Here's the problem with my little trips down to Rio. My imagination gets bored and I have to keep thinking up new stuff. Take last night for instance. I went to Centarus last night and got three chicks for the first time ever. I lined each one up on the bed, asses hiked up in the air quatro style (that's doggy style in English) and took two minutes with the first one, changed condoms and did the next. I repeated this for 30 minutes. The issue I have is that now my next fantasy will have to be better. Also, none of my friends will ever believe me. Next time we are bringing a camera.

Oh yeah. After I left help last night by myself, I wandered the streets going to my hotel. I have done this twice as my hotel was about 6 blocks away from help. Not once did I see a dangerous looking person. Also, there are so many chicka's and other people walking home this time of night (4:00 am) I can't believe anyone could mugg someone without anyone else seeing. Not that I would encourage this behavior, but I think the Coca area is pretty safe compared to what some others on here have remarked.

I've been robbed there so I can't share your opinion on the safty of the Coca area. All those people that you see just stand and watch.

McDIJJ

It's all a numbers game. I walked from Help every night for 15 days and didn't get robbed. However, on two nights I had a guy on a bicycle stalk me. I caught him out of the corner of my eye and he rode off down a side street. A block later, he appeared again coming out of another side street. The guy had followed my path on the street one block parallel to Atlantica. Fortunately, I saw him in time to warn him off.

Basically, if you are young, alert and walking quickly you are less likely to have problems. However, if you are drunk, slow or walking with a girl, you're dead meat....take a cab.

Sterling

I too have had the pleasure of a knife held to my chest. I was not drunk. I was with my brother so I was not alone. There were people around and they did not give a shit.

Take a cab.

> Not once did I see a dangerous looking person

No, you usually donīt see them until itīs too late

I was on my 9th trip to Rio, and nothing remotely bad ever happened to me. I exercised good common sense at all times. I walked at night when I thought conditions were safe (busy streets with traffic and people walking) and took taxis when I thought things were not so safe. I was walking on Nossa Copacabana at 11PM on a Friday. The street was busy, as usual, and people were on the street, as well. Nonetheless, three guys jumped me, one of whom had a knife. In a split second I thought that with all the traffic and people around, the three guys wouldn't want to stick around very long, and I surprised them by resisting and struggling. Two of the guys took off immediately (thankfully, the guy with the knife was one of them), but one was willing to struggle a bit. I managed to fight him off. A taxi honked its horn at us -- that was all the assistance I got. If we were on a dark and lonely street, I would have handed them everything I had. Busy street, people walking, relatively early in the evening, walking with a purpose - it doesn't matter.

I was on my 11th trip and now humbly felt somewhat vulnerable and was more wary. I still fell victim to a pickpocket on the same busy street in front of Lojas Americano around 1PM in the afternoon. I saw the guy standing on the street corner looking at the pockets of the people walking in front of him. I had him pegged, but half a block down he picked my pocket so swiftly and cleanly that I could only applaud his skill. Fortunately, he only got my decoy wallet, which had small bills. Gotta love those cargo pants with the hidden and zippered pockets.

Bad things can (and, eventually, will) happen to you in Rio. What you do when it happens is equally unpredictable -- no matter how many times you may have rehearsed your reactions in your mind beforehand.