CaliPexx

Make that at least two countries headed by Presidents with an anti-science, anti-medicine agenda.

I agree wholeheartedly with you on the need for medical evacuation insurance, in particular, when traveling to medical resource limited destinations, e.g., Brazil. This was true prior to Covid-19 and will continue to be true when the pandemic seems like a bad nightmare in our distant memories. The problem with this disease, however, is that hypoxia and respiratory collapse occur suddenly and without much warning. So, there wouldn't be time to do all of the following requisite steps: -- (1) to make the call to the evacuation insurance company (2) to have them do your insurance verification and medical qualification for international air transport (3) to round up and dispatch the air ambulance and its qualified medical crew (4) for the evacuation crew to fly from, for example, North America to Brazil (at least an 8 hour trip from the nearest U.S. cities and, I imagine, much longer from Europe and Down Under) (5) for the crew to travel through urban traffic in Brazil to your hospital (6) for the crew to do the medical handoff with your Brazilian ICU care team (7) through (10) then to repeat all of the steps above in reverse until you are safely inside an ICU in North America or wherever you wish to be transported. (11) and (12) Oh, and I forgot the time spent to facilitate your passage through Customs and Immigration for Brazil and your destination country. Now, let's assume that you have survived in Brazil up to the point of loading you and your rapidly failing organ systems onto the air ambulance. Remember that your air ambulance will be pressurized, like any other jet, to a high altitude barometric pressure. This will place an additional strain on your capacity to breathe. And I see that @SolaceSoul: has already provided the answer to my following question: In the fine print legalese that none of us non-attorney types understand or take the time to read, is there not an exclusion in these medical evacuation policies for illnesses caused by declared epidemics and pandemics? [@SolaceSoul indicates that, yes, there IS an exclusion for Covid-19. Thanks!] TL;DR Travel to Brazil is not advisable unless and until you have been demonstrated to be protected against the SARS-CoV-2 virus as a result of either symptomatic or asymptomatic Covid-19 acquisition OR as a consequence of having received a safe and effective vaccine.

No one knows what the situation will be in October 2020 but the Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is saying a second wave is likely in autumn and/or winter and that we could see simultaneous epidemics of Covid-19 and influenza at that time. That would be devastating to health care systems everywhere. This story linked below, about the current status of Covid-19 in hospitals in Rio de Janeiro, is heartbreaking. The young doctor in the more affluent Zona Oeste who is interviewed reports that he has only one ventilator per 30 Covid-19 cases and that they are having to make decisions about who receives - or doesn't receive - respiratory support. Another hospital in the more economically challenged Zona Norte, where many of our GdePs live, reports that facility's ICU beds are filled to capacity. It's a tragic state of affairs no matter how you look at it. And I suspect that much of Brazil is still on the upslope of the Covid-19 case and death curve. G1: Médico do Rio diz ter só um respirador para 30 pacientes: ‘A gente acaba tendo que escolher'. https://g1.globo.com/rj/rio-de-janeiro/noticia/2020/04/22/medico-do-rio-diz-ter-so-um-respirador-para-30-pacientes-a-gente-acaba-tendo-que-escolher.ghtml

Totally agree. Why would you gamble recklessly until you know that you are protected, either through an effective vaccine or by proof that you carry sufficient protective levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies? Oh, and BTW, the situation with testing right now is scandalous -- and not only because we are doing inadequate testing of critical populations. My front line friends tell me that they are seeing unacceptable false negative tests on Trump's ballyhooed 15 min Abbott Labs test for acute infection and lesser but still significant false negatives on the (Roche and other laboratories') nasopharyngeal swab PCR acute Covid-19 test you have undoubtedly heard about. And the current panoply of tests for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies is a joke. The FDA has abrogated its responsibility for quality control on the antibody test by allowing virtually any lab to market its own homebrew assay. Many of those are completely worthless, showing high rates of false positive and/or false negative IgG assays. And the other extremely troubling but fundamental issue is that we really don't know at this time whether certain levels of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies are, in fact, protective. Guys, I can't speak to the extent or accuracy of acute and convalescent Covid-19 testing in other countries but, in my opinion, what we are seeing right at this moment in the U.S. is frankly criminal. Why would you even consider planning a trip right now, at a moment when we know so little about the future course of this pandemic in North America, Europe, and Asia, let alone in Brazil?

While there are a few great medical centers in Brazil, the emphasis is on the word, "few". The descent from a little cough and fever into respiratory failure can happen so rapidly with Covid-19 that, even if you have the best medical evacuation insurance policy, it's likely you wouldn't have time to get back to U. S. hospitals. So I ask you: Would you really want to spend your final days of life on a ventilator in a Brazilian ICU?

In 2018, The Rio Times ran a story on hotels closing in Rio's Zona Sul (Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon). The article had a focus on the Ipanema Plaza, one of the favorite hotels of my travel buddies and me for many years. At that time the fate of this Rua Farme de Amoedo property wasn't clear and it sounds like, based on your reports in this thread, the building has been sitting empty for nearly two years. https://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-business/hotels-in-rio-close-due-to-economic-crisis-violence-lack-of-investments/

Surubas are designed for any men who like to play with other men, not solely for brasileiros, although Brazilian guys will understandably constitute the overwhelming majority of attendees. Anyway, if my own experience several years ago in similar orgies in Rio de Janeiro is generalisable to these events in São Paulo, when you attend a sex party, you don't need to advertise your non-Brazilian nationality to gain entry.

Vanity Hotel, along Av. NS de Copacabana, is mixed gay and straight and I've used it on three occasions over the past 5 years. The suites include large beds, a sex chair-hassock thing, TV with both gay and straight porn, en suite bathrooms, and towels. The rooms are kept very clean in my experience. Vanity is a great option if you want to spend just a few hours with a "friend" in a safe environment. If you prefer to do an overnight with the GP of your dreams, my travel buddies have used several of the inexpensive off-the-beach hotels in Copacabana, not far from the Vanity or from Posto 4. Just open Google Maps to the area 1-3 blocks inland from Postos 4-5 and search on "hotels". Google now posts same-night prices directly on the map, so you can readily compare prices and distances. The off-the-beach hotel will take or copy your GP's ID upon registering at check-in, so my buddies have felt very safe taking an acompanhante to those accommodations. And you get the added benefit of being able to treat your GP to a nice breakfast the next morning without revealing to him all of the worldly possessions (e.g., electronics and cash) you are keeping in your regular hotel room or rented condo apartment.

Or a well-hung gang bang?

This is an interesting article (with a few dimly lit photos) in the Sunday 17 November 2019 issue of The Rio Times about the recurrent gay sex parties (and the individual party "flavours") that take place regularly in downtown São Paulo. https://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/sao-paulo/the-mysterious-gay-underground-world-of-sao-paulo/ I get the impression that the author personally enjoys these parties and is not a Bolsonarista or Evangelical zealot trying to do an exposé of the orgies but I could be wrong about his motives. There are a few points the reporter makes that might present concerns for some of us: • He considers the parts of São Paulo where the parties are held to be dangerous. • Party drugs and alcoholic beverages are consumed at these events, substances that may impair one's judgement. • Condomless sex is the norm at these orgies. While the author makes the point that PrEP is now more widely available in Brazil, lowering one's risk of acquiring HIV when used properly, PrEP does NOT prevent acquisition of other sexually transmitted infections via barebacking. • Perhaps this author is blind to the financial transactions of other soruba (orgy) attendees. That said, he makes the point that there is no sex being exchanged for money at these parties and that it is all about "free sex". Sorubas were popular at one time in Rio de Janeiro and I've been to a couple of them in Catete and Glória. But these São Paulo sex parties appear to be events of an even greater magnitude. Have any of you attended the parties described in the author's review in The Rio Times?

I wonder if anyone has tried logging on to Câmera Privê using either a VPN emulator and/or a Fake GPS app? Either could be set to appear that the user is located in Brazil and, therefore, the site might then display the BRL denominated pricing structure. That said, I bet the "Gotcha!" is that -- and this is pure speculation but based on other tedious Brazilian financial transactions we've encountered over the years -- in order for users to access the more favorable Brazilian pricing plan, the site likely would require a CPF as well as use of a credit card issued by a Brazilian bank.

I've often wondered why more Brazilian guys with their amazing physiques and sizeable "attributes" don't display their wares on Chaturbate. I have considered the possibility that they might be congregating at a similar website but have never looked into that. Today's BBC Brasil (em português) had an extensive article by Leandro Machado and Mariana Alvim about a site called, "Câmera Privê", which they report millions of Brazilian clients visit each day. BBC Brasil compared the site to a kind of "Uber" for online sex. The report even noted the substantial incomes (for Brazil, anyway) earned by some of the top modelos. https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/brasil-49886712 Are any of you familiar with Câmera Privê and, if so, how is it similar or different in comparison to Chaturbate? I just checked out the Câmera Privê site and, while there are many stunning modelos, it seems that very few are actually online compared to Chaturbate.

Thanks for your superb detective work! Any idea what type of business was in this location previously?

Did this link to a physical address of the new Lagoa? Or is that still a state secret? BTW, "cozy" in real estate parlance, signifies "really tiny". If that is the case, many of us will miss the spaciousness of the old Lagoa.

I see what you mean from this Reuters article about the CNT/MDA poll, but I wonder how reliable that poll is when Reuters notes that the trucking lobby (CNT) commissioned MDA to do the poll. If CNT/MDA is accurate, however, a plunge in Bolsonaro's approval rating from 38.9% to 29.4% would be significant. While Bozo is not yet in President Temer's popularity territory (5%), he does seem to be heading rapidly in the direction of opinion poll "hell".

According to the international accounting firm, KPMG, non-resident holders of a Brazilian CPF (tax ID number) are required to file either an annual Brazilian income tax return (if they have income that is taxable in Brazil) OR an annual exemption from income tax form (likely the case for most of us who are simply visitors to Brazil and not earning money there). Here is what KPMG has to say about this in a post on their website dated 1 May 2019: Each of us, of course, must weigh in our own minds the pros and cons of getting a CPF. The pros include greater ease in purchasing items online, including tickets; and buying certain items in retail stores, e.g., mobile phone SIM cards. The cons include the process of procuring a CPF (made easier when done at Brazilian consulates outside of Brazil); the requirement for filing an annual Brazilian income tax return or tax exemption return; and the possibility of being stopped by Brazilian Customs & Immigration upon entering and/or leaving Brazil, if you have failed to file the required annual tax return or exemption form. It's your decision. However, in my case, after having been unsuccessful in obtaining a CPF during a trip to Brazil last year related to restricted Correios and Receita Federal hours during holiday periods, I cannot see any advantage at this time of applying for a CPF. I located an online theatre ticketing service this year, Ingresso Rápido, that does NOT require a CPF, only a foreign passport number. And I have U.S. mobile carriers on two phones (one with T-Mobile, the other with Google Fi), which provide mobile phone, SMS texting, and data services at very low cost and with excellent quality connectivity when traveling in most foreign countries, including Brazil.

An interesting report about HIV among Brazilian men who have sex with men (MSM) appeared in June 2018 in Folha de São Paulo about a paper that had just been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, International Medicine. The study included 4,176 MSM from all social strata and age brackets in 11 Brazilian capitals. Each participant had two interviews and HIV tests and half of the participants reported that this was the first HIV test they had ever received. 83.1% of the considered themselves gay, 12.9% heterosexual or bisexual and 4% "others". Of the total, 75% were having sex only with men. 3,958 of the participants agreed to be tested and, taking all of the participants in the Brazilian cities as an aggregate, 18.4% were HIV-positive compared to 12.1% in a study set up in the same way in 2009. Of all of the Brazilian capitals in the study, São Paulo ranked first, with 1 in 4 MSM HIV-positive. Rio de Janeiro had an HIV-infection rate near the middle of the pack at 15.3%. Among MSM 15-19 years old, the rate of HIV infection had tripled since 2009, going from 2.4 to 6.7 per 100K inhabitants. Among MSM age 20-24, the rate had doubled from 15.9 to 33.1 cases per 100K inhabitants. The authors wrote that Brazilian MSM are experiencing a "second wave" of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The factors they hypothesized for this increase included: The reduction of HIV prevention campaigns in Brazil related to the economic crisis. The anti-sexuality instruction in schools movement of the Brazilian extreme-right [and this was even before Jair Bolsonaro became president and, as one of his first policies in office, acted to remove sex and diversity education in Brazilian schools]. The rise of social media, giving MSM the ability to have many more sexual encounters. The fact that young MSM don't remember what the worst years of the AIDS epidemic were like and never met anyone seriously ill with complications of HIV/AIDS. The [false] notion that HIV has been cured by current medications, losing the fear of death has led to a "relaxation of preventive measures". They provide this telling quote: "Young [Brazilian] men think of themselves as supermen, who'll never get sick, and so they don't seek out health care services."

That is indeed hard to believe. According to an article in the illustrious medical journal , Guia Gay São Paulo, even though PrEP has been offered by SUS (the Brazilian National Health Service) for people at risk since 2017, as of summer 2018 only 2,748 Brazilians had initiated PrEP, at least PrEP that is dispensed by the SUS. The SUS had sufficient supplies for another 4,200 to start PrEP. I doubt that many Brazilian MSM are obtaining PrEP through sources other than the SUS, because they would then have to pay the high retail cost of Truvada out-of-pocket. That's a worrisome observation. As a confirmed passivo (bottom) who wishes to maintain his HIV negative status, I am keenly aware of the point during sex at which garotos don their camisinhas (condoms). Truth be told, I have never been with a GP who has not used a condom. And I've never had to ask him to do so. If the mores of condom use are, in fact, changing among the sauna boys in Brazil, as you imply is happening among Brazilian MSM in general, that would be concerning indeed.

@Walker and @Uqtyang: Checking Google Flights it looks like you are both right about the aircraft used on Avianca flights from the West Coast -- but it depends which city you are departing from and the specific flight option you select. From SFO to GRU, it looks like the old TACA narrow-body livery is still being used and they send you on flights with stops in San Salvador and Lima. From LAX to GRU they do have a couple of narrow-body choices, also through the old TACA hub in SAL. However, as @Walker mentioned -- and this was news to me --Avianca do offer a 787 Dreamliner option in both directions on the segment from LAX to BOG. Of course, traveling from BOG to GRU, as @Uqtyang noted, you would board an A330 plane to GRU. Unfortunately, you would have an 8h 10m LONG layover in BOG, before boarding that A330 to GRU. Maybe time enough to meet a couple of those Chaturbate.com guys we've been reading about in this Forum?

@Pauleiro, I fully agree with your concern about Avianca BRASIL [BOLD ITALIC ALL-CAPS emphasis mine on the word BRASIL to distinguish the airline from Avianca, in Bold Italic Initial Cap+lowercase]. During our trip to Brazil in March 2019, some of our domestic Brazilian flights were on Avianca BRASIL and, after hearing news reports of the bankruptcy and imminent demise of Avianca BRASIL, we were on pins and needles every day wondering whether our domestic flights might be canceled. While Avianca BRASIL has been operated as a subsidiary of Avianca and has been headed by a brother, JOSÉ Efromovich, of the guy who controls Avianca, Germán Efromovich, the two airlines are actually separate and distinct corporate entities. In fact, Avianca BRASIL (formerly OCEANAIR) flights have the IATA symbol "O6" while Avianca flights contain the IATA code "av". Furthermore, one even had to book flights on the two entities on two separate websites, WWW.AVIANCA.COM.BR and www.avianca.com. At last report, Avianca is still fiscally sound while, as pointed out in the news item you referenced, Avianca BRASIL most certainly is not. All that said, my question had nothing to do with the failing Avianca BRASIL (which, as of this week, has been reduced to serving domestic flights in just four (4) airports in Brazil) or even to do with the flights from the U.S. East Coast of the still solvent Avianca. Rather, my concern is whether Avianca is still using the single-aisle Taca aircraft with partially reclining seats in Business Class on its international service from California to Brazil via San Salvador, El Salvador (the former hub of Taca). I'll repeat my question again here, in case someone with personal experience with flights from the U.S. West Coast on the former Taca division of Avianca can answer it.

@Walker, thanks for the info, particularly about Aeromexico. Their business class flight might be worth a go since the total trip time from LAX to GRU on Aeromexico is one of the best of all flight options from the West Coast, with the exception of the 12-hour nonstop service on American Airlines from LAX to GRU. In regard to Avianca, I guess I was thinking of the aircraft they acquired from TACA when they took over that airline several years ago. Avianca continued to use the same TACA narrow-body metal on their 2-stop service from the West Coast to El Salvador, El Salvador to Lima, and Lima to São Paulo Guarulhos (GRU). At that time the flights didn't connect through Bogatá, AFAIK. None of those TACA-sourced flights were wide-body planes but I can't remember if TACA was using Boeing or Airbus in their livery. As I recall, business class on the TACA flights was quite similar to U.S. domestic first class although the seat recline was slightly improved compared to their U.S. domestic equivalents. Do you know if Avianca has replaced the TACA aircraft with wide-body planes in their flights from the West Coast to Latin America?

Thanks for the heads up! Per Google Flights, from the West Coast (LAX), and selecting some random, non-holiday dates in early November (dep 6 Nov, ret 14 Nov), it looks like the best deals for a round-trip 1-stop to São Paulo (GRU) in Economy Class are with Copa ($710) and Avianca ($867). In Business Class, the lowest prices LAX-->GRU RT 1-stop are with Aeromexico ($2,295), Avianca ($2,331), and Copa ($2,496). Does anyone on this board have experience with the Business Class seating on Aeromexico to Brazil? Are their Business Class seats only partially reclinable, like those of Avianca and Copa? Or are they fully reclinable, like those of American and Air Canada?

From the Wednesday 1 May 2019 issue of The Rio Times: Anti-Gay Comments: Big Sponsors are Cutting Ties With Event Honoring Bolsonaro

I agree with your observation about both Presidents. In today's issue of The Rio Times, the correspondent presents an interesting hypothesis for last week's "Brazil won't become a gay paradise" rant and the hissy-fit President Bolsonaro had about the Bank of Brazil diversity ad: The writer postulates that Bolsonaro was trying to divert attention from some terrible economic news that was revealed the same day but that got relegated to the back pages due to the furor created by Bozo's hateful remarks. Not surprisingly, diversion is the same tactic that Trump pulls when the news of the day is not to his liking.

An acquaintance who has studied the Holocaust has explained to me that there were Jews in Germany who supported the ascent of Hitler, who promised to bring stability after a period of economic turmoil. Sadly, we all know the end of that story. President Bolsonaro's popularity has apparently plummeted as he is concentrating on social engineering rather than bread-and-butter issues, down from 49% saying he was doing a "good or great job" just after his 1/1/19 inauguration ["honeymoon effect", methinks] to 35% in the latest polls. Just this week, he sacked the advertising director of Bank of Brazil (an entity of the Brazilian government) for airing a TV ad about diversity, which included racial minorities, young people with decorative rings, and transgender people, which he personally found to be distasteful. The reasons people voted for Jair Bolsonaro had to do with (1) the threat criminal activity poses to living day-to-day in Brazil; (2) corruption, which permeates every level of Brazilian society, affecting both democratic norms and economic advancement; and (3) the morbid Brazilian economy, with high unemployment and stagnant growth rates. Bozo has had just over 100 days in office and hasn't performed well thus far on any of those parameters, in the eyes of Brazilians. It seems that people are seeing what he is trying to do, i.e., avoiding the real concerns of the people by falling back on social "hot-button" issues, including his attacks on LGBT people. As early as it may be, it seems that Bozo's short-lived honeymoon is already over.