SolaceSoul

The OP is most likely referring to the gay sauna in the Bangu area of Rio. it’s called Boate Casa Grande. The address is: R. Cel. Tamarindo, 2520 - Bangu, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 21840-447, Brazil

First read it when it was published a few years ago (2015 or 2016). “Caribbean Pleasure Industry” by Mark Padilla is another published thesis that’s a good thorough read as well.

The sound of a dragon is my cue to either get a room with my garoto of choice or go relax in the steam room / video room. The only time I want to watch the drag-helmed show is if there is a gogo boy I know will interest me.

For those of us who enjoy the Brazilian sauna culture, there’s actually more to do inside these places other than have sex. It’s usually just tourists and infrequent visitors who make their trips to the saunas a continuous pursuit for sex. I know some clients who go to the saunas regularly just to relax, mix, mingle, drink and enjoy the company of friends, and they rarely do programas.

https://apple.news/AV_K0athxRX2xx8ljxUrrdQ

It’s still open and going strong.

Shit, most Americans, in spite of not fitting the above physical description, do not even make for good marriage material.

From November 2020, Rio news pulled from police bloggers. It reads to me like the clients were super shady — including the Swiss millionaire with the Leblon penthouse apartment! English translation: GAROTO DE PROGRAMA GOES TO ASSIST GAY COUPLE IN PENTHOUSE IN LEBLON, LITERALLY ENDS UP CARRYING A PIPE, AND WHEN HE GOES TO CLAIM AT THE 14 DP IN THE BAIRRO, HE GETS STUCK THERE A 26-year-old boy, who claims to have gone into prostitution to pay child support, was arrested yesterday after going to the Leblon police station complaining that he had not received payment for a program he did on the penthouse in an apartment in the neighborhood, lasting 48 hours with a gay couple. He had an active arrest warrant, since February this year, for not paying the pension to his six-year-old son, which already totals R$ 12 thousand. A Paulistano, he said he came to Rio for "a profitable season". "I'm married, my wife knows what I'm doing. Due to the financial crisis I started prostituting myself. I pay for my college, my apartment and I try to help my son. I paid part of the pension to his mother, but the court still hasn't [completed the] discharge on the warrant," he told O DIA at the police station. Also according to Felipe, who uses that name in the programs, he earns between R$ 10 thousand and R$ 15 thousand per month from this activity. According to the boy, he fell into a trap when he was hired by a Brazilian, who is married to a Swiss. "He proposed to me a sexual fantasy with his husband: he didn't tell the Swiss millionaire that I'm a male prostitute. In the sauna, then, we met and went to the penthouse. They used drugs and I did the job, having sex with the Swiss until 4 o'clock in the morning," he said. The first meeting took place in the early afternoon of the 29th. "At dawn, I was sucked, not eating [fucking ass] anything, he (the Brazilian) only gave me R$50 for the taxi and said he would settle the payment later. Then, three hours after I left the apartment, the Brazilian called me and said: I want to have sex only with you, in a motel," he said, yawning and eating a snack he had ordered at the police station. Felipe then went to the motel, where he says he stayed with the Brazilian and worked for a few hours. It was already nighttime when he wanted to receive payment, but the Brazilian said he could only pay the next day. "The initial program we had agreed was R$350. It was already R$5,000 and he said he wouldn't pay. He started writing on Whatsapp that I was threatening, that I had broken into his apartment, and that he was going to call the police. He said: let's go to the police," he said. Arriving at the 14th DP (Leblon), the two, fighting at the counter, told their versions. The police then sent for the Swiss spouse, who knew nothing. "He (the Swiss) proposed to Felipe to pay half of the program that his husband owed. Felipe accepted. So, we did not record the occurrence for embezzlement. However, Felipe had this arrest warrant open and was arrested ", said an agent. He was detained in a cell at the police station. Before being taken to the scene, he managed to make a call to his wife telling him what had happened. "Little girl, I'm going to have to stay here until everything is resolved," he said over the phone.

Wikipedia says he is 37, but Wikis are user- and viewer-controlled and that’s why you cannot trust them as a source. He was born in 1998. https://www.freepressjournal.in/amp/sports/meet-tiago-ramos-neymars-step-dad-whos-6-years-younger-to-the-brazilian-footballer

Tiago Ramos aka Ivan is also a former footballer — thus, like I said in a previous post, certain guys (muscle gods, competitive athletes, real-life fashion and print models) charge more than “regular guys”. It just is what it is. https://www.republicworld.com/amp/sports-news/football-news/tiago-ramos-neymars-mothers-boyfriend-stabbed-in-the-neck-in-mexico-almost-dies.html https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiago_Ramos_Fernandes

And for those of you naysayers who are in deep about certain higher-end garotos commanding higher prices in Brazilian saunas, the younger live-in boyfriend / possible husband of the mother of soccer superstar Neymar was getting paid 500 reais at Sauna Boa Vista in Recife — according to the Braziiian client who paid him (“worth every penny!”). (article from June 2020). English translation: 'Worth every penny:' Neymar's mother's boyfriend attended gay sauna as a male prostitute A man told Léo Dias that he met Neymar's stepfather in a gay sauna; know more. per FERNANDO Bhá um ano Tiago Ramos was known for getting involved in several controversies and for currently being Neymar's stepfather. This week, columnist Leo Dias, from the news portal Metrópoles, said that Tiago Ramos would be advertising on a prostitution website in Spain. In the ad, the boy says he's up for going to bed with men, women and even bisexual couples. The boy, however, ended up having another revelation about him revealed this Tuesday, June 9, by columnist Léo Dias. An alleged client of the boy got in touch with the gossip reporter and said that he met Nadine Gonçalves' boyfriend in a famous gay sauna in the city of Recife, in the state of Pernambuco. “I hired Tiago's services at the Boa Vista spa, in Recife. I paid 500 reais and it was very well invested. It was worth every penny” , said the alleged former client of Tiago Ramos when talking about the topic, which had huge repercussions in the media. On the European prostitution website, Tiago Ramos would not use his name. He would have chosen the name Ivan so as not to draw so much attention. In space, the supposed photos of the boy would be in hotter poses, but none entirely without wearing anything. The boy still makes some demands in the ad, explaining how his services work. It is worth remembering that this week an audio leaked by Neymar with homophobic criticisms from the player to his stepfather. In the audio, which could become an inquiry at the Public Ministry of the State of São Paulo, the PSG player calls the boy a “faggot”. A “parça” of him talks about killing the boy who is dating the ace's mother.

@Alaskabear, starting 11/1, Argentina is opening its borders to foreigners with proof of COVID vaccine and a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours of arrival. The return into Brazil requires a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours of re-entry as well. So, what you need to do is: take the COVID antigen test at the Drogaria farmacia in Brazil, and make sure the test is taken within 72 hours of your crossing over into both the Argentine side of Iguaçu Falls AND your return to the Brazil side. Here’s a link with more info: https://iguazufalls.com/national-park/

And I hope a McDonald’s or a KFC never surfaces on the island of Cuba. Dominicans have gotten more obese and less into fitness since the spread of American fast food restaurants on their side of Hispaniola. That being said, the island of Cuba is much more Afrocentric than you may realize. Many of the “white” Cubans or their families left for Miami (and bite like white Florida Republicans), while the black Cubans remain on the island. Black Americans and Black Europeans get treated very well there and are privy to some very interesting private conversations about Afro-Cuban life. The Castros may have been a lot of bad things, but they were very pro-Black diaspora. I actually have a Black American female friend who went to medical school there for free, because she was African-American. Although it is improving a bit, the DR suffers from horrible colorism issues, which manifests itself through a virulently racist and colorist anti-Haitian public policy. Black Americans and Black Europeans are normally insulated from the brunt of this, but we can still witness it and it is troubling. Someone above tried to throw in classism, conveniently ignoring that, especially in Latin and South America, classism and race / color are intertwined.

The Axel TWO is very nice and is a whole lot of fun.

I don’t get the point of your post. Were you feeling left out of the conversation?

Black African immigrants and Arab / Middle Eastern immigrants get treated poorly in many parts of Europe (France, Italy, Spain, especially). Black Americans, at least once it’s known thry are black Americans, receive much better treatment. Black Africans are treated there in Europe like Black Americans (and Haitians) are treated here in the USA. I’m not suggesting that racism against black people doesn’t exist in Europe — that would be a stupid assertion — but it manifests itself much differently there for black Americans than it does here in the USA — where it’s racism on steroids, and everyone has a gun. Well, Principal Joe Clark is dead. He died at the end of 2020. But behind the mystique of his book and movie, he’d always been a super staunch conservative, politically and religiously. I’m not surprised at all that he would express these views to people he had just met on a plane.

I cannot be responsible for how you may receive or process information. a lesson I learned years ago., when I stopped dating women. Facts over feelings. I didn’t realize that this was even a discussion about WHY we like or don’t like certain kinds of guys. But what you said above is all just a matter of personal perception. I don’t see them the way you described them at all, I am “friendly” with a lot of them and their personalities vary just like in any other group of people. That to me is just a stereotype or gross overgeneralization, like “all fat girls are funny”. But a little cockiness in a guy doesn’t faze me much, anyway. One of my travel partners likes them slim and short (with big dicks), and he says one of the turn-ons is they make up for their size and stature by being cocky and super forward and aggressive — whereas when they approach me, I merely find their behavior to be annoying. So, like I said above, it’s all just a matter of perception (we tend to excuse or find attractive the same negative behaviors from the people we like — human nature). This should be a Ted Talk!

Absolutely. black Americans are treated like stars on those continents. I travel to Europe much more than Asia, but my experiences and the experiences of my fellow black American travelers in Europe and Asia are similar in that regard.

Oh, absolutely! And that’s a whole separate, lengthy conversation (that me and my fellow Black / Latine travelers and expats often have). The “advantage”, though, that I was referring to earlier comes with the passport privilege of being black or brown AND American or European. Look, in Rio, I always stay in Ipanema, Leblon, Lagoa or the “Copanema” end of Copacabana closest to Arpoador— the “toniest” areas of Zona Sul — and I physically look like and often get confused for a Baiano, so I often initially get the same treatment that your Brazilian friend did at restaurants and stores. But that ALL changes as soon as I open my mouth and purposely bring out my gringo! One major reason many black Americans enjoy travel abroad and/or become expats is that abroad, we get the “white privilege” with our blue passports (yes, and often dollars) that frankly, isn’t afforded to us in the USA. And the Dominican Republic. I have stories. Boy, do I have stories! Yes, but this is a bit defensive and glosses over the point of my original post. It wasn’t meant to be a judgment about clients’ tastes in men, like saying “my type is better than yours!” It was a factual observation about pricing schemes. The type you prefer are generally going to be in a certain price range (and for those who are looking to save a few dollars, that should be a good thing, right?). The type I mentioned above — the muscle gods, the “Barbies”, if you will (I loathe that term, can they at least be Kens?) — tend to be the ones who ask for (and get) higher prices. It doesn’t mean they are more attractive or better — it just is what it is. I don’t mention names here, because the walls have eyes, and this stuff posted online does get back to the workers, and these relationships are built on trust (and money, too). But I could literally tell you who thr “Kings of 117” and the “Kings of 202” (to a lesser degree, Lagoa) currently are and who they were in the last decade. I know what they charge and what the former kings used to charge when they were on top. That being said, my friends that I semi-often travel with or who come to visit me when I’m there are not really into my type. I’m usually the odd man out. We all like different things. So I get what you’re saying about beauty and the beholder. But that’s also another way I know pricing schemes of different kinds of garotos. Their guys are almost always currently in that $100 - $150 reais range at saunas and never above it.

Do you keep that same energy when you go to Europe? Because RentMen (ad) prices in Europe are the same or more in most popular areas of Europe as they are in the USA.

Of course they are, because we are clearly not into the same kinds of garotos. The ones you are raving about here (even as examples) are, in general, the physical type that command average prices, not prices above the margins. As I stated several times before already, I said certain kinds of sauna garotos will command a higher price — and I was specifically referring to *some” of the muscle gods. They are asking for (and getting) $200R (NOT $200 — which is obviously a different currency altogether) per programa at the saunas in Rio and São Psulo — whether you like it or not. I’m not aware of any average build, slim build or twink garotos asking and/or getting that price of 200 reais at saunas (but admittedly, they have never really been on my radar, so there could be a few). Unless you just joined the world of international male whoremongering in the last year or so (I’ll limit this to LATAM and Africa, I cannot speak for Asia, anf Europe pricing and economy is mostly similar to that of USA / Canada), your experience (or rather, lack thereof) in this regard would be HIGHLY unusual if you communicate with the workers once you’re back home. This kind of initiation into “the club” normally occurs very quickly with gringos. Fortunately, for you, every garoto isn’t charging, nor can every one of them command even if they asked, 200 reais at the saunas. So, you’re safe. To be clear, it’s R$200, not $200. That’s not a quibble but there’s a huge monetary difference between 200 US dollars and 200 Brazilian reais, like close to 160 US dollars of a difference. Your recalcitrance on this subject seems almost as if you believe it’s dollars, not reais, that we are discussing here. And like I said above, you’re most likely not going to encounter the few who are asking for that amount if those models that you posted are the type you’re pursuing. That’s not shade or a diss, it just is what it is. You have just had two long-time, regular, frequent, recently visiting Brazil posters (myself and the one who is far more revered here, @Tomcal) confirm for you that, yes, certain muscle boys / gogo boys ARE commanding 200 reais for sauna programas, and yet you STILL deny it is happening. This is like a really bad comedy! I see this posted here and on other similar boards (gay AND straight), and it doesn’t hold up well under scrutiny. This is usually the argument of a cheapskate who wants cheap sex tourism in underdeveloped markets and who bristles at the thought of paying an extra $9 USD for sexual interaction with an actual living, breathing human body. First of all, the workers are independent capitalists, they set their own prices individually and they will make what they can command on the market. If a less desirable guy asks for a larger amount and keeps getting turned down, eventually he will reduce his price to what the market will bear, or he will go home penniless. If a highly desired guy sees that clients (and yes, local clients, too!) are gladly willing to pay at 150 reais and there’s a line waiting for him in the hall, he might try to up the ante by pushing it to 200 reais. And if he can get it? God bless him and God bless capitalism! He might also decide to have a two-tier pricing system, one for locals and one for tourists— or a two-tier system for Brazilians and gringos. Or old guys and young dudes. Or fat clients and fit ones. His body, his choice. Your wallet, your choice. If you don’t want to pay the price, move on to the next one. If he makes enough off his rate, God bless him. If he doesn’t, he might lower it to average market prices or decide to get out of saunas altogether. But there aren’t really many locals whining about tourists fucking up their prices — if anything, I hear the reverse, more tourist clients complaining that they aren’t getting cheaper local rates! (And if you think there isn’t an unofficial two-tier pricing system for gringos, try renting an apartment in Rio or São Paulo sounding and looking like a gringo. Oh, the advantages of being an Afro-Latino who is fluent in Portuguese…RsRsRs). And, like @axiom2001 mentioned above, prices don’t always stay the same. It was 50 reais when he visited Rio over 15 years ago. The prices were around 100 reais in Rio and São Paulo and 80 reais in Salvador and Recife when I first started going to Brazil 11 years ago. Some clients bitched then and some clients still bitch now. But prices of goods and other services in Brazil keep rising almost exponentially. You want the sex workers to keep living like it’s 1999? Well, Prince is dead, and so are those prices. Well, you DID say they are Brazilian. Seriously, there are some Brazilians who are regularly at Thermas who used to work at Brazilian saunas and are now in BCN permanently. A few are more my physical type and based on your posts, probably not your speed. I can guarantee you if and when they return to Brazilian saunas on family visits, they are charging the rates that you are gasping over. (I am purposely not mentioning names here.) Of course, I am absolutely judging them on appearance! Only a small minority of sauna clients care about a garoto’s social media following and how they monetize their bases. The overwhelming majority of clients are about the visual and what a garoto looks like physically in person. This board does serve a purpose, but it is not (or the majority of regular posters are not) really representative of most clients. (If one only knew the scene from this board, one might think that the most desired garotos at saunas were 20 year old hairless twinks.) That being said, I repeat like a broken record — their physical type was NOT the type I mentioned when I said “SOME muscle boys in Rio and São Paulo saunas are asking for and getting 200 reais for a 30 minute sauna programa.” Why is that so difficult to process? Disregarding the amount of money earned at saunas, there are other reasons some Brazilians might prefer to live / work in Spain / Europe over Brazil. I personally love Brazil in spite of all of its quirks and idiosyncrasies, but a number of Brazilians are itching to get out — especially now while the economy is in the toilet and there’s lots of political uncertainty. I’m Afro-Latino. I’m well aware of the weight of the word. That’s why it was placed in quotes. But thanks for the whitesplaining.

Not to mention that inflation in Brazil is freakin’ through the roof. The price of goods there is outrageous compared to wages (in BRL). https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-annual-inflation-rises-5-year-high-84-june-2021-07-08/

This isn’t what I was “told”. This is what I know they are currently charging. At this point. I’m here more than I’m not. I know the players and I know what they charge. I’m not getting my information from internet message boards or whisper campaigns. And the guys you posted examples of as your perfect type wouldn’t really be the type I was describing as commanding 150 - 200 reais per sauna programa, so you probably have nothing to worry about, anyway. Those guys are safely ensconced in the 100 - 150 reais range. But believe what you will. I’m not going to go back and forth with you about something as insignificant as a difference of basically $12 USD. Garotos have been hitting up clients (esp. gringo tourist clients) for money. claiming that work is slow WAY before COVID. This is nothing new. Several of the Brazilians I know who like to go to BCN DO make more money there than they do in Brazil. A large factor in that is they are “new” or “exotic” in BCN, whereas in Brazil, there are many more guys who look like them — thus they turn more tricks in BCN. 50 EUR is only slightly over 300 reais. They do more volume work and make more (plus ads), or they can do slightly less work and still make about the same. It’s also the cachet of working / visiting / living in Europe that appeals to a lot of them. We aren’t talking about that significant a difference in take home pay. Also, as you suggested in your post, most often they find ways for others to pay for their trips to Europe (clients, sugars, donations).

Well, you DID say he’s Brazilian.

In Barcelona Sauna Thermas: 50 EUR = 58 USD- 311 BRL (today’s conversion rates) in Rio’s 117 / 202 and São Paulo’s Lagoa (high-end prices, using Tomcal’s high-end price example): 250 BRL = 40 EUR = 47 USD Both are programas for 30 minutes. I don’t see how you arrived at the conclusion that Brazil’s prices are higher than Barcelona’s. Also, I can’t speak for @Tomcal but in my examples, I stated mine were “some muscle boys”. I wasn’t referring to any other types. My experience has been that certain guys (those in higher demand, or those who just perceive themselves to be) will charge a higher rate. Muscle boys / gogo boys tend to do this (universally, not just in Brazil), while the ”guy next door” types or twinks tend to command lower rates (why prices are cheaper at certain saunas over others). I’m not saying ALL do this, but a whole lot of them do. You can still get a number of them for 150 reais at the sauna. 100 would be a stretch and highly uncommon. The same kinds of guys (not necessarily the very same ones) are asking for upwards of 250 reais an hour in ads for an incall, more for an outcall (plus Uber costs), with most in the 300-350 reais range. I’ve seen some that are higher, but only one or two that are less than 250. Again, “guys next door”, slim guys and twinks tend to run less than the muscle guys, bodybuilders, athletes and fitness / physique models or real life fashion / print models. Maybe sometimes a porn guy who thinks he’s a star will elevate his rates too. That’s just the nature of the beast and that’s a universal law worldwide, not just a Brazil thing. Tourists are still coming to Rio and São Paulo during the pandemic. there are just less of them.