SolaceSoul

As appealing as Santa Teresa may sound, if you’re not a seasoned Rio traveler, you might want to avoid staying in Santa Yetesa. It’s surrounded by several favelas that are very easy to unknowingly wind in by foot or by car. Thr side streets are notoriously unsafe after dark. “An Italian motorcyclist was shot dead after he rode into the Prazeres favela near Rio’s cobbled Santa Teresa neighbourhood last December. An Argentine woman died of gunshot wounds in February, after a carload of tourists made the same mistake.”

Interesting, because that was the catalyst for my switch from AT&T!

I switched from AT&T (which offers the $10 a day unlimited data, text and calling while traveling international) to T-Mobile which has a plan that allows for unlimited text and data plan whenever traveling internationally, a drastically reduced cellular data calls to and from most countries, and calls on Wi-Fi are always free..I’m very happy with the switch.

The old standbys for single men (straight and gay) that want to stay in hotels in Colonial Zone that allow them to bring back Dominican guests are: Roma (I and II), both on the Conde, and the Discovery Hotel, has né block off the Conde. IDs of guests are always required, either left at the front desk or a Xerox copy taken of it, depending on management). As of a couple of years ago, neither Roma charged for guests and Discovery may or may not have charged a small fee like $5 - $15 per guests visit. I didn’t realize the Mercure is now shut down. That was always a good option because it’s right on the Conde and they had a pretty awesome patio breakfast. It was $15 to bring back a guest with ID. I was never much of a fan of Hotel Duque De Wellington as it was a bit of a walk from the Conde and the boys that hung around there weren’t my type. Also not a big fan of Adam Suites Hotel. I stayed there once and once was enough. They always turned the power off, including hot water, and lock the front doors every night. A “security” worker was supposed to be there to open the doors for hotel guests but I seemed to be waiting almost every night for 10-15 minutes to get in, or to let a guest out because the worker was nowhere to be found. Also, the Wi-Fi was only available in the small lobby. But the hotel is gay, it’s across from the gay clubs one block off the Condue (if those are still open) and the area gets trafficked a lot by cruisers and by hustlers, if those things appeal to you. My suggestion for this hotel, if you decide to book there, is only get the big suite on the second floor that has the balcony overlooking the suite.

I have a few in my stable who are strictly gogo boys (gogo boys tend to view themselves on a higher strata than mere sauna boys, for some unknown reason — I guess whatever helps you sleep at night). I initially met them all discreetly, and did not discuss a programa immediately until off-site or alone privately. Because they like to elevate their status, the prices are higher to justify that. Some were dullards in the sack but a few are highly rated and would put the best sauna garoto to shame with their bedroom skills. As Tom says, many unknown variables go into play regarding if an individual gogo dancer decides to hook up with you, even for pay. In the past few weeks, I’ve witnessed some VERY inexplicable hookups, so I’m no longer going to claim, like other posters here have, that a client’s looks are EVER a factor with working boys who are all about the cash. I’ll just assume that these clients have loads of personality and plenty of game (in addition to reais)! The 1979 pop song by Joe Jackson, “Is She Really Going Out With Him?”, comes to mind a lot. They should play THAT on repeat at the saunas instead, replacing the continuous Whitney Houston and Cher techno remixes and Madonna’s “La Isla Bonita” that I hear ad nauseum.

I had a similar experience with a working boy that I discovered was a Bolsonaro fan — while he was in my bed overnight! I had hired him in the past a few years ago and he is a nice guy, but I just can’t give any more money to him due to his support of Tropical Trump. Even whores have standards. There are more than enough fine, sexy working boys with hot bodies that don’t support a racist, misogynist homophobe who’d rather have his own son die in an accident than for him to be gay.

To be even clearer, the “gay beach” (or the gay part of the beach) in Ipanema is directly between Postos 8 and 9. The dead center of it is where Farme de Amoedo ends at Av. Vieira Souto, and you’ll see two barracas (beach vendors) with gay rainbow flags (among others) on the beach. The periphery of that area is gay-friendly, but the farther you go out away from it, the less so (by Rio standards, of course). I just want to clarify this because some posters (and lurkers) here are WAY too literal, and could end up going directly in front of Posto 8 or Posto 9, expecting a “gay Barbie” experience and getting hugely disappointed.

It’s not even wise to use the shower in your own apartment or hotel with a garoto / escort / hustler / unknown date outside the shower — unless you already have every currency known to mankind and every sharp object, every other valuable imaginable already locked away in a safe.

I have met quite a number of former garotos who are now Uber drivers, and current garotos who also drive Uber. It seems like anyone who owns a car in a BrazilIan city is also driving Uber.

If you decide to go there (it’s a trek from Barra), then post your opinion on the place. You’ll be the first.

This has been asked by others and answered by me several times and a search would give you the results you need. Planetario 11 is the most popular rentboy sauna in Salvador, followed closely by Fox. Persona is now closed down. Olympus is AYOR. No one has yet to report on visiting the new sauna, Thermas Club 13.

There are enough gays that go TO Praia do Porto da Barra, and there might even be an area where many of them congregate (closer to the north end). But, again, to be clear — it isn’t a “gay beach”! Not in the Eurocentric notion of what “gay” is. I am just repeating this because there seems to be a lot of dumbasses on this board (not necessarily you), and I don’t want you to end up getting your head cracked open. It is more “gay friendly” than most other beaches in the Bahia. And there is even a pousada / aparthotel across the street that hangs a rainbow flag (the owner is a gay European or American). And there is some discreet (or not so much) hustling going on in and around the area. But it’s not as “openly” gay as, for example, the beach between Postos 8 and 9 off Farme in Rio. There is also a gay-friendly (mostly lesbian) patio restaurant / bar closer to Praia do Farol da Barra (perpendicular to Praia do Porto de Barra), and a sometimes-open, sometimes-not gay club / disco right next to it that is boring as all hell. This is not very far from the non-rentboy sauna in Barra, Sauna Paraíso (Paradise — which it’s not. That title belongs to the rentboy sauna Planetario)!

I’ll answer all of your questions. (1) If you are staying at the Village Novo like you said you might, then it is around the corner where the street parallel to Av. Sete de Setembro ends. (2) The supermarket may stay open until maybe 10 pm and 6 pm on Sundays. You can probably use the ATMs there until closing, but not sure. (3) The neighborhood is comparably safe, as compared to say, Pelourinho — but walk around that street alone at night after grabbing reais at the ATM machine AYOR. (4) There really is no such thing as a “gay hood” in Salvador. You might want to get the Eurocentric notions of gayness out of your head. But Barra has probably more openly gay-friendly businesses than the other neighborhoods, a higher concentration of international tourists near its beaches, and it is known for a very dangerous cruisy area that if you go to at night seeking a cheap thrill and get killed, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Have fun.

And October is a particularly rainy month in Brazil.

As you stated previously, often it is just “the luck of the draw” — even with the best places. At 117 in Rio, Tuesday is supposed to be its best night. However, this past Tuesday did not compare to the previous one, which was better than the one before it, which was not as good as the one before that. It’s almost as if they are making alternate Tuesdays the best nights to attend.

If you are staying in Barra, there are several good and relatively safe ATM machines to use near the beaches, as long as you try to use them before dark and plan accordingly. My recommended one is inside a supermarket (that recently became affiliated with Wal-Mart for some reason) one block off Praia de Porto de Barra, but there are a few others.

I love your generous and kind writing style. Other posters here might word what you are really saying here in a more blunt or even a more mean-spirited way. Your point was (hopefully) made well to your intended audience without having to go there.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

But from what I hear, you wear it well! The boys don’t seem to mind. Or course, generosity of spirit (and of wallet) always helps!

Meanwhile, Russia has actually set up gay concentration camps in Chechnya. But let’s focus on the “danger” of elderly pasty white gay male tourists getting their iPhones stolen in the tony trendy tourist trap areas of predominantly black and brown cities. As a mathematical science major with an emphasis on probability and statistics, I know damn well that statistics can be improperly used to justify biases and even bigotry. For example, many racists will use statistics citing the percentages of black people on welfare or the number of black people in prison as support for their claims that black people are more violent, criminal and lazy. However, just as in this case, proper statistical APPLICATION matters. When citing crime or murder stats in Rio or Brazil, it is important to note WHERE the crimes are occurring, WHO are the victims, and to WHOM they are being perpetrated. As I mentioned above, the violent crime stats (armed robbery included) for upscale, predominantly white areas like Leblon, Ipanema, and even Copa are much less than they are in areas outside of Zona Sul (where you as a fragile gringo tourist are far less likely to venture into).

I think it’s great and highly admirable that, in spite of your having a harrowing experience on your first trip, you returned to Rio at least 7 more times and had what I presume were wonderful, violent crime-free experiences. I’d also like to point out that the area around Copacabana Palace is a target for thieves and muggers out to get “wealthy unsuspecting gringo tourists”. Because nothing says, “I’m just visiting, have a little money to burn, and don’t know Rio” like the famed Copacabana Palace. I don’t know if you decided to be a little less touristy and a little more unassuming in your subsequent trips to Rio, but this is one thing that (although none of this was your fault) could be a valuable course corrector for you and others moving forward.

I’m fairly certain that I know who all the working boys are that you mentioned above at 117. Of all of them, Junio is the only one that is physically my type. He is Solace-approved.

Anecdotal evidence is always used to support biases.

This is an interesting choice in comparative cities, and illustrates why I tend to side closer to @Latbear4blk in his argument. In my opinion, this goes back to not only WHERE you are and WHAT you do, but also WHO you are (or more specifically, who you appear to be to others). New York City now is not the NYC of the 1970s and 1980s. It has not been this safe and devoid of violent crime in decades. Still, for some people, NYC (especially some less-gentrified parts of it) will never feel safe, and they will always feel like it look like they have a target on their backs. In NYC, as in most major urban areas, most violent crimes are committed intra-racially (black on black, white on white), because human nature is that people tend to victimize in their own communities, yet here as in elsewhere, we have mostly older mostly white guys freaking out over being victims of violent crimes in major urban areas with lots of young men of color. The violent crimes that occur in New Orleans and Miami — save for the anecdotal, media-hyped tales — tend to occur in concentrated, blighted areas with heavy drug wars and lots and lots of poorer people (of color). On your vacay, as a privileged tourist, do you really intend to be “slumming” or hanging out in East New York, Brooklyn, Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans, or Liberty City, Miami? Petty theft is common anywhere well-trafficked that is known to have tourists or people not as familiar with the lay of the land. However, violent crime, especially something like armed robbery, is going to be far less common in tony Ipanema or Leblon in Rio than it is in the inland neighborhoods — one major reason is that there is a larger police presence there to protect the monied nervous nellies (justified or not). Just as it is on the Upper East Side of Manhattan or South Beach, Miami.

He didn’t look handsome to me. He looked batshit crazy even then.