have a history of altitude sickness then you should start taking Diamox 1-2 days before arriving for it to be effective.

Amazing that a lot of gay people still voted for this guy. Unfortunately that shows how desperate Brazilians are for a change of some sort.

Do you guys have any recommendations for hotels near Sauna Thermas? I have stayed at Rommmate Hotels in Mexico City and I know they have a few locations in Barcelona that I will check out. Any other suggestions?

I didn't really get into details since I couldn't hook up. I was just surprised by how many were so open about it on grindr. This was mostly in the larger cites of Aukland/Christchurch. I certainly wouldn't book a trip there just to look for rent boys--but its nice to know that you wouldn't be without options if you visit New Zealand for all of the other natural scenery!