Preparing for trip

[geodesic]

So I will be in Brazil soon and promise to post detailed reports of my sauna visits when I am there.

Having perused numerous posts (a huge thank you to all contributors), I have been able to glean the following:

 

1. The going rate at the moment is generally R$150 at both SP and RdeJ saunas (but this is subject to many factors)

 

2. Busy nights at Lagoa are Sundays, Fridays and Saturdays in that order.

 

3.  I am into muscle studs and so I should skip Fragata which is nothing to get excited about in any case?

 

4. Pointe 202 is best visited on a Thursday. 

 

5. Club 117 is best visited on a Friday.

 

6. There is a low GdeP to client ratio on a Saturday in all saunas (as it is "date night" for the boys).

 

7. It's wise to bring condoms and lube, as well as a pair of sandals and towels.

 

Is this all correct? Any additional insights/comments would really help me in my planning.

 

Thanks! 

   

[Badboy81]

53 minutes ago, geodesic said:

So I will be in Brazil soon and promise to post detailed reports of my sauna visits when I am there.

Having perused numerous posts (a huge thank you to all contributors), I have been able to glean the following:

 

1. The going rate at the moment is generally R$150 at both SP and RdeJ saunas (but this is subject to many factors)

 

2. Busy nights at Lagoa are Sundays, Fridays and Saturdays in that order.

 

3.  I am into muscle studs and so I should skip Fragata which is nothing to get excited about in any case?

 

4. Pointe 202 is best visited on a Thursday. 

 

5. Club 117 is best visited on a Friday.

 

6. There is a low GdeP to client ratio on a Saturday in all saunas (as it is "date night" for the boys).

 

7. It's wise to bring condoms and lube, as well as a pair of sandals and towels.

 

Is this all correct? Any additional insights/comments would really help me in my planning.

 

Thanks! 

   

1.  Incorrect....the going rate is about 100R depending on how busy the sauna is and how in demand the guy is but that is the general going rate

3.  117 in Rio definitely has those

4/5.  117 is going to be busy most of the days since they have a dedicated base of guys who work there....Pointe will be busy on the free cabin night...Not sure what night that is

6. Incorrect....two Saturdays ago at 117 is was packed with about equal numbers of guys to clients...Keep in mind, many of the locals who go to the saunas regularly use it for socializing and meeting up with friends so there may be one or two garotos at a table with 4 guys are just at the table talking and looking

7.  They provide all of those items but if you have a preference for lube and condoms, bring your own....if you prefer to wear your own sandals, you can do that as well...as far as towels, never seen anybody bring there own but hey, im sure you can

My advice is to read more info on the forum because everything you asked here has pretty much been answered time and time again, pretty recently (maybe except for the towels and sandals question)

[Tomcal]

1 hour ago, geodesic said:

2. Busy nights at Lagoa are Sundays, Fridays and Saturdays in that order.

4. Pointe 202 is best visited on a Thursday. 

 

5. Club 117 is best visited on a Friday.

 

 

   

IMHO the above 3 points are wrong!

2) Lagoa is best on Friday nights! followed Saturday and Sunday

4) Pointe is best on Wednesday followed by Monday.

5) 117 is and has been for a long time best on Tuesday, followed by Sunday’s

This could change with the new sauna opening tomorrow night...

[asdsrfr]

I think it's great that you have done so much research--and this board is a great resource. If I had to give one more piece of advice it would be to prepare to go with the flow on any given day and see where it goes. Rio is an amazing destination both in and out of the saunas. You hate to give up an amazing conversation with a new friend on the beach only to run to the sauna and discover that despite all the best planning it's a dud night. Go enjoy--use your research but be flexible--and of course report back! And I agree with Tomcal--no need to bring your own towels.

[Riobard]

Who's who and the question of tipping housestaff:

Gratuities are, of course, optional and appreciated.

The mix of staff, generally, is:

-Reception for computerized account, keys, payment, sometimes the towel/flipflop dispensing

-Bartenders

-Management troubleshooting types floating around

-Music/show coordinator

-Suite cleaners, sometimes also floating as locker attendants

-Locker-room attendants, sometimes the towel/flipflop dispensing

Are cash gratuities pooled and shared amongst the total group or any subgroup? No, it's each man/woman for himself.

Me, I am a modest tipper and my focus is the cleaners and attendants. Per visit, i dispense single cincos. This is typically 10 total for the 2 women at 202; 20-25 total to the locker attendants, the 2 women supervising the suites and the floater cleaning the overall premises and some suites at  117. 

Overall, on any one more extended Rio visit these low wage earners may benefit more from me personally than many GdePs I sample. But anyone cleaning up my poopy cummy condoms deserves a tad extra, in my view. 

To each his own.

Have a safe, prosperous, and fun-filled visit.

 

[geodesic]

Thank you all for your replies.

A few questions - apologies in advance, some of them are really stupid whilst others have already been answered on these fora - I am just looking for the most uptodate information!  

1. Logistics: how do you carry cash/phone on your person if you are only wearing a towel? Or do you just leave the cash in the lockers and retrieve it after each programa? 

2. Safety - would I be right in thinking that club 117 isn't in the safest of neighbourhoods and so I should avoid going there by metro? 

3. Risks - I read with concern a fellow posters comment that many GdePs are willing to have unprotected anal sex. I particularly enjoy oral sex (giving and receiving) without protection - how risky would this be? I need to assess this carefully - if I am likely to get HPV other such STI after say 5 programas,  that would warrant using condoms. 

4. I note many people use a downloaded translator app on their phones, is this because there is no or unreliable WIFI in the saunas? Does this still remain the case in the following places: Club 117, Pointe 202, Thermas Lagoa

[SolaceSoul]

1 hour ago, geodesic said:

Thank you all for your replies.

A few questions - apologies in advance, some of them are really stupid whilst others have already been answered on these fora - I am just looking for the most uptodate information!  

1. Logistics: how do you carry cash/phone on your person if you are only wearing a towel? Or do you just leave the cash in the lockers and retrieve it after each programa? 

2. Safety - would I be right in thinking that club 117 isn't in the safest of neighbourhoods and so I should avoid going there by metro? 

3. Risks - I read with concern a fellow posters comment that many GdePs are willing to have unprotected anal sex. I particularly enjoy oral sex (giving and receiving) without protection - how risky would this be? I need to assess this carefully - if I am likely to get HPV other such STI after say 5 programas,  that would warrant using condoms. 

4. I note many people use a downloaded translator app on their phones, is this because there is no or unreliable WIFI in the saunas? Does this still remain the case in the following places: Club 117, Pointe 202, Thermas Lagoa

1. Keep the cash in your locker. I like to carry my iPhone, and I do it in my hand.

2. 117 is right around the corner from the Gloria Metro station. The neighborhood is not unsafe — especially if you are just going in the well-traveled path directly from the metro station to the sauna and back. But if you are a Nervous Nelly or if you think you stick out like a sore thumb as a target, then just Uber it after dark. 

You might have gotten 117 confused with 203, which is in a decent area of Copa and right down the street from the Siguero Campos Metro, but if you make the wrong walking or driving turn , you’ll end up going up a hill to the favela — and you don’t want to do that. Especially not a Nervous Nelly turista who looks like a gringo!

3. I can’t help you there. You really should be taking the same precautions you do at a Brazilian sauna that you would during a casual sexual encounter in your hometown or anywhere else.

4. All of the saunas you mentioned have free WiFi access in certain common areas of the clubs. Ask an employee or the front desk for the network and customer password. But Google Translate works without WiFi if you preloaded language dictionaries. And you should consider getting an unlimited cellular data plan for your international travels as well — that way you can use apps (like translators or WhatsApp) without WiFi.

Hope this helps.

[Badboy81]

3 hours ago, geodesic said:

Thank you all for your replies.

A few questions - apologies in advance, some of them are really stupid whilst others have already been answered on these fora - I am just looking for the most uptodate information!  

1. Logistics: how do you carry cash/phone on your person if you are only wearing a towel? Or do you just leave the cash in the lockers and retrieve it after each programa? 

2. Safety - would I be right in thinking that club 117 isn't in the safest of neighbourhoods and so I should avoid going there by metro? 

3. Risks - I read with concern a fellow posters comment that many GdePs are willing to have unprotected anal sex. I particularly enjoy oral sex (giving and receiving) without protection - how risky would this be? I need to assess this carefully - if I am likely to get HPV other such STI after say 5 programas,  that would warrant using condoms. 

4. I note many people use a downloaded translator app on their phones, is this because there is no or unreliable WIFI in the saunas? Does this still remain the case in the following places: Club 117, Pointe 202, Thermas Lagoa

Interesting questions...

1.  Leave the cash in your locker...they have cameras and everything in your locker will be safe

2.  Take an uder or taxi if you want but 117 is a 3-5 minute walk from the metro and the neighborhood is very safe

3.  If you have to ask this question, use protection....why even risk your health if you are asking before you even get to Rio...

I never have had unprotected sex in the Rio saunas (and would be leery as hell of any body open to raw sex) and as far as oral sex, never gotten anything in Rio...Most of the guys are very safe but not sure how much body fluid you plan to exchange, I would wrap it up to be on the safe side

4.  WIFI is all over Rio and in all the saunas

[floridarob]

3 hours ago, geodesic said:

 

3. Risks - I read with concern a fellow posters comment that many GdePs are willing to have unprotected anal sex. I particularly enjoy oral sex (giving and receiving) without protection - how risky would this be? I need to assess this carefully - if I am likely to get HPV other such STI after say 5 programas,  that would warrant using condoms. 

 

The risk is two sided, for them as well, no?

[Riobard]

29 minutes ago, floridarob said:

The risk is two sided, for them as well, no?

Exactly! More for them, as the little bit of research existing suggests that up to 20% of men who pay for sex are found to have an STI on routine consultation, without necessarily having had telltale symptoms. Male commercial sex workers also tend to be more lax than female sex workers, and the research suggests that up to 40% of male sex workers not on the street would spot-test positive for an STI, a higher rate than for female sex workers and for men who have non-commercial sex with men. 

But many of those transmissions were contracted from clients, not difficult math given the volume of tricks turned. 

These estimates are at the high end of confidence intervals. In other words, the true rates are likely lower, or depends on the group and other factors, but these figures are still sobering. And in your face at the clubs the big head can see the potential chain of transmission on full display even if the little head is clueless. 

I myself fellate without a condom some of the time, but I get tested regularly, am immune against HepB, and take PreP when sexually active, just for good measure though it is far less imperative. In a foreign country I do not want to deal with the local system in the event of accidental exposure. 

I would suggest the most important precaution in the travel sex playbook is to be immune against Hepatitis B, by vaccination, or you may have previous exposure and clearance. I caught HepB and was extremely ill through protected sex many years ago, via the kissing part. It is not a wimpy virus in terms of transmission. Acute HepB can be very serious, even kill.

I have had none of the more garden-variety STIs that can be acquired in the saunas in Brazil. I consider this to be luck more than smarts.

We probably most of us have HPV.

[AdamSmith]

17 minutes ago, Riobard said:

Exactly! More for them, as the little bit of research existing suggests that up to 20% of men who pay for sex are found to have an STI on routine consultation, without necessarily having had telltale symptoms. Male commercial sex workers also tend to be more lax than female sex workers, and the research suggests that up to 40% of male sex workers not on the street would spot-test positive for an STI, a higher rate than for female sex workers and for men who have non-commercial sex with men. 

But many of those transmissions were contracted from clients, not difficult math given the volume of tricks turned. 

These estimates are at the high end of confidence intervals. In other words, the true rates are likely lower, or depends on the group and other factors, but these figures are still sobering. And in your face at the clubs the big head can see the potential chain of transmission on full display even if the little head is clueless. 

I myself fellate without a condom some of the time, but I get tested regularly, am immune against HepB, and take PreP when sexually active, just for good measure though it is far less imperative. In a foreign country I do not want to deal with the local system in the event of accidental exposure. 

I would suggest the most important precaution in the travel sex playbook is to be immune against Hepatitis B, by vaccination, or you may have previous exposure and clearance. I caught HepB and was extremely ill through protected sex many years ago, via the kissing part. It is not a wimpy virus in terms of transmission. Acute HepB can be very serious, even kill.

I have had none of the more garden-variety STIs that can be acquired in the saunas in Brazil. I consider this to be luck more than smarts.

We probably most of us have HPV.

Can you cite any documented evidence for these claims about general occurrence rates?

I find them very exaggerated indeed.

As someone who gets tested rigorously (monthly) whenever active.

[Tomcal]

this is certainly not a scientific survey but i have(knock on wood) never had a STD!  and i have done a lot with a lot of guys! Although Floidarob has done way more then me! 

[floridarob]

2 hours ago, Tomcal said:

this is certainly not a scientific survey but i have(knock on wood) never had a STD!  and i have done a lot with a lot of guys! Although Floidarob has done way more then me! 

How is that possible....my tricks always end up in your room,lol

[Gotti]

About tips: tips are an American thing, where you supposed to tip everybody, is very moderate in Europe and non-existent in Asia. In Brazil, which is obviously the case here, you tip the waiter that serves you food and the hotel worker that carries your bags, that's about it. If you are in a bar, sat on a table for drinks, an additional 10% will be included on your bill anyway, you should no go any further than that. If you are in a bar and you go to the counter order a beer or whatever, you pay exclusively for the cost of the drink, bartenders don't get tipped by Brazilians, unlike they get tipped by Europeans and definitely not by Asians. In a sauna, for example, if you tip the help, you are being very gracious, they are not counting on it. I've worked for tips in NYC for many years and me and my co-workers knew in advance if we would get a tip or not. In a crowded disco, for example, Asians, included the many ones that were born in the States and were aware of the culture, would be served last, regardless of time they reached the bar counter, because the staff knew that tips would not happen. If you are in Brazil, if food is not involved, tip if you feel like. Important:  cab drivers are not tipped by Brazilians ever!

[Walker]

10 hours ago, geodesic said:

Thank you all for your replies.

A few questions - apologies in advance, some of them are really stupid whilst others have already been answered on these fora - I am just looking for the most uptodate information!  

1. Logistics: how do you carry cash/phone on your person if you are only wearing a towel? Or do you just leave the cash in the lockers and retrieve it after each programa? 

2. Safety - would I be right in thinking that club 117 isn't in the safest of neighbourhoods and so I should avoid going there by metro? 

3. Risks - I read with concern a fellow posters comment that many GdePs are willing to have unprotected anal sex. I particularly enjoy oral sex (giving and receiving) without protection - how risky would this be? I need to assess this carefully - if I am likely to get HPV other such STI after say 5 programas,  that would warrant using condoms. 

4. I note many people use a downloaded translator app on their phones, is this because there is no or unreliable WIFI in the saunas? Does this still remain the case in the following places: Club 117, Pointe 202, Thermas Lagoa

The answers to some of your concerns depend on how savvy you are as a traveler and a player.  I am guessing you don't play much in your hometown and you don't travel overseas much.

HPV -- There is HPV in every country.  How do you handle your HPV concern in your home country? I suppose you never hire any escort or go to a sex club or have sex with strangers in your home country. 

Wifi -- Buy a Brazilian sim card or use your home country sim card with international roaming.  And you will have internet connection everywhere while in Brazil. Do you really want to rely exclusively on establishments' free wifi?

Club117 area safety -- many members  on this forum take metro there, but Uber is cheap and safe if you don't feel comfortable with public transportation.

 

 

[Riobard]

I have logged several months overall of living within a 10-minute walking distance to the Gloria/CandidoDeMendes intersection without incident. I tend to feel more on guard walking from Tonelero up Siqueira Campos to 202, likely because there is theoretically more foot traffic between the favela and the Metro station, and later at night there is a short span without much of a sidewalk crowd. 

Car hijackings do occur in the city, but the chances overall are obviously quite low. When I take an Über, however, I sit in the front passenger seat so that I am not telegraphing "Hey, this is a tourist in an Über."

[Riobard]

Re: STI "occurrence", we all have the same access to research abstracts and papers. No need to hit the CDC library for the latest meta-analysis. Bear in mind that incidence or prevalence rates are not the same as transmission rates.

One of the skull or groin lozenges you suck has a reasonable probability for containing STI viral or bacterial particles. There are many co-factors that determine whether you will have been gifted with them by the light of subsequent days. You have to make precaution decisions based on what is theoretically possible. I just want to suggest accessing any clinical prevention remedy that exists. The rest is discretionary behaviour. 

[Riobard]

Food waiters and tipping ... I consistently see a 10% service charge on the bill. It is not sales tax. When I ask if it is a propina I get an affirmative answer. The wireless credit card gadgets do not have a gratuity step like in my home country. I thought that absence  reinforced the idea that the 10% is an add-on benefiitting the server.

I could be wrong, but I thought this 10% practice operates for meals as well as bar drinks without food. But if the 10% is essentially base wages I would possibly change my custom and tip a meal server above it. 

[Gotti]

1 hour ago, Riobard said:

Food waiters and tipping ... I consistently see a 10% service charge on the bill. It is not sales tax. When I ask if it is a propina I get an affirmative answer. The wireless credit card gadgets do not have a gratuity step like in my home country. I thought that absence  reinforced the idea that the 10% is an add-on benefiitting the server.

I could be wrong, but I thought this 10% practice operates for meals as well as bar drinks without food. But if the 10% is essentially base wages I would possibly change my custom and tip a meal server above it. 

Yes, the 10% you on the bills benefit the server and is a standard, Brazilians pay this amount and don't go any further, but of course you can add anything you want, again, if you are not served by a waiter you are not expected to give anything. Bartenders, coat checks etc, gets nothing. Be careful with the word "propina" actually means "bribe".

[floridarob]

2 hours ago, Gotti said:

. Be careful with the word "propina" actually means "bribe".

when I first started going to Brasil, words I didn't know just defaulted to their Spanish equivalent.....I gave a bartender at a SP disco a tip and he asked me what is was for, I told him it was his propina. He got pissed off and threw the money back at me, I was confused. My friend with me was laughing and said I insulted him that the correct word was  gorjeta....lesson learned.

Pickles was another word I remember struggling for....it is picles,lol

[Riobard]

I'd have thought a club server would be more receptive to being induced to let you gorge ta on his picle, or at least laugh it off.