Xclay

Since late March 2020 (when the Brazilian government lowered interest rates and added lots of pandemic measures), we've been lucky to get good exchange rates. Currently, the rate is not at its recent peak of nearly 6 reals for one dollar, but nearly 5:1 is still quite good (for visitors). Years ago, I tested exchange rates at ATMs vs. credit cards and found that both were very good and they were comparable. I had also been warned to be careful in using my credit card in Brazil because hacking was not uncommon. For many years, my practice has been to use my credit card to pay my hotels and any large purchases — but pay cash (drawn from ATMs) for coffee, most meals, saunas, and GP tips. A few days ago, I quickly used a Bradesco ATM to grab some reals on the way to a sauna. I was shocked to see it defaulted to a terrible exchange rate with an 11% "mark-up." So I decided it was time to run a comparison test again. I was ready to denounce Bradesco until I discovered that you can reject the Bradesco default (designed to rip off other dumb tourists!?) and get an excellent exchange rate. Down in its screen's lower left corner is the crucial option "Decline Conversion"! Clicking that option does not deny baptism, but it yields an outstanding result. My test results: *For the "official" rate, I used XE.com's widely used "mid-market" rate on the day I made the transaction. Not included above is the R$20 transaction fee (US$4) that Santander adds. My Schwab card reimburses all local bank transaction fees, but otherwise that extra $4 each time starts to add up! Bottom line: ✔ Bradesco ATMs are great IF you "decline conversion." ✔ Santander ATMs are good if your bank reimburses Santander's transaction fees. ✔ The basic Visa card exchange rate is great (as long as you keep the charge in reals and decline the conversion to USD or EUR). Miscellaneous: ● I know that for some posters here getting 4.4 instead of 4.9 is pocket change. Good for you. But for those of us who stay longer and keep an eye on our budget, it matters. ● I did not check Itaú or Banco do Brasil. Getting into a Banco do Brasil here in Porto Alegre is worse than TSA airport security. Plus, I've never forgiven Banco do Brasil for its ATM giving me zero cash after accepting my transaction 20 years ago in Recife. Nightmare getting reimbursed. ● Just noticed that Gap1972 briefly noted the Bradesco trick in passing back in September, and others complained about the Bradesco "robbery" back in January. This site is amazing.

The Moinhos de Vento area with the big park and upscale restaurants has always seemed safe in the two dozen years I've been coming here. I've never heard of anybody having any problems. I always regularly walk at night from Lux (revamped Plataforma) up the hill to Moinhos de Vento. No hassles ever. From more distant Mezzaninu, you'd want to take an Uber.

Of course you can occasionally come across a random GP hunting at any Brazilian sauna. But, as far as I know, no GPs regularly go to any PA saunas except Lux and Mezzaninu. Compared to much larger cities, it's impressive that PA has two!

I praised Porto Alegre here last January (see link below) even before the significant progress noted in the two threads started in June-August (linked in the post above). I just arrived in Porto Alegre today, so I'll provide an update in a week or so.

FYI...

A few guys on this forum like cruising the streets and elsewhere. So I thought I'd share this "historical" compilation of 41 cruising venues in Rio and Niterói that a Brazilian compiled about 2010. My reactions: Surprised he identified so many cruising spots in Niterói. I've encountered some, but surprised to see so much action at so many McDonald's. Shopping malls are inevitable places worldwide, and some of these are still active. The São João Batista Cemetery! Gravediggers as GPs?! Quite a few parks of course. Some of these places are still cruisy, but I suppose many of them are inactive now. Of course for men who are sexy and virile, any place in Brazil is cruisy. End of my archeological post. I did not spend much time polishing the Google translation, and this site does not accept PDFs so PNG format was used.

Gingerbeef, please tell us about your swing around Northeast Brazil! Did the tips you received about Fortaleza prove to be helpful? Did you decide to go to Natal? How is it these days? Thanks in advance. (I'm considering some combination of Fortaleza, Natal, Recife and Salvador this Dec-Jan.)

For your first trip to Brazil, I trust you know to be super careful with the packed mob at Tomorrowland! Bring no watch, no ring, no billfold. If you cannot live without your phone, consider stashing it in underwear with security pockets, such as here and here. And you can always put some reals in your socks or underwear. Young 39yo Israeli, eh? Of course, if you look even remotely like your porn countrymen Jonathan Agassi and Michael Lucas, you'll have plenty of covert fun at any Ipanema (if you want more upscale) or Copacabana gym.

You are absolutely right. 👍 But at least in my case, my primitive Portuguese and Google Translate allow for some phenomenal conversations. 😉

And many of them may indeed actually be having their first night as a sauna GP (since there is a lot of turnover among newbies who find it is not for them). BUT, I've discovered over the years that a sizeable portion of those who claim to be newbies (having learned many clients like the fantasy of a "sauna virgin" who has not already been despoiled by many hundreds of prior clients) are actually savvy veterans.

Don't understand that math. The more you spend the larger the amount of $$$ saved. Even if I only spend 250 reals per night, the daily cash discount of roughly US $5 amounts to a saving of $50 over my typical ten days at Lagoa. Seems like a nice, easy windfall to me. Of course $50 may be negligible to some others and good for them!

I just pull out cash and Giovanni and the other nice guy (both are used to me paying cash) give me the discount. I suppose, if they do not volunteer a discount, you might just ask "discount?" No problem.

In case not everybody knows, you get a nice little discount if you pay cash (reals)! The mathfree discount seems to be a quick chashier's guess of roughly around ten percent (plus or minus five percent). Also, I find it seems build up club karma if you often return 10 reals of the change to gorgeous Giovanni or the nice, shy stocky guy.

Thank you. Let us know how the adventure goes!

Thank you for the disappointing but valuable news. 😥

Interesting, Mavica. Thanks. I do see several older references to Thermas Germânia, such as here and here , with the latest one in 2014. But your detective work makes sense since it seems perhaps new owners changed the name. At the Rua Germânia address, Thermas Jardins surfaced around 2016. Its last link that I can find was its Facebook page in October, 2020. That does not necessarily mean it is defunct, but the vacant lot is not encouraging! So potentially Campinas has Très Chic* Thermas Atlantida but perhaps no Thermas Jardins? *Just discovered that the Très Chic sauna in Campinas has the same owners as the upscale Très Chic sauna in Curitiba which always had about 5-8 GPs when I visited in the past. Note the dual sauna info at the bottom of this page. So that looks like good odds that Très Chic for a GP sauna, although it does not guarantee fantasy GPs of course.

Over 60 miles (nearly 100km) north of Sao Paulo is Campinas (population 1,200,000). The Campinas Metropolitan Area has 2,600,000. Campinas is the main hub for Azul so it is quite convenient for nonstop domestic flights. The only forum reference I can find to the GP scene in Campinas was back in 2014! Alas, I cannot find any evidence that Thermas Germânia is still open. I do see references to two current saunas in Campinas: Très Chic and Thermas Atlantida. But I do not see any clues as to whether they have GPs. Lately, we've had some posts about new GP saunas on the periphery of Rio. So to those of us who like to explore "undiscovered" GP corners of Brazil, I thought I'd solicit any intel you can share about Campinas. Thanks in advance for any tips.

For just such decisions, check out this great website based on climate averages: https://weatherspark.com/compare/y/29679~31123/Comparison-of-the-Average-Weather-in-Porto-Alegre-and-Fortaleza

Great thread, especially thanks to @Connordrick and @numazu! My only nitpick is the above definition of ativo liberal (achee'-vo lee'-ber-al). In my experience, ativo liberal only meant the top GP would also kiss and maybe suck, not just get blown and top you. Apparently others heard it used differently, but I never heard it to mean that the top GP might bottom. Several years ago I used to hear that phrase a lot, but not these days. Didn't hear it once in my seven weeks in Brazil this summer. I would not say "plenty" but definitely some. Be sure to have that conversation quietly. In my experience, some GPs you might not expect to flip are willing to btm if they like you, they think you will be discrete about it, you don't have a horse cock, and/or it is a slow night for them. They may ask for an extra 50. Many GPs seem paranoid about getting a reputation as a bottom because many clients love the fantasy of getting pounded by a total straight top. GPs will often ask what you like. Glance around to show you are being discrete and whisper "achivo." You may quickly get an instant nunca/never or a shy OK, or otherwise hesitation and negotiation (even a question about your cock size). Also, many GPs are like hawks monitoring who goes to rooms with whom. If they see you taking any of the few known bottoms, they will get your number. I always confuse them with the diversity of my picks. Final observation: Sometimes, rather than relying on an advance agreement, I like to play the "how far can I go" game. Making out intensely, cocks rock hard, roaming my hands everywhere... and then when getting close to the jackpot it's either red light (my hand is moved away with maybe a laughing "no, no") or green light (a barely audible moan) bingo. Gives the great illusion of a hot seduction.

One last trio of trios: And AI decided to add the pubes to two of the likeable studs in the middle pic.

This afternoon I started to use Leonardo.ai for the first time. And it is addictive. What kind of images to generate for my first attempts? Somehow the idea of athletic Brazilians came to mind. For your amusement, I'll share my evolving beginner results. Starting with young men at Iguazu Falls: (Series A below) Later they shower at the sauna: (Series B below) (Series C below) And later stroll around shirtless: (Series D below) On the beach with a very good friend: (Series E below) Finally, started learning how to get more variety in my AI's Brazilian gene pool: (Series F below) And finally in the rainforest: (Series G below) My favorites are B1 top, E2 bottoms, and F1 and F2. But all these fictitious jocks kept my attention fully engaged exploring the AI program and curious what the next output would look like.

Not at all. I should have put "parity" in quotations marks if the new process will only be a cheap e-thing. I did not check on what Canadians and Australians charge (also being required visas to Brazil again). The US charges a daunting $185 for the visa application fee and ordinarily requires an interview! If granted, it's valid for ten years. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/visitor.html https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Brazil.html Maybe what I'm hearing is wrong and Brazil's new "visa" will be a lot more than merely a $10 e-thing. After all, Lula's ministry declared, “Brazil does not grant unilateral exemption from visiting visas, without reciprocity, to other countries.” National honor vs. helping tourism? https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/06/15/brazil-s-economy-is-even-better-than-it-looks/7b6e81b4-0b71-11ee-8132-a84600f3bb9b_story.html Brazil's inflation is trending down, growth is much higher than expected, interest rates are coming down, the S&P rating of Brazil's debt has turned positive, and Lula's team is successfully negotiating economic plans with the Congress! So maybe the loss of some tourists can be absorbed now and this is a good time for Brazil to switch back to some version of serious reciprocity.

Everything I'm hearing, including talking yesterday with my longtime visa expert at passportvisasexpress.com, is that the new Brazilian "visa" will be similar to the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) that Australia has been requiring for US citizens. Likewise, in 2024, 30 European countries (EU + Schengen) will require Americans to pay a nominal fee and register online with its new European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS). The EU and Australia do not call this requirement a "visa." It is framed as online registration to enable us to get our "visa-free" entry. Brazil may still want to call its new electronic permission step a "visa" to signal parity with the US requirement that Brazilians get a visa to visit the US. Anyway, so far it looks like to me that this will take five minutes and few bucks online. No big deal. 🤞

Pauleiro You have become the Sherlock Holmes of Brazilian brothels! 🧐 Yet another breakthrough report. Indebted to you for sharing your discoveries! 👍 May I ask how you do your detective work? How did you discover this place, for example? 👀 Next trip I will be going to a couple of new places with no reports here so far. I'll be visiting as a regular sightseeing tourist, but I'd hate find out later that I missed out on a provocative evening venue that had been under our radar. 😲

Pauleiro, thanks for the update on the fast changing and greatly improving Porto Alegre scene! That is big breaking news. Competition is shaking things up. New owners transform Plataforma into Lux. Now, new owners are transforming Mezzaninu to Mezzaninu Plus. And the integration of the funky late night cruisy Bar Mixx into a revitalized Mezzaninu Plus could be a hot combo. I saw the big improvements at Lux early this summer. Now I am excited to see revived and hybrid Bar Mixx and Mezzaninu Plus when I return to PA in November or December.