torogen

I appreciate these tips. When I was trying to purchase a ticket about 6 months in advance last April, the tickets were around $1400 roundtrip. I went to Google Flights and set a tracker on the flights I wanted. For several months, the price was very steady. Then, suddenly one day, it dropped to $700 RT. I purchased my tickets, and it was back to $1400 plus the next day. Out of curiosity, I left the tracker, and it never fell again. Those trackers can really help you. On my first trip the year before, I learned that roundtrip is not always the best option. It often pays to seek out two one-way tickets.

The fact that Cuba is a poor country is obvious. There was a big billboard on the way into the city from the airport that called the embargo the biggest genocide in the history of the country.

There were plenty of guys of all ages. And all body types. I got the impression from many guys I met casually that they would be cool with making money in that way, even if they weren't technically escorts. There were also lots of guys just cruising for sex. One odd turnoff for me is that many of the guys in Cuba, even the macho/masculine ones, have plucked/shaped/arched eyebrows. It's just the style there, but I don't find it attractive at all. Tons of guys also wear these odd asymmetrical long t-shirts that look like dresses over their jeans.

Oh, well. I am mainly going to Sao Paulo because of the gay clubs anyway, to check out the scene. I had a very hot time in the bathroom at The Week Rio (20-30 guys jacking off and sucking each other at a time near the urinals), and I want to see what the original has to offer. I like the saunas in Rio, but the nighclub scene has little to offer.

I'm disappointed to hear these reports. This was not my favorite sauna in Rio, but I thought it was a big step up from Point 202, which was pretty much a bust when I went 8 months ago.

I am aware of the travel restrictions. All I can say is that it is definitely more restrictive, punitively so, but that I fall into one of the categories that does not require a permanent paid escort (people-to-people, for example, now must be with a group, and must participate in a "full-time" schedule of activities, led by a paid escort working for the tour group). The system still works on the honor system, meaning you don't have to apply ahead of time for a visa, you just sign the OFAC statement before you board, and the airline keeps a copy of your general license authorization). I do believe the current/post-Trump system is confusing, and even many academic institutions have reacted by canceling their plans until it becomes more clear exactly what the rules are, and how they are going to be enforced. A side note: I saw several of these paid tour groups, and the things they were doing with their tour guide were things like exploring shopping districts and visiting bars to have a cocktail ("Next we go down to the street and to the left to another bar, La Floridita!"). So it looked mostly like having a loud person herd you around. I was impressed with the Cuban educational system and the individual entrepreneurial spirit, because I heard two different tour guides giving directions in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, and I think Dutch. I befriended one gay tour guide, and he told me that he learned the languages at the university.

I am planning a trip to Brazil in the middle of March 2018 (arriving in São Paulo on Saturday morning, departing from Rio on Sunday, 8 days later), and I would appreciate some guidance. Judging from old posts about the best days/times in the saunas, my current plan would be to arrive in São Paulo on Saturday, and travel to Rio on Tuesday morning, so that I was able to make it to 117 on Tuesday night? I will be there from Saturday through the following Sunday, and I can travel from São Paulo to Rio at any point during the week. Does Tuesday sound like a good plan? I have been to Rio before and don't mind waiting if it means I can experience something great in São Paulo. Also, since this will be my first time in São Paulo, what neighborhood should I stay in? I like cruising bars as well as saunas, so any suggestions would be appreciated. I already know that I plan to try out Peep and Bar Fama and The Week São Paulo, but have no specific plans other than the beach when I get to Rio.

I have been to Mexico and several Central and South American countries, but this was my first foray into Cuba. I spent 6 days in Havana and the surrounding area. This report encompasses my impressions of the city and the scene in Havana. There are still many beautiful men in Havana. There are MANY guys trying to make money by having sex with tourists. The scene is mostly on the street, but also at the bars, and there are some peculiarities that I have not experienced elsewhere. On my first night, I strolled down to the base of “La Rampa”, or The Ramp, which is a five-block-long incline that leads from the high point at Ave 23 and L Street down to the Malecon on the oceanfront. I noticed many guys sitting around on the raised wall of some planters along the route. The wifi in Cuba at this point is very difficult and glitchy—you must buy a wifi card for 2 CUCs ($2) and go to a public park to log in to the wifi signal, which is often weak, or which may disappear entirely at points. For this reason, apps like Grindr and Scruff and Planet Romeo are of limited use—I got many messages on them, but the guys often did not respond until hours later or the next day. In this way, Cuba really is a face-to-face cruising environment, which is fine with me. The very first time I sat down and tried to log onto the wifi, a guy sitting about 10 feet away from me moved over and said hello. He was clearly a young gay guy, and he pulled out his phone to help him translate, since I couldn’t understand all of his rapid Spanish. I almost choked when he showed me the translation, which was “do you want a child?”—until I realized that he had typed chico, which is really just slang for boy, or (more accurately), “guy”. I laughed and told him that the translation was NOT a good translation, and explained a bit, and he immediately pulled out his ID (which all Cubans are very conscientious about carrying on their person at all times—in case it is needed), to show me that he really was 18 years old. He was friendly, but not exactly my type, and we chatted for a bit and I moved off to seek out some more fun. I discovered during my trip that the Cuban gay nightlife is very organized, almost as if all the bars were owned by the same person, and the bars often cross-promoted with other bars (the most popular bar during the week, Club Las Vegas, which is standing room only on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, does not even open on Saturday, just as an example—can you imagine a gay bar in the US voluntarily closing on a weekend night, just because that night was more popular at another bar?) A sidenote about the gay bars: the entertainment is extremely uniform across the bars. Wherever you go, there are drag queens, followed by a few group dance routines (including some professional dancers), followed by more drag queens. On the night of my arrival, on Tuesday night at Club Las Vegas, I was told that I needed to buy a bottle of rum for $25 if I wanted a table (it came with three colas as mixers), or I could simply pay a $10 per table fee. I opted for that. The show was capped off by the drag queen IMPERIO “El Icono Trans de Cuba”, and she sang (lip-synced) 8 fucking songs in a row as the finale. I have never seen a more self-indulgent display. She has her fans, but she’s her own biggest fan. The scene for rentboys is this: along La Rampa from dusk until around 8 pm, guys gather to socialize and see if they can make some money. After sundown, many move to a restaurant called Toke, on the corner of Calle 25 and Infanta (a decent restaurant that makes good cocktails and offers cheap and totally acceptable food, but which only has seating for around 30 people, half indoors and half in front). That occupancy is if all the tables are occupied by the full complement of two or four guests, but the Cubans seated me by myself at a table for four, and many of the other tables were occupied by single guys, so the actual occupancy is more frequently limited to around 15 people. There were something like 30 to 50 boys hanging out on the street in front, trying to make some money. They will walk right up to you as you eat (if you are in front), and ask if you will allow them to sit and buy them a drink. This arrangement took place every night I was there, with the single exception of Saturday night, when the crowd gathered later in the evening, around 9 or 10 pm. When the bars open (around 11 pm, truly “night” clubs), much of the action moves inside. I had several guys beg me to pay their cover or take them in and buy them a drink. If you go in alone, you will continue to be hit up aggressively by the guys who are already inside the club, for drinks and sex. At this point, it becomes necessary to mention one of the peculiarities of Cuba—even though it was clear these guys had almost nothing, and they really wanted to make some money, none of them wanted to come out and give a price. They responded with simple assurances such as, no, whatever we do is fine with me, and if you like me and wish to give me a gift, that is fine. They may express boundaries such as “I don’t get fucked”, but across the board, they were willing to suck dick (if, as it turned out on my first choice, somewhat amateurishly), but they were otherwise genuinely friendly and eager to please. My type could be described as adorable masculine guys with (most important) a cute face, a nice body (which could be naturally muscular due to genetics and age, or could be a gym body), FRESH BREATH (this killed many of the otherwise beautiful guys I met in Brazil), nice dick, and friendly. I found this the first night with a 21 year old that I picked up on the street after leaving the bar. When we got back to the place, we made out for quite a while, and he was an eager kisser and not at all squeamish. When it came to sucking dick, though, he was turned off by the obvious precum that I was producing. Still, he attempted to suck my dick (never suggesting a condom), while still stopping frequently to spit out the precum/quickly wipe his tongue. It was fun, but it was not really getting anywhere, and he had agreed to come with me based on whatever I wanted to pay, so I wasn’t too upset, partially because I have encountered this reaction many times before (it really is copious), and partly because he was such a nice guy and so eager to please. We ended up just shooting on each other’s tongues. I paid him $30 CUCs, and he seemed extremely happy, saying “thank you!” enthusiastically. Afterwards, he was enthralled by my NastyPig hat, and wanted me to take photos of him modeling it, so I have several photos, even though he never requested that I send a photo to him—I guess it just made him happy that a photo of him wearing that hat existed. He did want to see the photo, and he smiled when he saw it. I went to the beach twice while I was there—Mi Cayito, which is the “gay” beach. It is a 30 minute cab ride from Havana—and all of the cab drivers I spoke to quoted me a price of $25 CUCs for the ride (taxis were the only expensive thing I encountered in Havana). The first cab driver offered to wait for me for several hours, rather than wasting gas back to the city, and I said yes. This arrangement isn’t a bad idea, but you will be able to find a taxi later on, so you shouldn’t worry too much about this point. If there are no taxis immediately available at Mi Cayito when you decide to leave, a 5 minute walk will bring you to a more populated area. The scene on the beach was laid back. You can rent a chair and umbrella for 2 CUCs each. The stand is run by the government, and they close precisely at 5 pm on weekdays and 6 pm on weekends. There is a little restaurant/bar over the dune, near the parking lot, and they offered drinks for around $2.25, plus food, and they were very friendly. I did see one older guy running food back-and-forth from the food stand, but he never approached me or my end of the beach, so I’m not sure if he was a freelance person who just showed up to offer his services as a waiter or what. That may well have been the case—there was a guy in La Habana Vieja who makes his living telling tourists on the street that there is a bar on the top of Hotel Ambos Mundos (something not immediately apparent), and then hoping for tips from grateful patrons who appreciated his assistance. Havana was full of people who had apparently carved out a similar extremely tiny niche for themselves. The second boy I picked up was an 18 year old that I also met on the street. He had said hi to me the day before, but we finally connected on my second night in town. He was a darker guy with more African features, a large cock, and a wicked smile. He was also very dirty. He was conscientious about telling me that he need to take a shower before we could do anything. He also left my bar of soap covered with a dark film, so it was clear that he had needed the bath. He turned out to be less squeamish about sucking dick than my first guy, but he did quote a price to me: $25. He offered to let me fuck him bareback for an additional $5, but I skipped that option. A last note: the first boy that I met on the street, the 18 year old who I had passed over, primarily because he was a little femme for my tastes, followed me for several days and kept trying to say hi, before simply telling me that he is great at sucking dick, and he swallows, and he would do it for whatever I wanted to pay…$10, or $15. So if you aren’t picky, it would seem that Cuba still offers many eager guys who are willing to do most anything you would want.

The government released some clarification about the banned businesses list. It is meant as a ban on direct dealings with those businesses. So, for instance, if you are at a restaurant that is not on the list, you don't have to worry what kind of rum the bartender is putting in your mojito. You just can't visit one of the two banned distilleries and buy a bottle of rum. And in truth it seems like the regulations are mostly targeting businesses that might be investing in Cuba, to discourage US companies from partnering with certain businesses (or even certain shopping districts) in Cuba. I'm still planning to go, and hoping I don't run into any problems with airlines, visa, etc.

I find it annoying that we have now gone (halfway) back to the old travel restrictions for travel to Cuba from the US. I had already bought a ticket to travel to Cuba over Thanksgiving, and now the Trump administration has announced new travel restrictions. They are, to say the least, confusing. Americans are still allowed to travel, but not allowed to do business with certain shops and hotels and businesses that are rumored/believed to be connected to Cuba's military. There are now restrictions on certain categories of travel (people-to-people, for example). But you can still go and stay in an AirBNB/casa particular, something that was explicitly spelled out by Marco Rubio on Twitter. Some sources are saying that the new policy is very restrictive, while others are saying it's only a partial roll-back. Part of the trouble is the enforcement piece--since it has been basically left to travelers to self-police, what will the future bring in terms of scrutiny of travelers, itineraries, etc.? And will US-based airlines begin canceling flights and routes? http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/359354-trumps-cuba-policy-allows-airbnb-stays-for-americans

An update: I have heard from a few guys via Scruff who have volunteered to be my guide for free (I put up a Scruff Venture trip with my dates) Seems like the standard thing there, to latch onto a tourist in return for buying drinks, paying cover, etc. I heard from Luis, who said that he or his "business partner" would be willing to help me. It seems there will be no shortage of options.

The exchange rate at the currency exchange in my city costs around 13% for both Euros and Canadian dollars, so it doesn't save anything. I will check the rates when I get to the airport. I've seen several articles stating that there are people in Havana who will buy dollars at 94-95%, but a local with whom I am chatting says that it depends on the timing--sometimes they are buying, and sometimes they aren't. His tip (also repeated in the article I read) is to bring $100 bills, as they prefer them and pay more for them: https://translatingcuba.com/cuba-money-is-better-in-dollars-ivan-garcia/ I found several tour guides (including one who offered to do it for free) on Scruff, but the paid guide is not responsive (understandable considering the lack of internet there), and the guy who offered to do it for free isn't sure he will be in town, as he splits his time between US and Cuba. Also found a very cute gay (actually gay, not gay-for-pay) guy who offered to be my guide on Rent.men, although he asked for twice what I would be willing to pay--but I think he is assuming that I want to also have sex with him--again, understandable considering that I found him on an escort website. But he's "cute" and smooth, like a muscled twink...attractive, but not exactly my type.

OMG that guy is amazing!

I did manage to track down an old post that included specific advice saying that Luis does not help you locate guys, but he will translate if there is a guy you are interested in. So that pretty much answers my question about his level of discretion, and it matches my wants and needs perfectly. I'm not looking for a pimp, but I don't want to hire a prude either.

Don't treat me like an idiot. There are plenty of things a local can tell you that you will not be able to find out via searching. For instance, where can you find the best black market prices for wifi cards? I have done my research, and I am continuing to do it now...the reason I know there is a black market for those cards is BECAUSE I have done my research.

I would like to know if anyone has any recommendations for a tour guide in Havana? I was privately messaged about Luis, the guy who runs gaycubatourguide.com but the very last thing he makes sure to include on his FAQ page is: Q : Anything else ? A : Yes. This is not an escort site. At all. So to those who are looking for escorts, I say : this is the wrong place. I don't know why he included that...if he wants to make sure people understand that he himself is not an escort, or that he doesn't want to offer advice about finding escorts, or...? In any case, I have written to him but haven't heard back. If anybody else has advice or experience hiring a tour guide in Havana, I would be very interested. It seems that it would be particularly helpful in this city to have a local who is able to explain the black market for WIFI cards, better exchange rates, etc.

Awesome news. I was disappointed to hear it had closed, as I had started planning a visit immediately after hearing about it. LOL. Glad to hear the reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated.

You are fucking weird.

Really? I just searched Havana on Scruff with no filters and I didn't find that many people. I mean, I found a lot of people, but many of them were 100+ miles away in Key West...

Why Havana? Because I have always wanted to go, and there are many reports here and elsewhere of people loving it. But mostly it's because it is still easier to go, and it may be more difficult again soon due to Trump's attempts to undo Obama's opening of the borders.

I changed my mind and decided to try Havana anyway. I did a lot of research, and it says most of the city is back in operation. I look forward to it.

Patrick Coutinho is a beautiful boy with an amazing ass and some decidedly unexpected kinks. He's also smart and friendly, and definitely available...but only if you are his type. He likes older men, but only fit/muscular ones. And he does not make his living as a GP. You could always try saying hi through Instagram or Scruff when you are in town, if you think he might be interested. But your error might have been in offering money (getting your point across). He was likely insulted or annoyed. The worst that could happen if you simply say hi is you get shut down or ignored. You can find GPs on Scruff or Grindr, but I don't think Instagram is the best place to search...although there is plenty of eye candy there. By the way, one of the accounts you linked to isn't even owned by the person whose photo is shown, so you would want to make sure you aren't trying to message an account that simply steals and posts other people's content...

Sexy Rose is like a fancy and crowded nightclub compared to this place. Seven Cruising Bar is on Facebook, so you can find them there. In April 2016, when I think they had only recently opened, I saw some muscle gods walking on the beach in Ipanema (like 5 guys), carrying a banner for the place and handing out business cards. They are good at providing an attractive surface/veneer in their ads and promotional materials, but the actual atmosphere is more like cruising in a very dirty and old bus station bathroom. Strangely, none of the locals I met on the beach this year even know of its existence, so it doesn't seem to have made much of a splash over the last year and a half.

Thanks! I often go to Puerto Vallarta, and I am excited to explore the other parts of Mexico. I haven't really considered Monterrey, but I will look into it. I'm interested in Mexico City as well. I'm assuming such a large city must have some beautiful guys.

That's what I'm asking for--recommendations!