SALVADOR, BAHIA, Dec 22 to Jan 3

[Latbear4blk]

Fernando responded with his tour offerings.

I will hire him for a walk in the Pelourinho, and for a night of Samba in the beach. I am asking for clarification about his combos. He has some tours described as to experience the real every day life in Bahia, things like a Favela tour, and the African market tour, and you can combine them. 

I told him I am gay and would appreciate it if he gives a gay touch to all his itineraries. 

[Latbear4blk]

I hope I did not offend him, I have not heard from him since Wednesday.

[JAYBLK]

11 hours ago, Latbear4blk said:

I hope I did not offend him, I have not heard from him since Wednesday.

I am certain that you did not offend him and that his lack of responsiveness will ultimately be explained by being busy with clients who are visiting now or soon. For example, I will be in Salvador in a couple of weeks and have spoken to him twice, since Wednesday.

[Latbear4blk]

1 hour ago, JAYBLK said:

I am certain that you did not offend him and that his lack of responsiveness will ultimately be explained by being busy with clients who are visiting now or soon. For example, I will be in Salvador in a couple of weeks and have spoken to him twice, since Wednesday.

I am a little bit anxious. 

[JAYBLK]

2 hours ago, Latbear4blk said:

I am a little bit anxious. 

Anxiety is always toxic. Anxiety six months in advance is radioactive. Are you seriously worried about not being in touch with a tour guide you wont even meet until December?

[Latbear4blk]

1 hour ago, JAYBLK said:

Anxiety is always toxic. Anxiety six months in advance is radioactive. Are you seriously worried about not being in touch with a tour guide you wont even meet until December?

It is only five months in advance.

[SolaceSoul]

On 8/2/2018 at 5:31 PM, Latbear4blk said:

Fernando responded with his tour offerings.

I will hire him for a walk in the Pelourinho, and for a night of Samba in the beach. I am asking for clarification about his combos. He has some tours described as to experience the real every day life in Bahia, things like a Favela tour, and the African market tour, and you can combine them. 

I told him I am gay and would appreciate it if he gives a gay touch to all his itineraries. 

You might want to:

(1) Be a bit more specific about what kind of “gay touch” that you want. Nightclubs? Bars? Beaches? Cruising? Saunas? Pay boys? 

(2) Chill our dibce your trip isn’t until December. Ever heard of the term “bugaboo”?

[Latbear4blk]

6 hours ago, SolaceSoul said:

(2) Chill our dibce your trip isn’t until December. Ever heard of the term “bugaboo”?

[Latbear4blk]

6 hours ago, SolaceSoul said:

(1) Be a bit more specific about what kind of “gay touch” that you want. Nightclubs? Bars? Beaches? Cruising? Saunas? Pay boys? 

I told him that I just wanted a gay touch in all his planned tours. The only specific thing I mentioned was that I was planning to visit the saunas and try the garotos de programa, without his help.

But do not worry, I got the point. I am stupidly and ridiculously anxious about this trip. I need to slow down. 

Bitches.

[Latbear4blk]

Fernando responded a few days ago. I am going to take a few more days before responding. I am cooling down.

[Latbear4blk]

I am proud of myself, I have not posted in this thread since August. It is not that I am controlling my anxiety about this dream trip, but rather that I just hide it to avoid you all laughing at me. 

Silence has lasted enough. I have news. Muito Obrigado to the friend @axiom2001, who recommended Fernando. I just closed a deal with him:

Airport Transfer: R$150 

Walking Tour + African Market: R$500

North Shore Beaches Tour: R$500

--------------------------------------------

Total R$1150 (Brazilian currency)

 

I will be arriving at 7 in the morning, and my hotel check in is at 3 PM. So he will pick me up from the airport and spend the whole day  (Sunday) with me walking the Pelourinho and the African Market. The following day we will spend again the day together, enjoying Christmas in the beach. 

And then I am by myself, horny and unleashed. 

Question for the Brazilian frequent travelers, as my last time there was 30 years ago and in the South. Should I buy my Brazilian currency in DC? Should I take cash? Are ATMs in Salvador easily available and with a convenient exchange fee? I think you understand what is the advice I am asking for. Thank you! Obrigado! Gracias!

[Tartegogo]

1 hour ago, Latbear4blk said:

Are ATMs in Salvador easily available and with a convenient exchange fee?

Unfortunately the foreign exchange rate will entirely depend on your American bank (or Argentinian bank), not on the ATM.

The withdrawal fee (like the 2 dollars fixed fee that some ATM will charge you just for withdrawing any amount) will exist or not, depending on the relationship between your bank and the ATM owner. 

For example in Brazil i withdraw for free in Bradesco since it has a relationship with Hsbc which is one of my banks. But if I go anywhere else than Bradesco, they charge me the withdrawal fee. 

Never been to Salvador, so not sure about the availability of specific ATMs, but google maps are very good at locating them. If you check with your bank in the US, whether they have any special agreement with any Brazilian banks, and then google map for that bank’s ATM, you may be able to figure out what to do. 

Buying currency at a “cambio” kiosk, either in the US, at the airport, or in a Brazilian city, you should expect to loose about 5% of your money (they use punitive exchange rates bc they have to pay a trustworthy human to handle the transaction, they have to securely store various amounts of banknotes from many countries etc,) Withdrawing from an ATM, you should expect to loose less than 1.5% of your money’s value, because everything is automated. No salaries to pay. And it is a single currency storage, which already exists because the ATM already exists to serve the locals.

(if you have a withdrawal fee, always withdraw the maximum amount to lower the impact, a $2 fee on $40 withdrawal is 5 %, but $2 on $500 is only 0.4%).

That is how it works for me, others might have had different experiences.

Ps: Some US and UK banks have credit cards with no international payment fees too, these can be good value if you can get one, to pay your sauna entrances, restaurants and hotel bills.

[SolaceSoul]

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.  

[Latbear4blk]

9 hours ago, SolaceSoul said:

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 think that supermarket is around my hotel corner. Is the are unsafe at night? It is supposed to be the gay hood, right?

[axiom2001]

1 hour ago, Latbear4blk said:

I think that supermarket is around my hotel corner. Is the are unsafe at night? It is supposed to be the gay hood, right?

Send Fernando an email regarding your query.  This is the first that I've read about "the gay hood!"  ...have been twice to Bahia.  ...received my guide through the late Carlos who lived in Rio; no one ever mentioned or alluded to a "gay area" or a "gay hood!"  It might exist now, but it didn't when I visited before 2011.

[Latbear4blk]

3 hours ago, axiom2001 said:

Send Fernando an email regarding your query.  This is the first that I've read about "the gay hood!"  ...have been twice to Bahia.  ...received my guide through the late Carlos who lived in Rio; no one ever mentioned or alluded to a "gay area" or a "gay hood!"  It might exist now, but it didn't when I visited before 2011.

It is not important. That is not why I chose the hotel. I chose it because of the price and the location right on the beach. Afterwards I researched the neighborhood and found reports about Praia do Barra being a gay beach, and a big Saturday night street/beach party taking place just a block away.

[SolaceSoul]

5 hours ago, Latbear4blk said:

I think that supermarket is around my hotel corner. Is the are unsafe at night? It is supposed to be the gay hood, right?

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.

[SolaceSoul]

9 hours ago, Latbear4blk said:

It is not important. That is not why I chose the hotel. I chose it because of the price and the location right on the beach. Afterwards I researched the neighborhood and found reports about Praia do Barra being a gay beach, and a big Saturday night street/beach party taking place just a block away.

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)!

[Latbear4blk]

8 hours ago, SolaceSoul said:

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.

Thank you. This is exactly the kind of advice I am looking for. 100% useful.

[Latbear4blk]

9 minutes ago, SolaceSoul said:

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 seem 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 heard you loud and clear, you do not need to insist on warning against the "Eurocentric" view. Got it. That (sexuality as a more fluid experience) is exactly what I loved of my experience in the Brazil Gaucho, and that is what I am looking for, augmented, in Afro Brazil. 

Keep talking.

I heard about Sauna Fox, Rio, and Paradise. Never about Planetario. Can you share more about the local saunas, please? Obrigado!

[SolaceSoul]

9 minutes ago, Latbear4blk said:

I heard you loud and clear, you do not need to insist on warning against the "Eurocentric" view. Got it. That (sexuality as a more fluid experience) is exactly what I loved of my experience in the Brazil Gaucho, and that is what I am looking for, augmented, in Afro Brazil. 

Keep talking.

I heard about Sauna Fox, Rio, and Paradise. Never about Planetario. Can you share more about the local saunas, please? Obrigado!

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.

 

[Latbear4blk]

1 hour ago, SolaceSoul said:

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.

 

Sorry for being lazy.

[Latbear4blk]

1 hour ago, SolaceSoul said:

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.

 

The IG you shared in that post is not working anymore.This is the website:

http://thermasclub13.com

If I am not lost, it is a little far away. I guess I should focus on Planetario 11 and Fox. How can those two be compared against each other?

[SolaceSoul]

3 minutes ago, Latbear4blk said:

The IG you shared in that post is not working anymore.This is the website:

http://thermasclub13.com

 

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

[Latbear4blk]

6 minutes ago, SolaceSoul said:

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

You know me. I will report on everything. I will probably go at least once. Hopefully in my first couple of days under Fernando's guide I will get plenty of information from local sources.