Tomasian

I am currently in Rio. I spent a whole week here. Weather is Perfect. It has been sunshine everyday and temperature are Perfect : from 22 to 28.
At airport I use taxi Comum Aerocoop. The very last booth in front of ATMs. They give you a receipt and you Pay to driver

You pay 82 for Copacabana (98 bandeira 2 = night). Return to GIG is R$ 50 from Copa cheaper than Uber.
If you want to visit Rocinha AYOR I can give you name and phone number of reliable guide. I used him 2 times. He knows everyone in Rocinha. Tour with him was very interesting. If seriously  interested just PM me
Do not withdraw money from Itau with visa card : the card is blocked in the ATM. Impossible to retrieve it. You have to call the call Center in Portuguese. Good luck !!! (to be added To the previous post : how to be SURE to have problems. Best is not call the call Center and leave your card in the ATM)
I am enjoying the saunas and the boys. I have some regulars and made some great discoveries. Many boys are now growing a beard ...

According to Forbes, there are 26 billionaires with primary residences in Sao Paulo, 1,310 multi millionaires (defined as those worth over $30 million USD), and more than 100,000 millionaires.
For these individuals, dropping $1,000 for a new phone for a boy is a drop in the bucket.  Boys at Lagoa have also shown me designer clothes, expensive watches, jewelry, and other “presents.”  That is in addition to countless European trips and other international travel...
Some of the snobbier boys ask immediately what I do for work, what kind of car I drive, etc. in a not-so -discreet way of sniffing out my potential value to them.
I can also report that the mythical Lagoa boys who are never seen in a towel still do exist, as someone reported earlier in this thread.  Usually they make appearances on the weekend during the shows and are seen drinking expensive bottles with their sugar daddies.  Approaching them is futile, as they are either “exclusive” with their sugar daddies, or aren’t interested in one-time tricks for a mere 150 reals.

Just additional advise, if it was not mentioned yet,  do not use your ATM card to withdraw local currency at the Airport.
Skimming is prevalent in Brazil, you never know, its a risk.  Since its your first time if you need cash just go to Money change for  just $100 and then next day when the bank opens, go inside and withdraw some more cash.  That's what I do, $3 fee charged from my Bank in the US per withdrawal. It's another option for you. Weather in  May sometimes it rain and not too hot. I will be there from May 25 - June 3.  Rio then SP.  Have fun !!

If you still decide to visit a favela, before you go there, download this app on your phone (I assume that you have a smart phone).  You can download the app now from your home location.  
 
OTT (Onde Tem Tiroteio)
No matter where you live in most other countries, the app will function and send you a notice each and every time a shooting occurs if the shooting is reported to the police in Rio- 
The app will also tell you the time and location (neighborhood) of the shooting.  
You will notice that most of the shootings occur in the favelas.  
After you download the app and wait a day or so, your phone fills with countless alerts.  After you see the actual alerts, you might want to reevaluate if you still want to visit a favela at this time in Rio. 
I suspect the people who told you that seeing a favela is a must, are involved with selling favela tours.  
Yes, even if you are located in Australia, you will receive the alerts.  
Not a pretty picture.  
 

Since the first thread varied far and away from the topic, i thought i would put the summary in a pt 2 separate thread here making it a little easier to find/.
While this may be a broad over simplification, 
1)Club 117 has the Muscled guys,
2)Manhatten-Rios has the Twinks and
3)Pointe202 has a broader mixture of both types as well as inbetween types!  All have some of each type but the majority will fall into the above catagories.  Although MR did have at least 4 or 5 muscled guys. 
Monday an Friday were packed there, 117 was busy on Sunday and Tuesday nights and Pointe was great on Weds and OK on Friday and Sunday
Under the category of some things never change...in the last 4 days i have gotten 11 guys sending messages saying various themes all having to do with :  their wallets were stolen, they do not have the rent for May, and the old standby, their Mother/Grandmother needs a heart operation. All of these messages have come from new guys i met this trip except for one.  My standard reply which i now have saved is " I am sorry but i am neither the bank or a relative, and you do not give sex away for free and i do not give money away for free!"   almost always they respond with "ok, thanks!"   lol

@Tomasian
The hotel is good. Make sure you don't get a room in the top floor because it would be extremely noisy due to the pool filters and the air conditioning. 
The only problem is the bad guest policy. But maybe I have just been unlucky. 

So today thus far has been a mix of great and super fucked up...
117 was slow...I got there around 5 and left around 6:30...super slow compared to when I was here at the end of February...
A did see some new guys
First encounter was a muscular pretty boy....wouldnt normally be my type but the ass looked great with the tan lines and pickings were slim...
Not the best experience since he wasnt ready...Read between the lines
After that terrible experience and it being very slow, I decided to check out Pointe since I havent been in about 2 years
Still needs updates
Special tonight was 25R entry...Slow there as well...
Decided to try one guy...pretty cute, great ass....Nice tans lines....Couldnt take dick for shit...
Sidenote-I was slightly buzzed from a mixture of alcohol and THC so my patience were already shot...
Needless to say I left there around 8....
Walked down the street and around the corner to the apartment and decided to try this guy from Grindr....I had been trying to get convo since my last visit and today he responded and told me how much his fee is...I didnt even know he was selling
Decided against my best judgement...Cause I am/was horny as hell...
Muscular guy...definitely bodybuilder with roids...Nice ass...Not a bottom...Waste my freaking time....I don't need basic fourplay and I was ready to get the hell out of the apartment as soon as I got there...
Boring, couldnt produce...he was either fucked out(tons if condom wrappers in the bathroom OR he isnt really a bottom)either way...Lesson learned, I havent done something so young and dumb in a long time and wont be doing it again
HOPEFULLY my old faithful Rio fuck body shows up and lets me fuck my frustration out on him since Im coming down from my high and Im still horny as fuck
Weather is till beautiful and a nice amount of people on the beach Avenue since weather is so great

There is no minimum tip for the free walking tour, but they suggest 15-20 reals, which is like $6usd.  The guides are usually students and are friendly and informative about life in Brazil.
Not sure what you are hoping to see in the favelas...I went to Rocinha 2 years ago when it was much safer.  I’m not sure if I would go now...
I went through Vidigal the last time I was in Rio to get to Dois Irmaos, and saw the next day there was a huge shoot out with police and drug traffickers going on - so bad that they closed all the roads going in and out of Vidigal.  
 

There are entire websites dedicated to escort reviews. There are hundreds of people who are writing reviews, thousands reading them, and several people actually maintaining the sites that displays reviews. 
So Obviously they are useful to many people. 
If YOU don’t find them useful, fine, don’t write any and don’t read them. But dissing people who are asking “where can I find reviews” like @moonwalkerseems either unhelpful, or clueless about how most advanced clients operate when choosing an escort. 

yes the water is warm and takes about 12 mins to fill 1/2 way but if four get in then it is almost over flowing! :-)

Why, exactly?  I’m not asking for names or pictures. Everyone has become so boring on here...
 
 

That model appears in the Brit reality show called Bromans. Silly show but with heaps of eye candies.
 

I have not been to these ... there is a blogspot, and a few short ass-fuck clips from the xnxx vid site.
The model in this photo is a Brit, just the usual ad agenda.

Also aware of the trends and dangers Gotti refers to, they influence my decisions. The woman who died was killed because the patrolling police elected to use the tourist vehicle for target practice when the driver got confused and drove through an ambiguous checkpoint. My greatest fear is buying it prematurely because of someone's sheer stupidity ... poor judgment, someone driving while intexticated, inability to see grey, anything like that. Also, I simply do not know if a community rep is a prepackaged talking head or a more spontaneously recruited addition to the tour. Are they a fundamentalist radical homophobe at the same time they lament the challenges and governmental/societal treatment of the poor? How safe would it be to drill down provocatively, as I am wont to do? The tourist mishap is rare ... that and other factors are filters I employ looking at the menu. 

A favela tour of a few years ago it's not the same favela tour nowadays. The violence in Rio escaleted exponentially, to the point that is shocking the rest of the country, the federal government adopted security measures never seen before, so far without any effect. Just last month an European tourist got killed by a stray bullet, while doing one of the popular tours with a licensed guide. In the last 2 weeks 14 people got killed at Rocinha favela. The violence seems specially bad at "tourist friendly" favelas of Rio's zona sul (south district). If anyone think this is an exciting experience hopefully it won't exceed the expectations.

I used Urban Adventure for my favela tour and I enjoyed it.  They are rated well on tripadvisor. I did it coupled with the Christ the Redemmer & Corcavado. One item to note is that I did it in 2015. http://www.riodejaneirourbanadventures.com/

A favela tour can be quite educational. We talk about the poor and even offer sympathy and money. But rarely do we see life from their view. I was amazed at what I saw and learned on a tour a few years back. I agree that if you are treating it like visiting a petting zoo then it is not a good idea. But go with a desire to know more, even if just about where many of the garotos live.  But I took a small tour led by a private guide. It was very much worth my time.

I particularly agree with the above portion of the post. 
Although the area described in the post is "rough" I enjoy being there on occasion.  Most people would consider the area unsafe but I do not.   I have never had a problem in that area and I have been there many times over the years.  At the same time, I am usually cautious and seem to have a "sixth sense" for danger, but I never sensed or experienced any danger in this area.  
Every now and again, it is possible to find a "jewel" of a garoto in the area.  I have met many. 
The specific place to likely find good looking and friendly garotos is in an internet shop located near the corner of Rua Aurora and Av Vieira de Carvalho  only about one block from the park in centro (Praca de Republica).  The entrance fee is a few reais, I don't recall but I think it is about one or two equivalent U.S. dollars.
The shop really does rent computers by the hour.  However, if you walk around the shop, you will not see any women using computers.  Instead, you will find many handsome garotos sitting back at a computer with his trousers pulled down and masturbating.  The garotos are hustlers. 
If you strike up a conversation with a garoto, there are small rooms that can be used for entertaining the garoto (hustler) or you can take the garoto to one of the dozens of hourly hotels in the area.    
So, if any reader gets tired of Rio or wants a break from Rio, Sao Paulo has Lagoa, many attractions and, of course, this little internet shop wherein, it is possible to find a fun garoto.  
One more thing, the internet shop is busiest during the day, like early afternoons and early evenings.
 

Good for you to cancel on someone who has unreasonable demands in a sauna.  

Here is the link.
http://gorgeousmen24.blogspot.ca/2012/04/brazilian-rent-boys-naked.html?zx=e8913448e099fec7
 

I would suggest getting a few hundred dollars in reals at your bank in Australia before arriving. That way you have some in case of an emergency. 
Also make sure you know which atms work best for your bank. I tended to use Citibank. I was also able to get a separate global card that sheilded by other accounts so that of it was spoofed at a foreign atm my money was safe. 

I used (and recommend) Uber at all times of the day and night in Rio and Sao Paulo. Always cheaper than a regular taxi in both cities. If you don't speak Portuguese, entering your destination in the app also makes sure you avoid any confusion about where you are going.
When you asked about the bracelet thing, I thought you were talking about bars, rather than saunas. In Rio, there truly are not many gay bars. The Week is fun on Saturdays (but they use a card instead of a bracelet), and I definitely recommend TV bar on Thursdays for their event called HOLE, which is a live sex show where you are invited to participate...literally anyone can touch/suck/finger the performers, who spend about 15 minutes sucking and fucking each other on stage, starting around 12:30/1:00 AM, until they cum. After the performance, the customers disappear behind the curtains that are put up for this event, and a lot of cocksucking ensues. The "bracelet thing" happens more in Sao Paulo (and maybe in straight bars in Rio...I have no interest, and thus no experience in this area). The way it works is this: you decide when you enter whether you want to simply pay the cover fee (entrada), or if you would rather do what they call "consumação", or consumption. If you want to pay the cover, they will put a bracelet on you with your individual number, and you will pay the fee when you leave (plus any additional fees if you decide during your stay that you want to buy something after all). If you want to do consumação, it is still tied to your bracelet number, but the cover fee is higher...BUT you don't have to pay it as long as you purchase/consume beverages/other items that total at least the amount of the entrance, which is often about double the price of the cover fee. It was a little difficult for me to understand the system initially, but it basically means that nobody goes in for free. At The Eagle in Sao Paulo, for instance, you may pay the equivalent of $5 USD for the entry, or $10 for the consumação fee (equivalent to about two drinks). If you do consumação, and you have two drinks, when you leave, you simply pay for the drinks you had (so, nothing additional for the cover fee...you consumed enough to cover your entry fee). If you do entrada, and you purchase nothing additional, then you simply pay the cover fee when you leave. I enjoy drinks when I'm at a bar, so I did consumação each time, and I was never disappointed in my choice. The only oddity is you really do have to decide before you enter which option you want to choose.
 
 

Good coverage here ... I will just add markets as you said you enjoy. Two daytime weekly vast open air produce, meat, fish, flower, snack markets take over the street at or near Gloria Metro (where 117 is). Indicated on image are the locations. Mid-morning to mid-afternoon. Ignore the yellow streak over Museu MRV.

Hopefully, you know by now that the “how attractive are you?” question will not always result in the intended honesty and self-reflection. Many people particularly those from more privileged backgrounds or cultures, attribute qualities to themselves out of thin air (sometimes even out of their ass), and qualify themselves as “attractive”, “fit”, “hot”, “witty”, “intelligent”, “cultured”, “engaging” before taking a survey of others.
But even without the looks factor, suggesting this aggressive pickup route to the uninitiated is an invitation to a beatdown or a murder. Helpful Heloise Hint: if you aren’t capable of pulling this suggested stunt off where you live, then don’t try it in Brazil or anywhere else.

I have no good reason to doubt it. 
I go for that type so I am usually communicating with them and I inquire about their fitness activities. And usually have 1:1 time off-site, as well as FB or Instagram access. Perhaps some want to play their cards close with me, or they worry I might show up at an event. Or I may be wrong place or time. In North America these types are candid with me, and the Brasilians "come across" as comfortable generally. 
In any case, many certainly look the part and that is the important thing. In 3 years I have intersected with just one, that I recall, and he had already been familiar to me as a circuit competitor. But it is just in the past 2 years that I have increased communication with new guys, with improved language mastery and mutual ID sharing. 
My longterm goal is to become a spray-tan and body-oil volunteer intern.